October 1, 2006

Sports

Branham girls’ volleyball improves to 2-0 with league win over Leigh

Bruins making strides under new head coach Chris Virgilio;
Longhorns rebuilding with young squad in 2006-07

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Branham girls’ volleyball team improved to 2-0 in league play following a 3-1 road win over rival Leigh on Sept. 21.

The 2006-07 Branham Bruins entered the 2006-07 season with a new coach in Chris Virgilio and have managed to put together a 5-5 record overall, while leading the league with a 2-0 record, sharing first place with Leland and Westmont. Photos by Diego Abeloos

The win placed the Bruins atop the Mt. Hamilton Division standings in the early portion of league play, sharing first place with Leland and Westmont. Jamila Sanfaz and Lauren Anderson paced the Bruins offense with 11 kills each in the win. For Leigh, Lindsay Dowd led all scorers with 16 kills, while Joli Barretta and Joanna Hogue recorded five aces each.

The Bruins (2-0 league, 5-5 overall) entered the 2006-07 season with some changes, having lost senior Amber Kaufman, a 2005-06 Mt. Hamilton Division Co-MVP, to graduation. In addition, the Bruins are now under the direction of new head coach Chris Virgilio, who previously coached varsity volleyball at Santa Teresa for a year and three years at Westmont.

Virgilio said he was pleased with the win, noting that the team has seen its’ share of success despite a roster filled with young players.

“I think this is a good win for us. We always like to beat our big rivals,” Virgilio said. “It was tough for a while because we’re still a relatively inexperienced team, as compared to some. We’re susceptible to some mental mistakes once in a while, and sometimes that makes things difficult on us, but we’ve really been on an upward climb since the beginning of the season.”

The Bruins managed close 26-24 and 25-22 wins in games one and two, respectively, before the Longhorns bounced back with a solid 25-19 win in game three. Game two saw both teams play evenly matched volleyball, With Branham holding an early 15-10 lead before the Longhorns tied the score with a short 5-0 scoring run. Shortly thereafter, with Leigh clinging to an 18-17 lead, the Bruins embarked on a 4-0 run that featured, in part, a kill from Bina Madzar and an ace from Leah Karlins for the team’s biggest lead of the game at 21-18.

Still, the Longhorns fought back, getting within one point at 23-22 before the Bruins closed the game out on consecutive points, including a Sanfaz block on a Dowd hit at the net for the game’s final point, giving the Bruins a 25-22 win in game two.

Leigh’s Joli Barretta prepares to unleash a serve during a 3-1 loss to Branham on Sept. 21. Barretta, along with teammate Joanna Hogue, recorded five aces in the loss.

“I think anytime you have to play a close match, it’s nothing but good for all the girls because they really have to learn how to get that killer instinct to put a match away,” Virgilio said of the close wins in games one and two.

Leading 2-1 after Leigh took game three by a 25-19 score, the Bruins started game four in the same fashion as games one and two, trailing closely at 11-9 before taking advantage of a few Leigh hitting errors to put together an 8-0 scoring stretch and take a 17-11 lead.

Similar to the first two games of the night, Leigh fought back once more in game four with a 6-2 scoring run to cut Branham’s lead to two at 19-17. But Sanfaz proved to be a key player for the Bruins down the stretch, as the senior middle blocker recorded a kill and an ace in a 6-3 stretch to end game four, giving Branham a 25-20 win.

“She played a great game,” Virgilio said of Sanfaz. “She got off to a bit of a slow start and she was a little frustrated in the beginning, but once she started to find a groove, both in serving and in hitting, she really came back.”

For Leigh, the loss dropped the team to 0-2 in league play and 6-9 overall. Leigh head coach M. Anthony Chen said the 2006-07 Longhorns will have to mature as the season progresses, given the fact that the team lost five seniors, including Mt. Hamilton Co-MVP Lauren Dowd, as well as two All-League players in Melissa Vargas and Caitlin Torres.

“We’ve obviously lost a lot since last year, but they have a lot of heart and they just dig a lot of balls,” Chen said of his current squad. “Branham played a good game and they earned the victory, but it’s early in the season and we’re looking forward to playing them again.”

And while having to rebuild his team with young players is a tall task, Chen said he’s enjoyed the experience of seeing his young players grow.

“I have a handful of returners from last year, so for them it is an adjustment, coming from a pretty powerful team to a very young team,” Chen said. “It’s been good though, a good teaching experience. In a couple of years, we’ll be right back.”

Rams defend honor from Pirates

Rivalry thickens with Willow Glen’s 15-2 victory in pool

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Willow Glen fanned a flame, hammering Piedmont Hills 15-2 at Independence High Sept. 21, in what has grown to be a rough rivalry between the schools in the pool over boys’ water polo action.

Willow Glen junior Josh Dumbro fires a shot on goal versus Piedmont Hills on September 21. The rams prevailed 15-2, improving their record to 2-0. Photo by Justin Petersen

The reigning Santa Teresa Division champion Rams (2-0) cruised to the blowout victory in the clubs’ first meeting since several rough house contests last season, which ultimately ended a game early when the match-up reportedly turned into an excessively physical confrontation.

Under a new coaching regime in 2006, however, Piedmont Hills (1-1) was not nearly as combative, but the game was every ounce as intense for the Rams, who came out charging on defense to set up the counterattack at the offensive end of the pool.

“The bottom line is that we were mentally prepared for the game,” said Willow Glen co-head coach Brian Balisteri, who shares head coaching duties with former Long Beach State player and Willow Glen High grad Trevor Weins.

“We certainly knew that we wanted to defeat them, but we were thinking that it was going to be a much closer game. We were really trying to focus on our defense.”

Willow Glen forged into deep waters early. “We were pressing out to eliminate releasing the ball,” continued Balisteri. He said the difference was the slow rate at which the Pirates were able to adjust to the Rams’ counter attack.

“It was a combination of us being a well-conditioned team and that Indy has a small pool. Piedmont actually played a strong game, very sportsmanlike, but our abilities to counterattack and press were on that day, as was defense and shooting.”

Sophomore Sam Brandt led the way scoring five goals and relentlessly hounding Piedmont shooters. “Whatever you tell him, he just takes it and applies it to the game,” commented Balisteri on his sophomore sensation. “He is very level-headed.”

Rams and opposing coaches realize Brandt is a threat, despite his age. Balisteri explained that Brandt’s particular skill is getting involved without becoming affected by the physical abuse levied by many in the water polo pool. “Sam is always in the middle of everything,” said Balisteri. “He took a big shot to the face in the Piedmont game. But he just brushes it off. Sam is as tough as he needs to be without wasting valuable energy.”

Senior captain Reese Rotseart was the contest’s second leading scorer, whizzing four past the Pirate goalie, and junior
Jeffrey Dubridge also scored two goals.

“Our team is strong this year,” said Balisteri. “The program keeps on building.”

The Balisteri/Weins duo inherited the team three years ago, following a slow finish, second from bottom in league, along with a roster listing only eight players. According to Balisteri, the roster swelled to 12 players the following year, and the Rams finished second in league.

They improved again a year ago.

“Last season we took first,” said Balisteri. With only one senior on the team this year, Willow Glen hopes to maintain the momentum it has built to thrust itself into the Blossom Valley’s elite Mount Hamilton Division this season.

“Our strength is conditioning,” said Balisteri. “We have speed and the ability to shoot. We have some very good, strong shooters. The team is also cohesive. We are able to communicate and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”