So, here we are. The penultimate week of the high school football season. It’s been a long year already and it’s debatable as to whether we know more now than we knew at the beginning of the season. Here’s what we know:

BVAL: Pittsburg is atop the league standings at the moment, which we predicted might happen. What we certainly didn’t predict is the team that would be behind the Pirates and that’s Heritage. The Patriots have proven their mettle with wins over Ygnacio Valley and Deer Valley and they will be a contender in the NCS 2A field. Potential playoff teams: Pittsburg (4A), Heritage (2A), Ygnacio Valley (2A),
DFAL: The league is Las Lomas’ to lose after the Knights beat College Park last Friday. There may not be a better group of skill players around than the group that attends school on South Main St. in Walnut Creek. Potential playoff teams: Las Lomas (2A), Campolindo (2A), Acalanes (2A), College Park (3A)
EBAL: San Ramon Valley is in control with California right behind. The rest of the league is sort of a morass, with not much separating the rest of the field. Potential playoff teams: San Ramon Valley (3A), California (4A), Amador Valley (4A), Foothill (4A), Monte Vista (4A)
ACCAL: It’s tough to figure this league out since it appears Berkeley is headed for the league title after starting the year 0-3-1. Pinole Valley has been good in spurts and Encinal has some talent but Berkeley has emerged as the leader heading into the final turn. Potential playoff teams: Berkeley (4A), Encinal (2A), Pinole Valley (3A), El Cerrito (2A), Alameda (3A)
BSAL: St. Patrick-St. Vincent faces Piedmont in Week 10 and that will determine the league champion. Other than those two teams though, this league is a league in flux, with several teams rebuilding. Potential playoff teams: St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Class A), Piedmont (2A)

So, there it is. When the field gets set, we’ll have our take on predictions and what not here on the East Bay Prep Sports Blog and be sure to watch Two Geeks and a Pigskin for your weekly high school football fix.
– Ben Enos

I was hoping the Northgate Tournament would shake up the volleyball scene, but I didn’t predict this madness.

Talk about crashing a party. So, who were the unexpected guests? The Washington (Fremont) High volleyball team, that’s who. Wait, who? … Yeah, exactly.

It all started when the Huskies beat Las Lomas in pool play.

The prognosticaters had the bracket set up for Las Lomas, the No. 8 seed overall in the tournament, to play No. 1 seed Amador Valley in the quarterfinals.

Instead, the loss to Washington had the Knights facing the Dons in a “crossover” match with the winner moving on to the championship bracket at Northgate. In a perfect world, Las Lomas and Amador Valley wouldn’t have faced each other until the championship bracket, but the Knights took advantage of the opportunity and proceeded to beat the Dons, keeping the No. 1 team in the East Bay Coaches Poll since Week 1 out of the Northgate gym and setting the tone for a wacky tournament.

Of course Washington continued its bracket busting ways by winning it’s crossover game as well, then beating Las Lomas in the quarterfinal in three games. The Huskies are being coached now by Mike Terrell because head coach Ashley Eyre was expecting a baby and gave birth a few days ago. Terrell (who has coached the boys teams at both Clayton Valley and California) took Washington, leaders of the MVAL, to the tournament’s “Final Four” before losing to Bishop O’Dowd. A tip of the cap goes out to the Huskies.

Meanwhile, the parity of this season was on full display.

Albany gave BOD a run in one quarterfinal before losing, while Carondelet’s 21-match win streak was brought to an end by Castro Valley in a tightly contested, tense filled two games that were so close (26-24, 27-25) its hard to come away with any type of conclusions on who’s better, which can be said now for every team out there.

After yesterday, come North Coast Section playoffs, it’s evident that anything is possible.

–Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

Maybe after tomorrow night (Oct. 27), when the Northgate Tournament is over and done with, the Top 10 will get a little shake up. But for now, it looks like the usual suspects remain in their usual slots.

Which is fine with me but…. there was some movement that left me a bit puzzled.

How does a team remain undefeated in league play by beating its cheif rival and still manages to DROP in the poll?

I guess my real question is: Why doesn’t Albany get a little more respect?

The Cougars look to be legitimate contenders in Division III, own a 23-2 overall record and haven’t lost a game in the Bay Shore Athletic League (as of Oct. 25).

Perhaps that’s it. The Cougars play in an athletic league that has the words BAY SHORE in front of it intsead of EAST BAY.

It’s more than fair to argue that playing in the EBAL is like walking through a mine field every week, but that reputation shouldn’t hold so much weight every single week.

Monte Vista beat California, Livermore and Granada (those three teams have a combined three wins in league play) after losing three-straight to Amador Valley, Foothill and San Ramon Valley, however those wins were enough for the Mustangs to jump ahead of the Cougars in the poll by two spots.

The Wolves apparently were boosted by its win over the Mustangs and was ahead of Albany even though it lost to Amador Valley by this score 29-27, 25-14, 24-26, 26-24. The scores maybe say the Wolves are the better team, but in the end, its the “W” that counts.

I’ll just say that a team can’t control the league it plays in, it can only win the matches it has on the schedule. And that’s what the Cougars have done.

Anyway, that’s why we have polls. They are supposed to be fun and spark debate.

What do you do think?

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

EAST BAY COACHES COACHES POLL (7)

1) Amador Valley (Like clockwork, this train is always on time)
2) Carondelet (is it Nov. 9 when Cougars play DV — yet?)
3) Deer Valley ( see Carondelet comment)
4) Bishop O’Dowd (see Amador Valley comment)
5) Foothill (waiting for rematch against Amador Valley)
6) Monte Vista (can’t wait until playoffs start for another shots)
7) San Ramon Valley (drops a tight one to Amador Valley) Albany (Nicky Hagan and Jana Poole are ballers)
9) Castro Valley (write something about team here. Oops thinking out loud)
10) Las Lomas (rematch at Campolindo on Tuesaday Oct. 30 for league title)

Greg Ryan has been fired as coach of the U.S. national women’s soccer team. No surprise there. Seems that two happenings in September, a controversial goalkeeper change and a Women’s World Cup semifinal loss to Brazil that followed, sealed Ryan’s fate. We can only hope that U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati moves more quickly and decisively in replacing Ryan than he did in replacing former U.S. men’s coach Bruce Arena last year.
But this is about neither Ryan nor Gulati. Rather, it’s American women’s soccer itself that finds itself on trial.
The United States did not give birth to soccer the way it did to rock-and-roll music. But American women, along with their sisters from such “nontraditional” soccer countries as Norway and China, helped perfect their sport at the international level for more than 15 years. Today, other countries such as two-time Women’s World Cup champion Germany and current runner-up Brazil have made huge strides in women’s soccer. As the semifinal with Brazil showed, time has marched on for the Americans, who find themselves as soccer’s answer to Elvis Presley trying to survive in the era of the Beatles.
The challenges for American women’s soccer begin at the youth and high school levels. Save for the Shannon Boxxs and Briana Scurrys of the world, girls/women’s soccer largely is a product of white suburbia in our fair land. Among high school boys, we see greater diversity and multiple soccer influences (sadly, these are not reflected at the international level). The same cultural dynamics, however, that drive and fuel boys soccer often tend to shackle the girls.
These realities are long-standing and deeply-rooted. Partly as a result, girls who do take up soccer often are exposed solely to coaches who preach the kick-and-run approach to the game.
As the Women’s World Cup showed, however, old habits must give way to modern thinking. Unfortunately, neither national team coaches nor federation presidents can bring about these changes by themselves. A lack of a women’s major professional league doesn’t help, though the United States is far from alone in that regard. Rather, the changes must begin at the grass-roots levels, both on and off the field.
On the plus side, more and more parents are recognizing the benefits for their daughters who wish to play soccer. And as players move up the ladder, it’s now plainly clear that the technical part of the game is every bit as important as the physical.
American women’s soccer screams for modernization. On both coasts and every point in between.

Girls golf teams across the East Bay wrapped up their regular seasons yesterday, and while a few still have some makeup matches to play, it’s time to look ahead to the postseason, which begins Monday with the league tournaments.

As far as team titles go, at least three leagues are essentially two-horse races: the EBAL (Monte Vista and Amador Valley), the BVAL (Deer Valley and Carondelet) and the DFAL (Acalanes and Miramonte). There stands to be plenty of competition for the individual prizes as well. Here’s a league-by-league breakdown of Monday’s tournaments.

EBAL

Location: Roddy Ranch GC, Antioch

Time: 10 a.m. (shotgun start)

Team to beat: Monte Vista

Top challenger: Amador Valley

Individual to beat: Joi Pentin (Amador Valley)

Challenger: Jane Lee (Monte Vista)

Dark horses: Kortnie Maxoutopoulis (Foothill), Camille Armas (Dougherty Valley), Emily Chiu (Amador Valley), Jordan Ontiveros (Monte Vista)

Skinny: The team title is Monte Vista’s to lose. Amador Valley can compete with the Mustangs, but they’re really a step below (and everyone else is at least two steps below). Pentin has the best scoring average this season, but Lee is not far behind. And in the EBAL, there are always plenty of golfers who could go low and surprise everyone.

BVAL

Location: Tilden Park GC, Berkeley

Time: 10 a.m.

Team to beat: Deer Valley

Top challenger: Carondelet

Individual to beat: Ashley Edwards (Deer Valley)

Challenger: Ellese Dias (Carondelet)

Dark horses: Victora Leon (Deer Valley), Kellyann Masterson (Freedom), Lauren Conder (Heritage), Taylor Vigil (Carondelet)

Skinny: It appears this year will finally mark the end of Carondelet’s incredible run of dominance in the BVAL. The Wolverines, led by the senior Edwards, beat the Cougars twice in league play (snapping a string of seven straight unbeaten seasons for Carondelet) and finished the regular season undefeated. Edwards is the clear favorite to be the medalist at Monday’s tournament, but if she struggles at all she could be challenged by the sophomore Dias.

DFAL

Location: Diablo Creek GC, Concord

Time: 8:30 a.m. (shotgun start)

Team to beat: Acalanes

Top challenger: Miramonte

Individual to beat: Melissa Woo (Las Lomas)

Challenger: Kristi Nacino (Dublin)

Dark horses: Jillian Lee (Northgate), Audra Kepler (College Park)

Skinny: This tournament features two strong teams and four strong inviduals. Oddly enough, none of the top individuals are members of the top two teams. Acalanes and Miramonte will battle it out for the team title, while Woo appears to be a step above the rest among the individuals. There’s not much separating the top four golfers, though.

BSAL

Location: Blue Rock Springs GC, Vallejo

Time: noon (shotgun start)

Team to beat: Albany

Top challengers: St. Mary’s, Piedmont, Hercules

Individual to beat: Joy Kim (Albany)

Challenger: none

Dark horses: Alex Killingsworth (St. Mary’s), Jennifer Yim (Hercules), Vivian Kwok (Piedmont), NaRa Pak (Albany)

Skinny: The team competition could be very close, as all four teams are capable of coming out on top. The individual competition should not be close. There’s Joy Kim, and then there’s everybody else. Kim likely won’t be challenged until the following Monday at the North Coast Section tournament, but keep an eye on the freshman Yim if you’re looking for a surprise challenger.

This would be a much more interesting tournament if Alameda was involved — correction, it would be a much more interesting individual competition, since the Hornets would have run away with the team title. But Grace Na, Emily Childs and company have already been invited to NCS, so they won’t compete in the BSAL tournament.

— James Leonard

Apparently, it’s cool for the football writers to take shots at me and at girls volleyball. But it’s OK. I’ll keep this love fest going with another post.

So I thought I tell you about the first time I saw Tarah Murrey play. She was side-by-side with older sister Brittney at the Albany Tournament back in 2004. My initial thought was, “Wow, these girls are mad good.” It didn’t take a volleyball expert – or a rocket scientist — to figure that one out. I approached her for an interview afterward and it seemed Tarah, at 6-foot-3, towered over me (I’m 6-feet tall, mind you). I seriously thought she was a senior. It turns out she was just a freshman. Jeff Barnes, Albany’s coach at the time, and then-Panthers’ Jon Segall told me everyone knew of Tarah since she was a seventh grader. I had no clue. (Of course this was way before the Albany incident.)

On Monday, Tarah orally committed to Cal. She was sick with a cold and still took time to talk to me about it. I had been pestering her for the last two years about calling me the minute she decided. She apologized (she didn’t have to) for not telling me sooner, not knowing her mother had left me a message on my work phone. That’s the type of person she is. Everyone she meets likes her. John Tawa of PrepVolleyball.com made it a point to say on his site how Tarah is such a nice person. She also knows when to lead and when to follow. She’s usually the best player in the gym but you couldn’t tell because she has no ego. She didn’t have to play high school volleyball this season but did because the team needed her and she loves playing with her friends.

Tarah could’ve gone almost anywhere she wanted. She said last month that her top three choices were Nebraska, UCLA and Cal. Those are currently the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 9 teams in the country respectively.
Like most athletes, she said she was glad the recruiting process was finally over. It helped that sister Brittney, a setter at UC Riverside, gave her blessing.
Said Tarah: “She was like ‘Tarah you should go to Cal. I want you to go to UCLA, but I can totally see you at Cal.’”
Bears coach Rich Feller should send Brittney a Thank You card.
WELL SPOKEN: Foothill’s Betsy Sedlak is such a graceful interview. She’s smart, articulate and humble and those are great qualities.
When asked about the MVP race in the EBAL, after the Falcons had lost to Sophia Dunworth and Amador Valley, she had this to say about the split crowd at Foothill chanting MVP for each player:
“I think there are so many people in this league that deserve the MVP spot,” Sedlak said. “There are great players on every team. I mean, Sophie is amazing. She’s a wonderful player.”
That’s class.

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

EAST BAY COACHES GIRLS VOLLEYBALL POLL (6)

1) Amador Valley (Sophomore MB Grace Vickers puts up 7 blocks in win over Foothill)
2) Carondelet (will cruise until they face Liberty and DV)
3) Deer Valley (needs to beat Liberty on Tuesday)
4) Bishop O’Dowd (Keeps on winning, what else is new?)
5) Foothill (couldn’t get it together against Amador Valley)
6) Albany (waiting for the BSAL playoffs to start)
7) Monte Vista (a nightmare stretch: 3-straight losses to AV, Foot, SRV) San Ramon Valley (big win over Monte Vista to take 3rd place in EBAL)
9) Las Lomas (face Acalanes on Oct. 25, the Dons took Campo to five)
10) Castro Valley (hasn’t dropped one since losing to BOD)

Other receiving votes — Campolindo

Hey prep football fans,
We realize it’s been awhile since we posted any of our videos on the blog. So forgive us. Hopefully you’ve been able to keep up on the main website, or at least the prep football page. But this week, we thought we’d get back up on the blog. Primarily because we needed to break up this volleyball love-fest (no offense, Ricardo), and we’re quite proud of this episode. We tip our caps to the film noir style of the past while we search for a team in the DFAL that can contend with Las Lomas. So make yourself some popcorn, slather on the butter, and check out Geek Noir: Search for a Contender. Once you do, let us know what you think with a comment or an email to cctgeeks@comcast.net.

SAY WHAT?? 34 KILLS!: Remember the classic “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” episode when Will was on his high school’s basketball team and the coach only called one play the whole game. It was simple: “Pass the ball to Will.”
(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check your local listings for Nick at Nite and you might catch it.)
Well, Sophia Dunworth was “Will” on Thursday night on the volleyball court.
The Dons fed the 6-1 outside hitter the ball and she put away 34 kills to bring the Dons back from a 2-0 hole against California to win the match in five games.
Wow!
Dons coach Rich Cortez’s game plan: Set Sophia and get out the way!
COUGARS ARE BACK: Cougars coach Jerry Mix is smiling right about now.
It seems Mix has finally put the pieces together to showcase Kyle Lamet, who has carried the Cougars the last few seasons and has matured into the go-to hitter Carondelet has always had in the past.
She showed that in the big win over Deer Valley when she put away 19 kills.
Last season, Deer Valley had the defense and the big gun in Kendra Rowland. The roles seem to have been reversed.
SO CLOSE: Behind Betsy Sedlak’s 21 kills, Foothill outlasted Monte Vista. The Mustangs were so close this week. Despite putting up a fight, Monte Vista lost both matches against the Dons and Falcons in five games. Ouch!

– Ricardo Sanchez Jr.

EAST BAY COACHES GIRLS VOLLEYBALL POLL (5)

1. Amador Valley (pull out two close five game thrillers)
2. Carondelet (takes sole possesion of first place in BVAL)
3t. Deer Valley (circling rematch with Carondelet on calender)
3t. Monte Vista (can the Schedule Gods give these guys a break?)
5. Bishop O’Dowd (team to beat in Division III?)
6. Albany (should be called the CSAL: Cougars Shore Athletic League)
7. Las Lomas (look headed to at least a share of the DFAL title)
8. Foothill (big match against AV looming)
9. Castro Valley (too bad BOD is in their league)
10. Campolindo (can’t wait for Las Lomas rematch)

Others receiving votes: California, San Ramon

And so it is. De La Salle takes care of Mission Viejo by a final of 35-7. And who do you give the game ball to? Is it Mike Czyz? 3 catches for over 170 yards and a couple TDs sure sounds good. How about Brady Amack? The defensive leader helped the Spartans absolutely shut down the Diablos offense.

Well, I’m giving the game ball to defensive coordinator Terry Eidson and the coaching staff. De La Salle was reeling a little after Mission Viejo punched them in the mouth with that touchdown on the first drive. The Spartans immediately made some adjustments and the Diablos failed to score for the rest of the game. Yes, I know the players have to play and what not, but the coaching staff did a fantastic job of changing the game.

I can’t really say that Mission Viejo played all that poorly. I mean, DLS was clearly the better team and the Diablos hung with the Spartans for a while. This is the De La Salle of old and the entire state got to see that tonight.

No commentary from ace reporter Chace Bryson, though he did send me a text message affirming my claim that Mike Czyz is one fast dude. Now comes the fun part for Geek numero uno, as he has to now try to beat deadline to let everyone read about it tomorrow.
-Ben Enos

At halftime, De La Salle leads Mission Viejo 21-7 thanks to an 84-yard touchdown on a quick slant from Blake Wayne to Mike Czyz. Let me tell you something right now. Mike Czyz is hands-down the fastest player on the field. Without a doubt. He made Mission Viejo’s best player, Alex Mascarenas, look silly on that slant pattern. Making it even more impressive was Wayne threw it on the run. DLS is the better team tonight.

Coach Bob Ladouceur said in his halftime interview that he’d like to see the Spartans get the running game going a bit more and I agree with him. Aside from Pica’s big run in the first quarter, the run game (the veer in particular) hasn’t been real effective. They slipped into an I-Formation for a few plays and I thought Kylan Butler was close to breaking one. It’ll be interesting to see if they go back to that formation in the second half because I think Butler is going to break one if they get him the ball.

Another impression I’ve had from watching the game on TV (and this is probably magnified if you’re actually at the game) is that De La Salle came to hit. Brady Amack had a jarring hit late in the second quarter and there have been a few plays by the defensive backs that have knocked balls loose on what looked to be completions. Mission Viejo had its chance in the second quarter, getting all the way down to the DLS 8 and then the Spartans just pushed them backwards. This is going to get worse before it gets better for the Diablos.

I’ll try and get back here at the end of the third quarter but I’ll definitely have a post-game wrap when it’s all done. I’ll also try to get some reaction via text message from crack reporter Chace Bryson as he patrols the sidelines in SoCal.
-Ben Enos