By Pete Borello

Prep Volleyball Roundup

There was only one winner, yet both Los Altos and Mountain View highs came away from last Thursday’s girls volleyball match feeling pretty good about themselves.

Los Altos, which prevailed 15-10, 12-15, 15-8, 15-4, took another step toward getting past its rough non-league schedule. And host Mountain View seemed encouraged by the way it made its district rival work for the SCVAL De Anza Division win.

“Although the Spartans took a loss tonight,” Mountain View coach Gerrie Phillips said, “we walked off the court knowing that we can play against good teams like Los Altos and give them a match.”

Coach Dave Winn said his Eagles didn’t play their best - particularly on defense - but they still managed to improve to 2-0 in the division and 6-5 overall.

“The team morale has been a bit better since we started league play this week,” Winn said. “It was very tough getting through our (early-season) schedule with such highly-ranked teams. However, we are trying to find ways to play up to our potential no matter who we play.”

Los Altos won without key starter Juli Winterbotham, who sat out the match with a sprained wrist. Ashley Watson led the offense with nine kills on 13 attempts, while setter Michelle Nelson posted 39 assists.

Colleen Schumacher sparked the Spartans (0-2, 2-7) with what Phillips called “awesome defense.” She had 21 digs, six kills and four service aces. Peyton Paulick added 11 kills, three digs, two blocks and an ace. Abby Damm, coming off a fractured collarbone, contributed 26 assists and seven digs.

In other local volleyball action last week:

Despite a dominant performance by middle blocker Liz Johnson, Gunn lost in five games to rival Palo Alto on Thursday. Johnson racked up a career-high 25 kills in the match, which visiting Paly won 15-13, 15-5, 5-15, 15-17, 15-11.

“She played out of her mind on offense and defense,” Gunn coach Evan Barth said of his 5-foot-10 senior. “She was phenomenal.”

Michelle Rybka added 15 kills and six blocks, while Jennifer Wang had nine kills and Maile Krauss recorded 43 assists.

The loss dropped the Titans to 0-1 in the De Anza Division and 8-6 overall.

Homestead sunk to 1-1 in the SCVAL El Camino Division on Thursday with a four-game loss to Lynbrook. The visiting Vikings won 10-15, 15-6, 15-13, 15-7.

The Mustangs (5-12 overall) were led by Ashley Mason, credited with seven kills.