Another busy week for Viewpoint Athletics, with success all around and some impressive individual successes. Probably the biggest news of the week came with the release of State Playoff brackets for Girls Basketball, strong pitching from the baseball team, and an incredible count of 17 medals for the Track and Field team at the Malibu Invitational. Next week comes a home playoff game, and the first events of the season for both the Golf and Swim teams, so good luck to all Patriots competing!

Girls Basketball

            The Girls Basketball team will continue their incredible season, competing in the CIF State Division III Bracket as the seven seed. Their first matchup is at home on Tuesday night against Poway, who face a nearly 150 mile journey just to get to the game. Poway enters the game with a 19-12 record, exiting the San Diego Section Division I Bracket in the semifinals against eventual champion Serra. Looking ahead, a win would mean a meeting with the winner of Burroughs High School in Burbank and Westchester on Thursday night. Also of note, Eisenhower High School is on the same side of the bracket as the six seed, so a rematch against the team that knocked the Patriots from CIF Playoffs could be possible. It all starts Tuesday, so come out and support the team as they begin their state playoff run! The game starts at 7:00 in the PFAC.

Baseball

            The Baseball team played twice last week, extending our winning streak to five games with strong performances against Heritage Christian and Grant. On Tuesday, we beat Heritage Christian 3-1, led by excellent pitching and three RBIs from sophomore Vinnie Terraciano. Niko Candido (’20) was 3-3, stealing two bases, and scoring twice. Thursday was another great game for the Patriot pitching staff, as two pitchers combined to strike out 14 in a 7-0 victory over Grant. The pitchers were handled by lefty catcher Wyatt Thompson (’23), stepping in because our starting and backup catcher were both sick. Sophomore Alden Stone got an infield hit, showing off his speed by beating out a ground ball to short, and Ben Meppen (’22) got the first hit of his high school career. Next week, we begin league play with a test against last year’s league champions, Paraclete. We travel to Lancaster on Tuesday, before returning home to Birmingham on Thursday to play the Spirits under the lights. The game starts at 6:30, so come out and support!

Boys Tennis

            The Boys Tennis team ran riot over Oaks Christian on Tuesday, winning 14-4 behind clean sweeps from Owen Kolbrenner (’21) in Singles and Doubles tandem Sam Tabandeh (’23) and Chris Fillipakis (’22). The weekend was successful as well, as four Viewpoint duos competed in the Santa Barbara Doubles Tournament. Sam and Chris made it all the way to the Flight Two finals, and the team of Michael Barin and Zach Samuel (both ’22) finished in third in the flight. Next week, the team looks to extend a 3-0 start against Oak Park, before travelling to one of the staples of the Tennis season: the California Tennis Classic in Fresno. The team will be challenged, competing in Division One, so good luck to the team!

Boys Volleyball

When asked about the week, Senior Captain Ollie Davidorf put it best: “We welcome adversity.” The Boys Volleyball team got the season off to a slow start last week, losing in five sets to Chaminade on Tuesday and losing in three against Laguna Blanca. Tuesday was a back and forth battle, starting with Chaminade winning the first two sets, before the Patriots roared back and won the next two, including a 25-13 demolition in the fourth set. However, Chaminade stole the match by winning the fifth set 15-9. Thursday was a struggle, as the team came out sluggish after a long bus ride to Santa Barbara and never recovered, dropping all three sets. When asked about the loss, Peter Sussman (’20) said “It was an unfortunate loss. I think we definitely outplayed them, and especially being on the soccer team last year and losing to Laguna in playoffs, I went in personally wanting revenge. However, we were unfortunate, we lost, but I think we’ll come out strong during the season.” Next week, the team plays at home against Bishop Diego on Tuesday, travels across the street to Calabasas on Thursday, and then up North for the Antelope Valley tournament on Saturday.

Golf

            The Golf team starts their season this week, beginning with a few members competing in the Glendora Invitational on Monday, followed by jumping straight into league play against Crossroads on Wednesday. The Golf team is led by a strong Senior class of Sammy Shang, Rashaun Tandon, and Max Angard, all of which will compete on Monday in Glendora. Wednesday’s match will be the first with the full roster, as Aiden Weitzman (’22) and Jake Dyne (’21) complete the team at Rancho Park Golf Course. The entire team hopes to get back into CIF play for the first time since 2017, so good luck to the Patriots!

Lacrosse

            The Lacrosse team’s first game was canceled last week, moving their first game to 3:00 on Tuesday against Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences. The game is at home at Ring Family Field, so come out and support! If you can’t make it to Tuesday’s game, they play on Friday at home as well, battling against Calabasas High at 3:30. Good luck to the team as they begin their season!

Softball

            After struggling to muster any offense on Wednesday, the Patriot bats came alive on Friday in an absolute obliteration of Bishop Diego. Sophomore Brooke Schwartz was 3-3 with a double and 3 RBIs, Edith Mendez (’23) was 3-3 with 2 RBIs, and Jules Mazzolini (’22) hit two doubles, had three RBIs, and scored three times herself. On the mound, Peyton Rohr (’23) had fourteen strikeouts in five innings, only allowing one hit. The team plays on Wednesday next week, travelling to Malibu to face the Sharks. Good luck to the team!

Swim

            The Swim team enters the 2020 season with high expectations as usual, as the Girls team hopes for their 14th consecutive league championship and the Boys Team looks for their 16th consecutive league championship. The Girls team is led by captains Leila Assil (’20), Alex Chavez (’21), and Luna Bruss (’21), also featuring Grace Rynerson (’22) and Julianna Penner (’21) as well. On the Boys side, the captains are Edan Klier (’20) and Jack Albrecht (’21), who hope to lead the team to big things at CIF competition as well. Junior Ethan Schreier is one of the top swimmers in the program, with a strong chance to break school records in the 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter backstroke, and 100-meter IM. The team is also excited about freshman Pierce Downs, who has plenty of talent, and could do big things in the 500 free. All in all, the entire program looks geared for lots of success and possibly another postseason run. They begin their season officially this Friday at Rio Mesa High School with the Spartan Relays.

Track and Field

            The Track and Field team had an incredible team performance at the Malibu Invitational on Saturday, winning a whopping 17 medals. Senior Lizzie Scott started the day off strong by winning the first Varsity level run of the day, winning the 3200m with a new school record time of 12:06.39. The next medal was silver from the Boys 4x100m relay team of Max James (’21), Ori Egberongbe (’23), Val Devoto (’22), and Ryan Azad (’21), all of whom won multiple medals at the meet. Val was also first in the Frosh/Soph Long Jump, Ori was second in the Frosh/Soph 100m with a time of 12.10 and third in the 200m with 24.60, and Max was second in the Varsity 100m, third in the Varsity 200m, and ran the anchor leg of the 4×400, where Viewpoint’s team finished third. Ryan ran the second leg of the medal-winning relay for his second medal. Other standouts were in the Girls Frosh/Soph 1600m, where sophomore Colette Samek and freshman Erin Beazley finished first and second, well ahead of the pack. Senior Ronnie Orosky made his return to the track in the 1600m and in the 4×400 relay, finishing first in the 1600m and third in the relay, all while sporting blue fire sunglasses and Sonic the Hedgehog socks. Finally, although neither ended up medalling, Brach Shubin (’20) and Jadyn Danese (’23) showed impressive determination, winning their heats in the Boys Varsity 800 and Girls Frosh/Soph 800, respectively. Congratulations to the entire team, and good luck as they compete at the Oaks Christian Invitational next weekend!

Congratulations to everyone on a successful week, and best of luck to all teams competing next week! And to the Navy, we expect you loud and proud at any playoff games this week, so come out and support the Girls Basketball team! First game is at 7:00 on Tuesday in the PFAC against Poway.