Bay Area News Group water polo Top 10

(Mercury News & East Bay Times)

BOYS

No. 1 SACRED HEART PREP

Last week: 1

The Gators defeated Valley Christian 13-4 to improve to 2-0 in West Catholic Athletic League play. They face Archbishop Mitty on Wednesday to continue their WCAL slate.

No. 2 DE LA SALLE

Last week: 2

The Spartans remain at No. 2 after a 22-2 win over Granada. Next up for De La Salle are matchups with Dougherty Valley and Miramonte on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

No. 3 CAMPOLINDO

Last week: 4

The Cougars slide up to No. 3 on the strength of wins over previous No. 3 Miramonte (12-10) and Terra Linda (16-11). Campo takes on San Ramon Valley (Wednesday) and Tamalpais (Friday) this week.

No. 4 MIRAMONTE

Last week: 3

Miramonte endured a narrow loss to Campolindo and rebounded to beat Bellarmine 17-10 in San Jose. The Matadors take on De La Salle in a massive Friday night tilt this week.

No. 5 MENLO SCHOOL

Last week: Not ranked

Menlo enters the rankings after an impressive nonleague slate that includes wins over Los Gatos (15-13 in two overtimes), Menlo-Atherton (19-4) and Valhalla-El Cajon (17-8). The Knights commence WCAL play against Valley Christian on Wednesday and face Monte Vista on Saturday.

No. 6 LOS GATOS

Last week: 5

Los Gatos continues to cruise early in the season, knocking off Gunn 20-11 in a league matchup. More Santa Clara Valley-De Anza matches await this week against Palo Alto (Tuesday) and Fremont (Thursday).

No. 7 AMADOR VALLEY

Last week: 9

It was a big week for Amador Valley, which went 6-0 with wins over Dougherty Valley (19-6), Novato (15-6), Heritage (14-9), Liberty (17-7) and two over Castro Valley (20-10 and 11-3). Next up is an East Bay Valley matchup with Granada on Thursday.

No. 8 BELLARMINE

Last week: 6

Bellarmine earned a narrow 9-8 win over St. Francis in league play. The Bells also were relatively competitive in a loss to Miramonte, falling 17-10. Bellarmine next takes on Serra this Wednesday.

No. 9 ST. FRANCIS

Last week: 7

The Lancers lost to Bellarmine but rebounded to take down Harker 10-8. St. Francis faces St. Ignatius on Wednesday and Santa Cruz on Friday.

No. 10 LOS ALTOS

Last week: 10

Los Altos remains at No. 10 with wins over St. Mary’s (19-9) and Granite Bay (11-10). The Eagles have Santa Clara Valley-De Anza matchups against Harker (Tuesday) and Mountain View (Thursday) looming this week, plus a nonleague Saturday tilt with Leland.

GIRLS

No. 1 SACRED HEART PREP

Last week: 1

The Gators keep the top spot after winning the SF Autumn Invite with victories over Righetti (10-2), Palo Alto (16-2), Leland (15-5) and Arroyo Grande (12-7). Sacred Heart Prep opens WCAL play against Mitty on Wednesday and faces Arroyo Grande again on Thursday.

No. 2 CARONDELET

Last week: 2

Carondelet picked up an easy 27-3 win over Granada last week. The Cougars will be tested more this week, as they face Acalanes on Tuesday and Dougherty Valley on Thursday.

No. 3 CAMPOLINDO

Last week: 3

Campo had no recorded games last week. The Cougars face some stiff competition this week against Sam Ramon Valley on Wednesday, Tamalpais on Friday and Arroyo Grande on Saturday.

No. 4 MIRAMONTE

Last week: 4

Miramonte picked up a big win last week, avenging an earlier 13-7 defeat to Sacred Heart Prep with a 11-8 defeat of the Gators. The Matadors also picked up wins over Oakmont (21-2), McClatchy (23-2) and Reedley (16-6). Miramonte faces Arroyo Grande on Friday this week.

No. 5 ACALANES

Last week: 5

Acalanes picked up wins over Gunn (15-3), Marin Academy (14-6), Santa Cruz (10-4) and Menlo School (17-8) last week. The Dons face Carondelet on Tuesday, taking on Soquel and Stevenson on Thursday.

No. 6 LELAND

Last week: 6

All in all, Leland made out well last week. The Chargers took down Westmont 19-1, Archbishop Mitty 16-7, Clovis West 11-10 and Soquel 12-8. Their only recorded loss was to Sacred Heart Prep. Leland next faces Branham on Wednesday and Pioneer next Monday.

No. 7 ST. FRANCIS

Last week: 7

The Lancers faced off against in-section and out-of-section competition with mixed results. St. Francis took down Presentation 22-8 and Leigh 12-9 before losing 12-6 to Soquel. They rebounded to take down Clovis 12-11 before finishing the week with a 13-7 loss to Clovis West. SF begins league play this week against St. Ignatius on Wednesday.

No. 8 PALO ALTO

Last week: 8

Palo Alto also tested itself against some of the best teams in NorCal. After taking down Mountain View 17-2 in Santa Clara Valley – De Anza play, Paly took down Stevenson-Pebble Beach 13-3 in tournament play. The Vikings then suffered losses to Sacred Heart Prep (16-2), Clovis West (15-12) and Clovis (11-5). They remain atop their league at 4-0 and resume league play against Los Gatos on Tuesday. They also face Gunn on Thursday this week.

No. 9 WASHINGTON-FREMONT

Last week: 9

Washington cruised last week with a 23-1 win over Irvington. The Huskies face American in Mission Valley league play on Thursday of this week.

No. 10 NORTHGATE

Last week: 10

The Broncos faced a number of interesting opponents and picked up several wins in tournament play. They took down Clayton Valley Charter 10-5, Sierra-Manteca 10-1 and Vintage-Napa 18-3. They are next scheduled to face Campolindo on Oct. 9.

Editor’s note: Teams eligible for the Bay Area News Group rankings come from leagues based predominantly in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The news organization’s high school staff chooses the teams.