Bearcats bite Cougars

And after San Mateo was blitzed in its first game of the league season, 25-11 by Half Moon Bay, it appeared those coaches might be right.

But after a disastrous start, the Bearcats rebounded and won the next three games, 25-22, 25-12, 25-23.

"My first win (as coach) in the Bay was important," said San Mateo coach Jimmy Ikeda. "We can play. Any win is good, especially after Game 1."

San Mateo (1-0 Bay Division, 6-1 overall) could not receive Half Moon Bay's serve, could not pass and could not dig anything up as Half Moon Bay jumped out to a 13-3 lead and never looked back. The Cougars came up with seven aces in Game 1.

"Half Moon Bay served tough," Ikeda said. "They served hard and heavy."

With the Cougars leading 24-10, Ikeda called a timeout - not necessarily to rally his team for that game but for the rest of the match.

"I called a timeout because I needed to reassure them that if they did what we worked on, we can play (with anyone)," Ikeda said. "It's just a matter of them getting used to the speed. The biggest difference between the Bay and Ocean is speed."

The talk appeared to work as the Bearcats played like an entirely different team in Game 2. Back-to-back kills from junior outside hitter Rachel Freeman and sophomore middle blocker Sally Parker gave San Mateo an early 2-0. A Cougar net violation and an ace from San Mateo's Anna Soto gave the Bearcats a 4-2 advantage.

More than just scoring, however, the Bearcats hustled and started getting better flesh on the ball to keep it from going down. Time and again San Mateo kept a rally alive, putting pressure on the Cougars.

With the score tied at 7, Half Moon Bay went on a 5-0 run, four of which came on San Mateo errors.

Instead of wilting, the Bearcats battled back. Down 16-12, San Mateo scored six of the next seven points, with Katey Finnegan serving back-to-back aces to give San Mateo an 18-17 lead.

The two teams remained close down the stretch and a San Mateo error gave Half Moon Bay a 22-21 lead. But the Bearcats reeled off the final four points, getting a kill from Parker to close the game out and tie the match at 1.

Game 3 saw San Mateo put its entire game together, smoking Half Moon Bay 25-12. Sophomore Sasha Hin was a monster at the net for the Bearcats, coming up with six of her match-high 17 kills in Game 3. San Mateo was hitting on all cylinders in the game as their digging and hustle kept them in every point.

The biggest difference in Game 3 was San Mateo's errors, or lack of them. The Bearcats committed only six errors in the third game and limited Half Moon Bay to just four kills.

It appeared Half Moon Bay would send the match to a deciding Game 5 as the Cougars led throughout Game 4. The Cougars held leads of 9-6, 16-12, 20-17, and 23-20, but the Bearcats refused to go away. Three-straight Half Moon Bay errors tied the match at 23 before Parker, who finished with seven kills, finished off the match in style, hitting two straight winners to give San Mateo the victory.

"We have a very inexperienced team and a very young team," Ikeda said. "As they play more and get more experience they'll feel they belong on the court. Every game is going to be a learning experience."