SAN JOSE — Three-peat, Serra Padres!

WEDNESDAY

After 12 games this season, the Serra Padres are sitting on top of the world.

As many veg out and consume copious amounts of NFL football, Thanksgiving vittles and for some, an early jump on Christmas shopping Thursday, it is also a time to reflect and give thanks to — well, whatever you want to give thanks to.

It didn’t take Katie Goldhahn long to get her College of San Mateo volleyball team laser focused.

Unless you were privy to the inner workings of the merger between the Peninsula Athletic League and Santa Clara Valley Athletic League football merger, 2022 looked a lot like 2021.

It’s official. College of San Mateo is the top seed and will entertain No. 4 Modesto in a first round California Community College Athletic Association state playoff game at noon Saturday at College Heights Stadium.

Menlo-Atherton underclassmen Tessa Ellingson and Eva Chow were a likely pairing heading into the girls’ varsity tennis postseason. While they hadn’t previously teamed up as doubles partners at M-A, each had established themselves as single players on the Bears’ depth chart.

Ty Richardson, Menlo School football. The senior running back is proving the Knights can, indeed, run the ball effectively. Richardson scored three touchdowns in a five-minute span to help rally the Knights to a 21-14 win over No. 2 Live Oak in the CCS Division III semifinals, a game third-s…

Coming into the World Cup, I said the United States’ best path to the knockout round was to go 1-1-1 — one win, one draw, one loss.

It ain’t how you start, it’s how you finish.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to show SHP and Bellarmine played each other four times this season.

The Serra Padres will get their shot at a Central Coast Section Division I football three-peat.

It was a bad night for No. 1 seeds in the Central Coast Section playoffs, and the Sequoia Ravens were no exception.

Running back Ty Richardson scored three touchdowns and Eron Chen picked off two passes and recovered a fumble to help rally third-seeded Menlo School past No. 2 Live Oak 21-14 in a CCS Division III semifinal win in Morgan Hill Friday night.

You’ve heard the old saying: Better to be lucky than good?

The 2021 Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo team will probably go down in history as the best team in program history.

xt team up to have the unenviable task of trying to stop the Serra juggernaut when the teams face off in the Central Coast Section Division I semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday in San Mateo.

Never blessed with a large roster, Menlo has advanced to the Division III semifinals with baling wire and duct tape, or more specifically, trainer’s tape.

Menlo-Atherton tennis players Tessa Ellingson and Eva Chow gave the Bears their first-ever Central Coast Section individual title when they teamed up to win the doubles title at Bay Club-Courtside in Los Gatos Wednesday.

In the game of soccer, timing is everything. The timing of runs, the timing of passes, timing a jump for a head ball.

Editor's note: This column has been updated to reflect No. 2 seed Varsha Jawadi of Aragon is the PAL singles co-champion.

SAN ANSELMO — No team in Mercy-Burlingame volleyball history accomplished what this year’s Crusaders did.

Sacred Heart Prep girls water polo coach Jaime Frank could not have asked much more from his team in the Gators’ Northern California regional Division I opener Tuesday.

The Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo team has had its share of adversity this season — but not much.

For the first time since 2007, Cabrillo College is no longer the Coast Conference North volleyball champion.

Well, it turns out Johnny Legs has got an arm.

Jack Elgaaen, Sequoia football. The senior receiver had a big game in the top-seeded Ravens’ wild 51-50 double overtime win over No. 8 Overfelt. Elgaaen caught 10 passes for 180 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added 10 yards rushing and 31 yards in kick returns. He also made his pres…

What a difference a year makes. In 2021, San Mateo County football teams compiled a 6-3 record in the first round of the Central Coast Section playoffs, spread among five divisions.

The Menlo-Atherton Vikings 10-and-under footballers are heading to Orlando, Florida.

For the first time in Mercy-Burlingame volleyball history, the Crusaders will play for a Northern California championship.

The College of San Mateo Bulldogs are Bay 6 Conference champions — a co-championship honor they will share with Laney College.

No. 1 versus No. 8 seeds in opening-round Central Coast Section Division I football games tend to be lopsided affairs. This year was no different.

Crystal Springs Uplands senior Kaiya Brooks made her final varsity race at the Crystal Springs Cross Country Course a memorable one.

In a perfect world, a high school football team would have its players playing on just one side of the ball — offense or defense.

SAN FRANCISCO — The sardine can that is the University High School gymnasium wasn’t kind to the Aragon Dons.

After securing a 4-3 quarterfinal win against Los Altos Friday, the fourth-seeded Knights drew top-seeded Cupertino in Saturday morning’s semifinal match, falling 4-3 to the Pioneers.

The Central Coast Section adopted its football playoff system with the hope of preventing blowouts. Matching teams based on strength was a way to help ensure competitive games.

The Menlo-Atherton Bears threw quite a block party in the Nor Cal Division III volleyball quarterfinals.

For the first time in the football program’s storied history, the Serra Padres are 10-0.

FRIDAY

It has turned into a special season for the Menlo-Atherton Vikings.

The second round of the Central Coast Section team tennis tournament went according to the chalk, as the top eight seeds all advanced to Friday’s quarterfinal matches.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — It took nearly the entire first quarter for the Sacred Heart Prep girls’ water polo team to take a lead in the Gators’ Central Coast Section Open Division semifinal match.

After a two-day postponement because of the recent rains, the Central Coast Section team tennis tournament finally got underway Wednesday with first-round matches.

I saw reason No. 5 — six? Seven? I don’t know, I kind of lose count — about why Qatar was a bad idea to host the 2022 World Cup.

It was like the musings of a mad inventor the way head coach Ray Sum drew up his innovative defense on a white board for his Mercy-Burlingame volleyball team at the beginning of the season.

MOUNTAIN VIEW — The Sacred Heart Prep boys’ water polo team has established itself as the premiere program in Northern California. So it’s no surprise to see the Gators play well in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

While unbeaten and unanimous No. 1 Riverside City College improved to 9-0 with a win over previous No. 5 Cerritos, the College of San Mateo continues to lead the way in Northern California.