Panthers pull ahead

Until last night. Down two sets to one, the Panthers came roaring back from a 6-0 deficit to win Game 4 and then, down 9-6 in the race-to-15 final set, Burlingame once again rallied to post a 25-18, 24-26, 14-24, 25-18, 15-10 victory to move into sole possession of first place in the Bay Division.

“It was one of the biggest matches of the year,” said Burlingame coach Nilo Mauricio, adding it was his team’s biggest win of the season.

“[Carlmont is] good. They beat Mitty,” Mauricio said.

Burlingame (5-0 PAL Bay, 12-5 overall) can thank the play of Natalie Ballout (pronounced: “Bal-loot”), who after a pedestrian start, came on as strong as could be at the end. She finished with a team-high 18 kills, but it was her work in games 4 and 5 that enabled the Panthers to pull out the victory. The senior middle hitter had 12 of her kills in the final two games, including a run in Game 4 that saw her score seven straight Panthers points. She had four consecutive kills to give Burlingame a 16-15 lead. She then added three service aces in a row to push the Burlingame lead to 19-15. A kills from Malina Baker gave the Panthers the Game 4 and gave them momentum going into the final set.

“Ballout is definitely our best hitter,” Mauricio said. “She’s huge. She got stopped a couple of time, but in the end, she got the job done. Natalie brings a lot of attention and it helps everybody out.”

Game 5 was nip-and-tuck through the opening half of the set. Back-to-back kills from Ballout tied the game at 3. Carlmont spurted back out in front, 6-4 on kills from Maya and Morgan McClellan, but Burlingame came back to tie the score at 6-all on a kill from Baker and a Carlmont setting error.

Again Carlmont took the lead, winning three straight points. After a Burlingame hitting error, Morgan McClellan put away two attacks in a row and the Scots were just six points away from a 5-0 Bay Division mark.

Unfortunately for the Scots, they managed only two more points the rest of the way. Three straight Carlmont errors pulled the Panthers even at 9-9 and an ace from libero Samantha Stuart gave the Panthers a 10-9 lead, one they would not relinquish. Ballout produced three more kills and Melanie Pitzer’s putaway put the Panthers one point from the win.

Which they got when Sharp, who finished with 12 kills, hammered home the match-winning point.

“Disappointment,” was what Carlmont coach Chris Crader said following the match. “I wish I had my team better prepared. [Burlingame] played well.”

After Burlingame got off to a quick start, taking the lead early in Game 1 and maintaining through the end, Carlmont got into a rhythm in the middle part of the match, as it appeared Carlmont (4-1, 12-2) had seized the momentum and was poised to add Burlingame to their collection of pelts on the wall.

Game 2 was the tightest of the match as neither team led by more than a couple points. As the game wore on, the Scots got more and more deadly with their attack. Morgan McClellan got into synch first, finishing with eight kills in the set, before older sister, Maya McClellan, got hot near the end of the set, finishing with seven kills.

A Maya McClellan kills put the Scots a point away from evening up the match, but Burlingame did not go down without a fight. A Ballout kill tied the game at 24 when her block went down for a point. But a putaway from Maya McClellan followed by a Burlingame hitting error gave Game 2 to the Scots, a set in which 22 of their 26 points came off the attack.

They carried that momentum into Game 3, where Carlmont simply dominated. Morgan McClellan continued her torrid pace, finishing with three kills and three aces in the set. Maya McClellan added six putaways and an ace, while Alisha Mitha had five kills as the Scots buried the Panthers 25-14.

When Carlmont jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start Game 4, it appeared the match was slipping away from Burlingame.

By as suddenly as Carlmont flipped the switch offensively, it just as quickly went away in Game 4 and Burlingame was there to take advantage.

“Beating Mitty is the best thing we’ve done all year,” Crader said. “Once we beat Mitty, people started looking to see what day we come to town. Safe to say, you’ll get teams’ best efforts.”