And the Cats did just that on May 20 at Santa Clara High School when they crushed Aptos 25-14, 25-19, 25-20 to complete a brilliant 36-2 season and take the CCS crown.

It was a dominant showing for Los Gatos at CCS. The Wildcats didn't lost a game as they rolled to four straight victories—beating The King's Academy 25-20, 25-22, 25-15, Leland 25-20, 25-14, 25-16 and Valley Christian 25-22, 25-22, 25-13 before sweeping past Aptos in the finals.

Aptos, 23-10 for the year, had upset Mt. Madonna (33-2) in the semifinals 25-22, 25-22, 25-14 to earn the shot at the Wildcats. The Mariners, though, ran headfirst into a determined Los Gatos squad.

The Cats had finished third in CCS a year ago, but the focus all year was to take it up a notch in 2004 and win it all. On the road to the CCS playoffs, Los Gatos won tournament championships at Aptos and Los Gatos, finished second to Mt. Madonna at Leland and finished fifth at Santa Barbara. They earned their place in the CCS tourney with a 12-0 record and a championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The Cats lost just 12 of 104 games on the year—and none of those losses came in the CCS playoffs.

In the title match, the Cats nailed the first point on a double block by Casey Pfeiffer and Sam Moisenco, then Fletcher and that set the tempo for the night in the win over the Mariners.

Fletcher Anderson hammered down a team-high 12 kills to lead the Wildcats to the title-clinching win. Keith Catanese buried 10 kills, Moisenco added nine, Mike Robards drilled seven and Drew McDowell had three.

Anderson and Robards led the effort in the back row with seven digs apiece and Catanese and Jesse Barron supported with six apiece. McDowell had seven blocks to lead a solid Los Gatos effort at the net. Catanese had four with Anderson and Moisenco chipping in with two each and Robards adding one.

Pfeiffer led the way with an impressive 34 assists in the match and Anderson, who led the club with five service aces, was a passing leader along with Catanese and Dan Norvelle.

Kills by Anderson, Catanese, McDowell (off of a fine pass from Norvelle) and Moisenco helped stretch the Gatos lead to 24-13 in the first game, and Aptos drove the ball into the net for the final point.

Robards came through with a dig and followed that up moments later with a kill to give the Cats a 22-18 lead in the second game. Anderson added two kills and again Aptos served into the net to lift Gatos to a 25-19 win in game two.

Los Gatos held a tight 20-18 lead in the third game. Two kills by Anderson and one by Moisenco helped stretch the lead, and the Cats close out the win when Aptos knocked the ball out of bounds.

Anderson led the way with an impressive 18 kills for the Wildcats in the win over Valley Christian in the semifinals. Moisenco knocked down eight kills, Catanese and McDowell popped five apiece and Robards had three. Anderson, Robards, McDowell and Moisenco all had solo blocks, and Anderson, Robards, Catanese and Norvelle were top passers and diggers in the win.

A kill by McDowell tied the first game 15-15, and a Moisenco kill knotted the score at 17-17 before a Robards block gave the Cats an 18-17 lead. Gatos pulled away from there to the 25-22 win on a kill by McDowell.

It was a Catanese kill that brought the Cats from behind and tied the second game 15-15. Gatos started to pull away and led 23-21 after an Anderson kill, and the locals went on to nail the tight 25-22.

Los Gatos dominated the third and final game of the match. A kill by Catanese was good for the final point in a 25-13 win, and the Wildcats were the champions of the CCS.