Saratoga and Prospect have hopes of changing that in 2004.

The Falcons face the Wildcats and the Panthers take on the Monarchs in CCS semifinal games this week with the winners advancing to the CCS finals set for Nov. 20, 11 a.m., at Los Gatos.

Saratoga, 12-5-1 for the year, opened the CCS playoffs with a 4-3 win over St. Ignatius while Gatos, 14-4-1, was handling Gilroy 5-1. The clubs will collide on Nov. 16, 2:45 p.m., at Los Gatos with the winner moving into Saturday's title game.

In the other bracket, Prospect (10-5-3) opened the CCS tournament with a 5-1 win over North Salinas (10-2-1), then edged Monta Vista (12-4-2) 2-1 in overtime to advance to the semi's against Mitty. The Monarchs (12-2-3) won their opener 2-0 over University (15-1). The squads were to play Nov. 16, 1 p.m., at Gatos.

Mitty won the CCS crown in 2000 with a 1-0 win over the Wildcats, and the Lancers took the section title in 2001 with a 3-2 victory over the Cats. Los Gatos came back to win the CCS crown in 2002 with a 1-0 win over the Lancers, then Los Gatos and St. Francis tied for the championship last year, deadlocking 1-1 after regulation and two overtimes.

The Wildcats have played for the CCS championship in each of the past seven seasons and hope to be there again with a win over Saratoga on Nov. 16.

The Cats blasted Gilroy 5-1 in the first round of the playoffs, behind two goals each by Caroline Stege and Lesie Anderson. Kelly Shultz also scored a goal in the game. Bailey Richardson had two assists in the win and Stege and Marlana Shile had one each.

The Falcons earned their place in the semifinals with a tight 4-3 win over St. Ignatius. Gwen Bellomy, Suzanne Lessack and Kellie York will lead the Falcons into the semifinals this week.

Prospect had to win twice to get into the semi's. After pounded North Salinas in the first round, the Panthers edged the Matadors 2-1 in overtime. Senior Lizzie Innes scored off an assist from sophomore Paige Madsen to tie the game 1-1 in regulation, then Madsen scored off assists from Innes and senior Casie Reiss in overtime to give the Panthers the win and a berth in the semifinals.

Girls volleyball

Both the Leigh and Los Gatos girls volleyball teams will be on the road this week when they battle one another in the CCS Division II semifinals. The match is set for Nov. 17, 6 p.m. at Leland.

Leigh (28-5) opened the playoffs on Saturday with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 win over Mountain View, and Los Gatos (30-3) opened with a 25-7, 25-21, 25-11 win over Westmont. The Warriors (23-13) had opened the playoffs with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 win over Overfelt.