The Lincoln Mustangs will face off against the San Mateo Bearcats at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. San Mateo took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Lincoln, who comes in off a win.
San Mateo will take on a team with plenty of momentum: Lincoln extended their winning streak to three on Tuesday. The Mustangs came within a single set of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against Archbishop Riordan. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Mustangs have posted since April 12th.
Lincoln took Archbishop Riordan into a fifth set where they got it done with a seven-point win. The match finished with set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 15-25, 21-25, 15-8.
Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when San Mateo faced off against Burlingame on Friday. The Bearcats fell just short of the Panthers by a score of 3-2. While the Bearcats didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Panthers 25-20 in the first set.
San Mateo took a 2-1 lead headed into the fourth set, but sadly they lost the next two. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 15-5.
Lincoln will have to keep a close watch on Elliott Kim and Aaron Guo, a pair of players who had a big impact on San Mateo's prior game. Kim had 29 digs, while Guo had 31 kills, six digs, and three blocks. Guo is on a roll when it comes to kills, as he's now had 17 or more in each of the last 12 games he's played.
Lincoln's victory bumped their record up to 29-5. As for San Mateo, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 14-11.
Lincoln couldn't quite get it done against San Mateo when the teams last played back in March of 2024 as they fell 3-1. Can the Mustangs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
