SANTA CRUZ >> After posting a landmark five-set victory over rival Santa Cruz High on Friday night, there was a challenge for Harbor to get back in gear for the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs. There wasn’t a letdown. The No. 2 seed Pirates responded with a dominant home sweep of No. 7 Burlingame, 25-12, 25-22, 25-17 in the quarterfinals.

Senior Noah Luksich led Harbor (28-5 overall) with 15 kills and a .406 attack percentage, Cooper Lastition added 10 kills and nine digs, and Josh Rejfir contributed six kills and seven digs.

“What we carried from that Santa Cruz game was more confidence,” Luksich said.

No, the Pirates didn’t have a hangover after winning the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Tournament championship. In fact, they enjoyed a red-hot start against the Panthers, who finished second in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division and swept Christopher in a first-round match on Monday.

“One of our goals was to start the game strong,” Luksich added. “Burlingame is a different team, one we have not played against. We wanted to play hard no matter what and we did a good job of that.”

Harbor rocketed out of the gate to a 21-8 lead in the first set. Lastition belted five kills and Luksich smashed four. The defense and passing, led by libero Abe Schmidt, was stellar. For the night, Schmidt had 10 digs for a season total of 321. Harbor’s aggressive serving kept the Panthers out of system and unable to ignite their two big hitters, Lucas Stuart and Fabian Falconett.

After the first set, Burlingame coach Lawrence Ngai shifted his rotation by three to get different blocking matchups. That was coupled with improved defense and resulted in a much tighter second set.

Harbor maintained small leads throughout the second set as the visitors came within a single point three times down the stretch. With the tally at 23-22, Luksich blasted a ball down to the opposite floor and Lastition rejected a Burlingame serve receive overpass for the final point.

The third set was tight through the midpoint. Trailing 14-13, the Pirates exploded with a 10-1 charge to salt the game away. Schmidt served an ace in a five-point serving run and Luksich ripped five kills and combined with middle Luke Wolfenden for a combo block. Wolfenden and Grady McKee provided strong offensive options all night in the middle to keep the Burlingame block from over-committing to the outside.

“I think they started to pick up on our offense,” Rejfir said. “Thus, we found ways to work around their block. And we have trust in each other and we all get along together.”

Lastition noted how team cohesion translated to on-court success during tight or tense parts of matches.

“We’re like a family,” Lastition said. “That helps us play together and play as a unit.”

Schmidt was complemented by athletic back-row defense from six-rotation players Luksich, Lastition and Rejfir. Pin-point passing enabled sophomore setter Eddie Weaver to choose among options.

“Our passing was really good,” Weaver said “It’s a decision-making process for me for who is hitting best. We definitely went line with our outsides and also line on ‘oppo’ with Cooper.”

The victory advances Harbor into a Thursday 6 p.m. semifinal at home against No. Monterey, a four-set winner over Carmel in another quarterfinal. The Pirates faced the Toreadores on March 6 and squeaked out a five-set victory, via a wild reverse sweep 26-28, 23-25, 25-11, 25-13, 16-14.

“I’m glad we got the ‘dub’ ” Harbor coach Kendall Ronzano said. “They’re a special group. And yet we can go to another level. We have some holes to fix but this is one of the most competitive groups I’ve ever coached.”

The Thursday contest will equal the furthest a Harbor team has ever reached in the playoffs, matching its 2023 team. This group has goals to take it beyond that.

“I really want to win CCS,” Weaver said. “We need to stay consistent in our game. Play like we have been playing. We can definitely go win the title.”

Los Gatos 3, Santa Cruz 1

SANTA CRUZ >> The No. 2 seed Cardinals suffered a 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23 loss to the No. 7 Wildcats in the CCS Open Division quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Cardinals, winner of four straight SCCAL titles, were paced by seniors Julien Pally, Leo Sapunor, and Gammon Nielssen on offense.

“We really just put our focus on their three really big hitters,” said Wildcats coach Nicole Ciari, of the Cardinals’ senior trio. “We knew if we could kinda take care of them we’d have a better chance of being successful. I think our kids were well-prepared and mentally wanted it so bad that we ended up on top.”

The Cardinals jumped out to a five-point lead in the fourth set, 9-4, but the Wildcats rallied and it was neck-and-neck the remainder of the way, but the Cardinals were unable to force a fifth set.

“They came out swinging, big time,” Cardinals coach Peter Edwards said. “Based on the scouting report I knew they’d be pin heavy and No. 15 (Markus McGrath, a 6-foot-4, senior middle hitter) out of the middle would have a lot of input on the game, and they didn’t shy away from it. So our game plan was to try and take 15 out, put a big middle on him, and play defense arounds those pins. And their pins kinda changed the game (12 and 5). They kept swinging at the block, so they definitely exposed a weakness in out right-side block. We struggled to slow them down for sure.”

Senior outside hitter Weston Kafer had 15 kills and 10 digs to pace the Wildcats. Junior outside hitter Sean Slover had 13 kills, eight digs, and two blocks, junior outside hitter Nolan Harr had 10 kills, eight digs, and two blocks, and McGrath had eight kills, four blocks, and three digs.

The Wildcats (19-10) play at No. 6 Saint Francis (22-12) in Mountain View in the semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Lancers knocked off No. 3 Bellarmine 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, 25-14 in the quarterfinals.

Monta Vista 3, Soquel 1

CUPERTINO >> The No. 5 Knights suffered a 25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-13 loss to the No. 4 Matadors in the CCS D-II quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Matadors (24-12) play at No. 1 Sacred Heart Cathedral (23-11) in San Francisco in the semifinals on Thursday at 6 p.m.

The Fightin’ Irish swept No. 9 Wilcox 25-13, 25-16, 25-23 in the quarterfinals.

Sentinel Sports Editor Jim Seimas contributed to this report.