CITY SECTION VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS : Kennedy Repays Old Debt : Quarterfinals: Golden Cougars quickly dispatch San Pedro with buss goodby in 4-A quarterfinals.

A year ago, Kennedy High lost a playoff match at San Pedro in about 45 minutes, so fast that the team bus driver was in the midst of running an errand when the match ended.

No driver, no bus, no ride home for nearly an hour.

This time around, the Kennedy boys’ volleyball team sent San Pedro packing quickly and quietly with a 15-5, 15-2, 15-11 victory Thursday in the City Section 4-A Division quarterfinals.

Thanks to their higher seeding, the Golden Cougars hosted this year’s matchup. And thanks primarily to their better serving, the Golden Cougars won.

“That’s the best we’ve served all year,” said outside hitter Sean Beattie.

Quite a difference from 12 months ago, to be sure.

“They intimidated us and we went down quickly,” Beattie said. “Tonight, it was the other way around.”

Intimidation came in the form of Kennedy’s four jump-servers who combined for six aces and kept the San Pedro service receivers scattering to set up on offense.

“They were serving with abandon and we weren’t serving like we usually do,” said San Pedro Coach Grant Farley, who then touched on another reason his Pirates (15-1) lost.

“Number 99 ate our guys up.”

That would be 6-foot-5 middle blocker Mike Whitmore, who threw down 10 kills and set the tone with six in the first game.

Quickly, last year’s intimidators became the intimidated.

“It’s come full cycle,” said Kennedy Coach Mike Stanton, whose team picked up the first quarterfinal victory in school history. “Whitmore really opened it up in the middle and we knocked them out of their defense.”

The fourth-seeded Golden Cougars (14-1) get a shot at top-seeded University in the semifinal round Tuesday.

“They know they can take it,” Stanton said of his team. “We are starting to peak. With each game, we’re getting more confident and we’re getting more cohesive.”

The only drama in Thursday’s match came in the third game, when fifth-seeded San Pedro charged to a 7-1 lead behind two kills by Luke Miller (five overall) and--surprise--a pair of aces by Travis Brooks.

San Pedro also cut down on its service errors.

The Pirates finished with eight, but had only two in the final game.

But the Pirates, playing without All-City middle blocker David Sutrin--sidelined because of academic ineligibility--could not hold the lead.

Brian Atkison came up with three of his five blocks to put Kennedy back in the hunt for a sweep.

Not surprisingly, a pair of aces by Michael Paloma put Kennedy up 14-11 and a block by Atkison ended the match.

“We were pumped up for this match,” said Beattie, who had seven kills. “We had a little letdown in the third game, but we never lost our confidence.”

As a result, San Pedro was sent looking for its bus.

In other City Section matches:

Bell d. Granada Hills, 13-15, 15-13, 15-12, 15-12--Third-seeded Bell came from behind to knock off sixth-seeded Granada Hills in a 4-A match at Bell.

Granada Hills mounted early leads in each game, but gave up points at critical junctures late in the games and lost momentum.

Setter Don Puauthasnon had a season-high 49 assists in the losing effort.

Fairfax d. Canoga Park, 15-4, 15-3, 16-14--The Lions came back from a 14-11 deficit in the third game to preserve a sweep in a 3-A quarterfinal match at Canoga Park. Chris Monzon led the Hunters (11-4) with 13 kills and eight blocks and Noel Cruz added 19 assists.

Sylmar d. Belmont, 14-16, 13-15, 15-7, 15-13, 15-8--Sylmar (13-2) advanced to the 3-A semifinals by rallying from under a two-game deficit against at Belmont.

Senior outside hitter Edward Terry led the Spartans with 33 kills, five blocks and 35 digs.

Melvyn Lemus had 18 kills and 39 digs and Matt Garcia added 61 assists and 18 digs for Sylmar.

Van Nuys d. Jefferson 15-10, 7-15, 15-6, 15-11--The second-seeded Wolves defeated the Democrats in a 3-A match.