SANTA CLARA — Seventy-five miles separate the two high schools, but make no mistake–Carlmont and Hollister’s San Benito have developed quite a rivalry when it comes to two of the high-profile girls sports, volleyball and softball. The teams’ regular-season battles over the last few years have been fierce, but their postseason encounters have been nothing short of jaw-dropping.

Put simply, when Carlmont and San Benito meet in the Central Coast Section volleyball or softball playoffs, history suggests some of the best action in Bay Area prep sports will ensue. To wit: the Division I titles in those sports have been the exclusive property of one program or the other in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 athletic years, with a Scots vs. Haybalers showdown usually deciding the eventual champion.

And after prevailing in a five-game thriller over Carlmont on Wednesday night at Santa Clara High, San Benito sits one victory away from its second straight volleyball championship.

“Shoot, it goes down to the wire every time,” San Benito athletic director Tod Thatcher said of the Scots-’Balers contests. “Filled with tension, that’s the flavor of these games. You can’t leave your seat, or you may miss something good.”

Unfortunately for Carlmont, Wednesday’s defeat continues a trend. San Benito has become the alpha male of the rivalry, delivering crippling losses to the Scots in the programs’ most recent three softball and volleyball playoff meetings:

1. In the 2006 softball semifinals, Carlmont (then 29-1) took a no-hitter behind ace Ashley Chinn into the ninth inning against a young San Benito team … and LOST, 7-0. The Scots were batting with a first-and-third, no-out situation in the bottom of the eighth, but failed to score the decisive run. Houdini-esque San Benito went on to win its first CCS softball championship.

2. Again in softball, one year later. Carlmont took a 30-1-1 record into the title game, and had the Stanford-bound Chinn in the circle and batting in the heart of the order. But San Benito again foiled the Scots, winning 2-0 in a pressure-packed contest, to announce itself as the new Division I powerhouse, with back-to-back championships.

3. San Benito’s improbable volleyball triumph on Wednesday. Trailing 13-8 in the decisive fifth game, the ‘Balers channeled a stunning comeback, led by Utah State-bound Emily Kortsen, to win six straight points and eventually prevail, 18-16.

As tough as Wednesday’s result may be to swallow for Carlmont, the ‘Balers know that feeling all too well … thanks to the Scots. In the teams’ most recent postseason volleyball meeting before Wednesday, Carlmont stunned No. 1 seed San Benito in 2005.

That year, the ‘Balers had designs on their first title, but ran into a Scots’ buzz-saw in the championship match. In a contest for the ages, the teams traded blows (and games), with the Scots prevailing in a five-game nail-biter: 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 20-25, 20-18.

Sound familiar? Five games? A back-and-forth grudge match? So after the Scots won that one, San Benito delivered some payback on Wednesday by ending Carlmont’s season one match short of the championship match (and ensuing Northern California playoff berth).

“I think we were a little overconfident,” Carlmont’s Justine Record, a Virginia Tech-bound senior, said of the collapse. “We needed to finish them off and we didn’t. We made some dumb mistakes.”

Added San Benito coach Dean Askanas: “We were living on the edge there. … It was a gutsy performance. It’s surprising that we were able to make this comeback against a team as good as Carlmont.”

Carlmont first-year coach Ricky Villareal was sounding a postitive note afterwards, despite seeing a shot at a CCS title evaporate down the stretch.

“I love playing that team,” said Villareal, whose Scots split their two regular-season matches with San Benito. “I love rivalries like this. It pushes us to a higher level.”

Having now been on both the losing and winning end of a playoff five-gamer to Carlmont, ‘Balers third-year coach Askanas tried to put his finger on the rivalry’s dynamic.

“There’s got to be a little bit of a psychological thing,” he said. “It’s grown into a monstrous rivalry.”

And with both softball programs returning several key players, the Belmont-to-Hollister connection looks primed to heat up once again come springtime.

With the Central Coast Section and North Coast Section football playoffs set to start this weekend, here are some San Mateo County postseason facts:

Every County program currently enrolled in the CCS has played in the playoffs at least once.

Terra Nova, which plays at Riordan on Saturday, has an all-time postseason record of 13-17. The Tigers lead the County in wins, losses and games played.

Aragon, which hosts Piedmont Hills on Saturday, sits at 12-16, leaving the Dons second in all three categories.

Woodside, which is sitting out the postseason after qualifying three straight years, is 11-13-1.

San Mateo, the only County team to win three championships, has the best overall record at 9-6.

Hillsdale (8-6) is the only other team with a winning record, aided by titles in 1981 and 1991.

Serra (6-6), which plays Bellarmine on Saturday, has the next best overall record. (The now defunct Oceana program bowed out at .500 with a 2-2 record).

Burlingame (7-8), Carlmont (7-10) and South San Francisco (7-10) are all in the seven-win club.

Five programs besides San Mateo and Hillsdale have won multiple CCS championships: Aragon (’92, ‘94), South San Francisco (’80, ‘89), Terra Nova (’82, ‘88), Jefferson (’83, ‘84), and Woodside (’99, ‘04).

Current Terra Nova coach Bill Gray led Oceana to the 1987 title … over Terra Nova.

El Camino (0-2), which plays at Palo Alto on Saturday, is one of three County programs to never win a CCS playoff game (0-4 Menlo and 0-3 Mills are the others). The Colts also have yet to score a point in the playoffs, having lost 20-0 to St. Francis and 49-0 to Aragon in their previous trips.

At least one County team won a CCS title every year between 1980 and 1992, and the County totaled 16 championships in that span (the majority coming via the Division II-N bracket that pitted County teams).

County teams have won just seven titles since 1992.

… and some more postseason facts, focusing on this year’s participants:

Since the inception of the CCS Open Division in 2004, no County team has advanced to the championship game. But with Serra qualifying as the No. 5 seed this season, at least one County team has played in the elite bracket each year.

Serra, heading into its Bellarmine game, has a 1-2 record in two previous appearances in the Open Division.

Bellarmine is 0-2 in the Open Division, having lost its opener the last two years. The Bells (31-22 overall) haven’t won a playoff game since advancing to the Division I semifinals in 2002.

Bellarmine ranks fifth in CCS victories, trailing St. Francis (69), Los Gatos (44), Oak Grove (42) and Palma (36).

Aragon, the lone public-school program to qualify for the Open Division in the bracket’s first three years (the only other program is Palma), has a 1-3 Open record. The Dons’ lone win was against Serra in 2004, which also stands as Aragon’s last CCS victory.

Aragon did not qualify for the Open Division for the first time this year, and is instead slotted in the Large Schools Division bracket.

Piedmont Hills, Aragon’s opening-round opponent, was the Large Schools runner-up as the No. 8 seed in 2006. The Pirates, who shocked No. 1 seed and then-defending champion San Benito last year, own a 6-13 CCS mark.

Menlo-Atherton, the No. 1 seed in the Large Schools bracket, hasn’t won a playoff game since its 2002 championship. The Bears, 5-9 all-time in CCS, lost their openers in 2003 and 2006.

El Camino faces Palo Alto, the defending Open Division champ, in its Large Schools opener. The Vikings (12-10 all-time) also played in the inaugural CIF Bowl Championship Series in 2006.

Terra Nova, which missed the playoffs for just the second time in Gray’s tenure last year, seeks its first postseason victory since an appearance in the Medium Schools quarterfinals in 2005.

Riordan, the No. 1 seed in the Medium Schools bracket and Terra Nova’s opening-round opponent, is making its first CCS appearance since 2000. The Crusaders have a 4-5 overall playoff record.

For the first time since 1993, the first year CCS instituted a four-division format based on enrollment size, the County has no representative in the postseason’s lowest-enrollment bracket (now called the Small Schools Division). The County produced the Small Schools champion in 2004 and 2005 (Burlingame and Half Moon Bay) and had a finalist in three of the last five years.

Sacred Heart Prep, which plays at Ferndale on Saturday, is making its inaugural appearance in the NCS playoffs.

Lingering on the sidelines following the 80th Little Big Game, the San Mateo High football team was distraught. Tears were flowing freely as the young Bearcats started to come to grips with seeing their season end in such dispiriting fashion.

But many of the San Mateo players were in no hurry to leave the field, choosing instead to watch wistfully as Burlingame celebrated. It was then that the Bearcats began filing away the images and emotions of their loss.

And with such a youthful core–San Mateo had six starting slots filled by sophomores, against just four by seniors–the lessons learned would be an important part of the program’s continued resurgence.

There was the elation of being halfway to an upset for the ages–San Mateo had a 3-0 halftime lead against the Panthers. There was the shock of seeing Burlingame thunder to a 35-0 run, an emotion followed quickly by anger and then the tears. And finally, there was the embarrassment and disgrace as the final score settled in.

Burlingame 42, San Mateo 10.

“I’m going to do something next year to make this a good game, to make us win,” Bearcats junior lineman Alex Bowman said. “I want to win so badly next year. There’s no way to explain it.”

Next year.

Those words kept coming up with San Mateo, really all season long. Recognizing early on that it had so many skilled underclassmen, the Bearcats coaching staff nurtured those youngsters while also giving them a heavy dose of game action.

Fresh off a 0-10 campaign in 2006, the program didn’t reverse course immediately. But after four straight losses brought San Mateo’s losing streak to 15 games (including the Little Big Game in 2005), the Bearcats suddenly turned the corner.

With four victories in five games, San Mateo secured an improbable winning record, at 4-3, in the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division. Suddenly, with Burlingame struggling to a 3-3-1 finish in the PAL Bay, the Little Big Game seemed to offer the Bearcats a chance at the ultimate sign of resurrection.

It wasn’t to be.

But the Bearcats, who finished the season with a 4-6 overall record, certainly picked up some valuable insight that their many returning players will benefit from next season.

The need to close out close games: “We’ve only had a couple of games where we had to finish,” San Mateo coach Jeff Scheller said. “(Burlingame) knew how to finish.”

Added Bowman: “It’s like we kind of gave up after the first half, when they started scoring.”

The importance of keeping emotions in check: “This is the first game where we lost a little composure,” said Scheller, who spoke of the difficulty of trying to “rally back” with his charges in a volatile state down the stretch. “We never did that before.”

But even after dropping the Little Big Game for the fourth straight year, the Bearcats proved plenty in putting an upper-division team on the ropes at the midway point. “We can play with anybody,” Scheller continued. “And they believe in themselves.”

For San Mateo, the 2008 season can’t get here soon enough. Yes, the Bearcats lose their dynamic playmaker, senior quarterback and kicker Nate Davidson. And Scheller needs to find someone to make up for that production: seven rushing touchdowns on the season, five passing TDs … even a 32-yard field goal against Burlingame.

But look around the field, and youthful production abounded for San Mateo against its rival, as it had all season. Besides Davidson, powerful junior Patrick Latu (5-foot-9, 235 pounds) and speedy sophomore David Rango were the only others to register carries. Of the six Bearcats to notch a reception, Sean Lal was the lone senior.

And on defense, linebacker Taukei Taimani was the team’s leading tackler on the season. As a sophomore. Three other sophomores started the Little Big Game on defense for the Bearcats. And the base unit also featured six juniors.

“Without question, they’ve got some real talent over there,” Burlingame coach John Philipopoulos said.

So even though the Bearcats wrapped up the 2007 campaign with a disheartening loss, those wet eyes also had a gleam of motivation.

“We know we have next year,” said Jordan Guinn, a junior lineman. “The only thing we can do is get better, so we’re looking forward to it.”