Volleyball Victorious

As the Volleyball season winds down, Aragon is cruising into first place in the Bay Division with a 20-5 record. Although, they came up short to Menlo-Atherton in their most recent home contest on October 6, they remain a top tier team.

Menlo-Atherton is not only just a tough team but also Aragon’s top competitor for first place in the eight-team Bay Division. Menlo-Atherton is currently in second place with a 14-4 record. Last year, they finished in second place with a 22-9 record.

In their most recent contest with Menlo-Atherton, Aragon fell behind early in each of the three games, which lead to an 0-3 loss. The Dons briefly held the lead in the first game, before losing 27-25. For the rest of the games, the team would be plagued by slow starts. Senior Taylor Scherer said, “We probably could have done better; they were definitely a tough team.” However, there was a bright spot for Aragon in that contest.

Despite the loss, Aragon made significant comebacks. After being down 18-8 in the second game, the Dons managed to minimize the loss to 18-25. Freshman Miranda Taylor said, “Our energy level was down today, and that might have been why we lost, [but] I think we could definitely beat this team another time.”

Aragon struggled to keep the momentum, and that could be a possible reason for the loss. When Aragon is on a hot streak in a game, they are virtually unbeatable. Coach Annette Gennaro says, “Volleyball is a game of momentum, and we try to use that to our advantage on the court.”

Junior Elizabeth McSheery says, “Unfortunately we lost against Carlmont. We were hoping to do well against Menlo-Atherton, but we lost. We kind of peaked, but not solidly.”

Although they lost to Menlo-Atherton, the team has significantly improved from last year. Aragon finished fourth place with a 10-14 record. McSheery says, “Seven of our upperclassmen are seniors whereas last year we only had three seniors. We have three really strong senior captains: Ariel Mangum, Jamie Moore, and Steffi Miller. They push the team to its limits.” Aragon is also in third place of the 24 teams in Division 2 of the Central Coast Section or CCS. After the halfway mark of the season, Aragon appears confident with CCS approaching. Co-captain Jamie Moore says, “Coach Gennaro enters us into a lot of tournaments and extra points which has developed our good chemistry and given us more points [towards CCS]. She’s talked a lot about having energy and playing together.”

Co-captain Ariel Mangum agrees and says they have been preparing for tough games against Menlo-Atherton and Carlmont.

Mangum says, “We run a faster offense and blocking is huge. Serving has to be in. They’re all basics because there’s not much you can control against those teams.” Captain Steffi Miller adds, “Physically we’re so much stronger. This is probably the highest point as far as team chemistry this season.”Aragon has also played in three tournaments this year, which all count towards their overall record. They finished in second place in the Bakersfield tournament, first in the San Lorenzo Valley tournament, and second in the Irvington tournament. In order for Aragon to maintain their standing for the rest of the year, they will need to finish the season strong. Menlo-Atherton and Carlmont are right on their heels, so every game is important. Mangum says, “The teams in this division are either really good or not that great. We have to play to our potential and not risk lowering ourselves to lower level play.”