The girls volleyball team was crowned Central Coast Section champions with their defeat of Mountain View (26-11 overall, 7-5 Santa Clara Valley-De Anza league) on Nov. 3. Winning the first three sets 25-15, 25-16 and 25-20, the Dons secured their first CCS championship in program history.
Moving onto the Division II state competitions, the Dons faced new challenges competing against unfamiliar teams and preparing for more mentally and physically competitive games. The Dons faced Central Catholic (33-10 overall, 12-0 Valley Oak league) on Nov. 6.
“We were so excited to be in this position, as we just came off winning CCS, which was huge,” said junior outside hitter Lydia Manu. “Our team was greedy … We knew this team was going to be good, so we had that mentality that we needed to play our absolute best.”
The Dons won the first set 25-18, but not without Central Catholic putting up a strong fight. Points went back and forth, keeping both teams on their toes, until Aragon pulled ahead in the final points thanks to strong kills from sophomore middle Ella Sears.
“First, I was hitting a one, which is a lower set. It was harder for me because I kept hitting into the block multiple times … they were good blocking team,” Sears said. “I adjusted and started hitting twos, which are higher sets, so I could hit both ways and find those open spots that the blockers weren’t expecting me to find.”
The Dons made multiple serving errors and lacked aggressiveness when hitting throughout the next two sets. Combined with Central Catholic’s increased hitting accuracy, and Manu getting injured in the third set, Central Catholic won 25-21 in both of the next sets. With the shift in momentum, and the Dons needing a victory in the next set to take the game, Manu felt as though she needed to come back despite rolling her ankle when coming down from a kill.
“I was crying on the sideline,” Manu said. “I was so frustrated and disappointed, thinking that I couldn’t stay out while everyone was putting in so much effort. My dad was telling me that it was up to me if I wanted to push through the pain, or if I wanted to rest it, and when I looked onto the court and saw everyone just playing their hardest, I was so motivated to keep fighting.”
On her first play back in the fourth set, Manu slammed a kill down the line, setting the tempo for the rest of the match.
“It was just instinctive to me to say ‘this is my ball’ and slam it,” Manu said. “If I’m going to play, I can’t be taking someone’s spot halfheartedly. I have to give my all.”
Taking the fourth set 25-19 and the fifth 15-10, the Dons finished off Central Catholic to the enthusiastic cheering from the large Aragon student section.
The Dons only had one day of practice until round two of the California Interscholastic Federation championships.
Head coach Kelsey Stiles described their practice routine: “We’ve extended our season so long at this point that we’re trying to take it easy on them. Their legs were shot from Tuesday’s game to five sets … we’re back to basics. Serving, receiving, easy things. It’s a mental fight for us now.”
Heading into the game on Nov. 8, the Dons faced Carondelet High School (25-11 overall, 12-6 East Bay League). Although Carondelet took the first set, Aragon eventually won the game in another tough fought match of a full five sets.
From watching the first set, one wouldn’t have picked Aragon to win the full game. With many unforced errors, such as serves into the net and hits landing out of bounds, the Dons had a rough start. Carondelet taking the first set 25-14 seemed to be a wake up call for Aragon, and they scraped by with a 25-22 win of the second set—largely thanks to sophomore outside hitter Amanda Patea, who sent three consecutive kills down the line to finish off the set.
The Dons easily took the third set 25-14. Along with playing well and gaining new momentum, the Aragon student section played a significant role in supporting the team.
“The student section helped, 100 percent,” Patea said. “It got us really fired up.”
Carondelet took the momentum back during the fourth set, winning 25-17. Once again, the Dons were headed into the fifth and final set of 15 points to decide who would advance to state semifinals.
Fifth set is who wants it more, and we [were] the ones who wanted it
“We didn’t come this far to give up. We give every single point our all, and fight our hardest,” said junior defensive specialist Megan Shen. “Fifth set is who wants it more, and we [were] the ones who wanted it.”
Winning the last set 15-12, the Dons advanced to the state semifinal competition against Los Altos (33-9 overall, 10-2 in the Santa Clara Valley- De Anza league). Defeated in three swift sets, the Dons were eliminated by the Eagles, who went on to place second in the state finals. Junior defensive specialist Dylan Scherer had higher hopes and expectations for the team.
“I expected and our coaches expected us to go through to the final rounds of state and face off against SoCal,” Scherer said. “I think we worked hard this whole season, and we were definitely able to get there.”
Despite not being able to continue further into state competitions, the Dons’ run was record breaking and a legendary season in terms of their previous accomplishments. Winning CCS for the first time in program history then continuing through to the semifinals of state competition are standards the girls volleyball team will hold themselves to for years to come.
