On Nov. 14, the Aragon girls volleyball team (27-11 overall, 11-3 Peninsula Bay League) lost 3-2 against the Branson School (16-8 overall, 6-1 Marin County League) in the second round of the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoffs on Nov. 14.
Aragon squandered a 13-11 lead late in the fifth set, making three crucial errors which turned the momentum towards Branson. The Dons had a slow start, losing the first set 25-21, but quickly went on a winning streak in the next two sets, which they won 25-14 and 25-13. They ultimately lost momentum, losing a close fourth set 25-21, and then losing the fifth set 15-13.
While the Dons were inconsistent offensively, there were some successful hits by senior outside hitter Lydia Manu and junior right side hitter Sabine Milton and they were aided by the precise and powerful serves of senior libero Ally Thaw and senior outside hitter Amanda Patea.
The team got off to a fast start in the second set after a tough first set loss, leading 12-2 in the opening minutes. They kept the momentum on their side by playing good defense and hitting strong spikes and keeping Branson off balance. The team finished the set off, 25-14.
“We noticed that a lot of their hitters were hitting angled the majority of the time so instead of our usual blocking line, we decided to start blocking angle instead,” said sophomore outside hitter Skylar Rubinstein.
The Dons kept it going in the third set, quickly getting ahead 10-3 thanks to contributions from Patea, Milton and senior middle hitter Lolo Folau. The Dons made a few errors but made up for them with timely blocks and spikes.
However, the last two sets got away from the Dons. They fell behind early but couldn’t come back as Branson started to pull away. The Dons did not have any momentum during the set and lost some critical points at the end of the set during some long rallies.
“They started mixing up [angled and vertical hits],” Rubinstein said, which was the flaw in Aragon’s defense blocking angle.
Down by three late in the fourth set, the Dons made crucial mistakes, including multiple block errors, losing a couple long rallies, and some uncharacteristic errors such as net violations.
“Losing the fourth set was tough. We didn’t play as well as we did in the second or third set,” Manu said. “We were off in hitting and the other team did well in taking advantage of this.”
It was the same story in the fifth set, with Aragon and Branson tied neck and neck but Aragon took a small two point lead, up 13-11, needing only two more points to win. But when Manu went up for a big spike, Branson’s middle hitter blocked her, tying the game at 13-13. The Dons made errors on the next two plays, the last point being a communication error between Manu and junior middle hitter Ella Sears that led to Branson’s victory.
Though they were knocked out of the CIF playoffs, the Dons concluded a strong season by compiling a 27-11 record and winning the Division II Central Coast Section championships for the second year in a row.
