Photo Credit: Ava Sims
On Sept. 20, the Aragon girls volleyball team (8-8 overall, 2-2 Peninsula Athletic League) lost 3-1 in a hard-fought game against the Menlo-Atherton Bears (6-7 overall, 2-2 PAL). It was a very competitive matchup with close scores throughout all the sets.
Going into the game, the Dons were excited about their chances despite narrowly losing a tournament match 2-1 to Menlo-Atherton the weekend prior.
“Playing at Menlo is really fun because they have a huge student section,” said senior right side setter Jordan Lee. “[Menlo] is our biggest rival.”
The team hoped that their drills on communication, blocking and overall practice of game situations could lead them to a win.
“I think we just need to be able to trust each other more as a team,” Lee said. “[We need to] … work together to find the open spots on the courts … because it’s usually a difference of two points.”
The game had a very competitive start. During the first set, neither team had a lead of more than three points at any given time. This continued until the game was tied at 15.
While both teams exhibited strong defense and offensive attacks, the Dons’ energy made the difference. Even though they were only matching their opponents point for point, players both on and off the court had high energy that led to the Dons’ increased momentum.
“We got into this good rhythm where we weren’t too focused on what we were doing wrong,” said senior outside Isabella Bartlewski. “If we made a mistake, [we were] able to shake it off and do the next [play].”
This rhythm led the Dons to inch ahead of Menlo-Atherton to a 25-21 win.
Beginning the second set, strong serves from Menlo gave the Bears an early 9-4 lead.
“Once Menlo-Atherton got a three or four point [lead], we just got discouraged,” said junior defensive specialist Lauren Molloy. “We weren’t cheering as loudly … [and] we began to tense up on the court.”
Despite a distinct decrease in energy compared to the first set, the Dons’ still managed to bring back the game to a 22-22 tie thanks to multiple kills from sophomore Sophie Rubinstein. However, the Dons were not able to close out the set, losing 25-22.
“If we made a mistake, [we were] able to shake it off …”
The third set got off to an exciting start with an out-of-bounds save by Lee that was brought back into play and put over the net by junior setter Hunter Kwan.
“I think [the save] brought a lot of excitement to the team … so I think that brought a lot of good energy onto the court to start off the set,” Lee said.
Yet, despite the positive energy going into the set, the Dons once again fell behind early to an 8-4 deficit. However, similar to the previous sets, the Dons’ set offense and frontline defense were able to help them pull the score back to a 10-10 tie.
The team fought back against Menlo’s strong serves to match them point for point, resulting in the set being tied at 17.
But the Dons’ struggled again to close out the set, not scoring until Menlo reached 24 points and losing 25 -19.
The fourth and final set once again saw Menlo-Atherton jump out to an early 5-1 lead. The Dons’ were never able to find their footing and ultimately lost the set 25-8.
“It was a lot of communication issues and [the] setter [and] hitter … connection [was] kind of off,” said senior right side hitter Luciana Lewis.
Going forward, the team identified a few fundamentals that needed improvement.
“We need to work on [receiving] serve[s] and [keep] … the energy up when we don’t do as well,” Bartlewski said.
Head coach Annette Gennaro hopes that the team’s experience can translate into success this season, helping them move forward from this loss to win Central Coast Section Division II and become one of the top teams in the PAL Bay Division.
“What matters is how we come back from the game … [and] how we look forward to being better for our next game,” Molloy said.
The Dons’ next home game is on Oct. 4 against Terra Nova at 6:15 p.m.
*Records as of Sept. 22
