Sophomore Santiago Smirnoff sets the ball for junior Jasper Caffo.
On May 7, the Aragon boys volleyball team (31-4 overall) beat Saratoga (18-6 overall) in the Central Coast Section Division II quarterfinals in an exciting three-set game. After finishing second in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, the Dons secured a bye in the first round of the CCS tournament and automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.
To start the match, the first set was close up until the end. Saratoga got the first point but Aragon quickly responded with a kill from senior co-captain Cameron Sears. The Dons’ offense was strong throughout the set, but so was Saratoga’s, who had several well-placed kills the Dons could not defend. However, with the help of hard-hit kills from Sears and senior Luke Phillips, as well as multiple diving saves from senior co-captain James Diaz, Aragon came out on top over Saratoga 28-26.
With packed bleachers, the energy in the gym was high after the Dons won their first set.
“I thought there was a lot of good energy on the floor as well as from my bench,” said head coach Diean Hala’ufia. “They just really wanted it last night so it was really nice.”
The Dons came out stronger in the second set, scoring four points in a row, including two blocks from senior Z Carracedo. Sophomore Santiago Smirnoff contributed greatly to the team’s success, with his accurately placed sets. Smirnoff had a total of 28 assists throughout the game, and leads his team with 839 assists overall. The Dons’ defense was much stronger in the second set, with well-timed blocks from the front row. Aragon eventually ran away with the set, with the final point being a kill from Sears. The final score was 25-19 as Aragon entered the third set leading Saratoga 2-0.
Despite winning the first two sets, the team knew they had room to improve going into the third.
“In between sets, we talked about how to better manage the game,” Sears said. “For example the outside [hitter] on their team was hitting angles a lot and getting through our blocks, so we talked about our middles stepping in and how we can defend against them a bit better.”
The Dons returned to the court, determined to win the game in three sets. Although Saratoga blocked a hit from Aragon to get the first point, a clever back-set over the net by Smirnoff started the Dons’ on a nine point streak to put the team up 9-1. The Falcons were able to decrease the score gap but could not catch up to the Dons, as kills from Phillips, Sears and junior Jasper Caffo carried the team to a close 25-23 win to end the match. After winning the game in three sets the Don’s secured their spot in the CCS semifinals.
Although Aragon defeated Saratoga in three sets, the Falcons played hard, making the game challenging up until the last point.
“It was a tough match,” Hala’ufia said. “[Saratoga] is a really good team, very tall, very competitive, so it was a challenge for us.”
Luckily, the Dons were able to perform well under pressure, with multiple players making a big difference in the outcome of the game.
“I thought that Cameron Sears made a big difference yesterday,” Caffo said. “He hits the ball really well, he blocks very well, he passes very well. James Diaz too. He brings our energy up a lot and he just boosts our morale.”
Despite the well-deserved win, the team recognizes that there is still work to be done.
“I think we need to execute better,” Hala’ufia said. “Our passing was excellent but I think we need to get points on the board quickly like we did in the second and the third set and then not look back. The quicker we get on the board and create that spread I think the better off we will be.”
Others agreed that there was still room for improvement for the team.
“I think we struggle with finishing the game off strong when we’re up at the end,” Sears said. “We kind of start messing around when we get comfortable around 22 or 24, so I think we need to finish the game quicker.”
Coming off of a strong win and knowing what to improve on going into their next match, the Dons beat Monterey 3-2 in the CCS semi-finals. However, they did not have the same success in the finals against Monta Vista, losing 3-1.
By making it to the CCS finals, Aragon secured a spot in the CIF NorCal regional tournament and faced Del Oro on Tuesday, May 14. Unfortunately, the Dons fell short of their goal and were eliminated in the first round of the CIF tournament when they lost 3-1, bringing their season to an end.
Despite playing well throughout the CCS tournament, the team agrees that their performance fell apart during the last two games of the season.
“In the finals I think that everything just didn’t really connect like our serve and receive. I think that everyone could have done their job better,” Sears said. “Our last game was rough … No sets were really connecting well, our passing started to fall apart and we kind of lost control of the game after the first set.”
Although they did not advance further in their postseason tournaments, the team takes pride in their accomplishments. As for the future, they plan to build off of this past season next year in hopes of achieving even greater success in the following spring.
