On March 4, the Aragon boys volleyball team (1-2 overall) lost 3-0 against Juniperro Serra (3-0 overall). It was a result most of them had not anticipated prior to the game.
Before their loss, the team had high expectations despite the loss of some seniors. They were confident in the abilities of the experienced players on their team and the new players.
“I feel like we have a chance to win because we have a very strong team,” said sophomore Abnik Singh. “A lot of these players have played [with] each other before, and a lot of them are friends, so I feel like the chemistry will be really [good].”
Their confidence was also partly because of previous victories against Junipero Serra last year.
“I feel pretty optimistic,” said senior Isaac Nagao. “In past years we actually [blew] out Serra … three to zero, so I think this year we could also do the same thing.”
Apart from defeating Serra, the team’s ultimate goal was to get into the Central Coast Section championships, as they had done last year, and to place in the top two in the Peninsula Athletic League.
Throughout the first set, Aragon dropped consistently behind Serra by a few points. The difference circled around four or five points and stayed there, with the first set ending in a 20-25 loss.
During the second set, the two teams went head-to-head. When the teams were tied 7-7, there was a debate on the referee’s ruling of a point Aragon scored, an occurrence that became common during the remaining minutes of the game. Multiple times, the ref made calls that she ultimately overturned. However, the Aragon team tried not to let matters like this affect their attitude during the game.
“[I] … try to tell my boys to just keep playing the game and not let the ref [get] to them,” said head coach Meliame Hala’ufia. “Even though it is frustrating… we gotta just play through it.”
Then, when the teams were tied 9-9, Aragon temporarily pulled ahead after an error in servicing on Serra’s side. However, this lead was short-lived, with Serra catching up with three more scores.
When the two teams were tied at 18-18, Serra began to gain momentum and scored five points in a row, pulling themselves up until they were ahead at 18-23.
At around that point, athletes from Serra mention an increase in their quality of play. There were also no more errors in serving.
“Servicing… was a problem in the first half of the game,” said Serra junior Caeden Jones. “[But] it got better towards the end. Everyone got better towards the end.”
Although Aragon tried to catch up through two substitutions and managed to score two more points, they lost the set 20-25.
The discouraging start of the third set was marked with the overturning of another point on Aragon’s side. Immediately after, Serra gradually began to pull ahead, winning a lead of six points at 11-17.
A time-out was called at that point and one substitution occurred on Aragon’s side. However, upon both teams’ return to the field, a small hiccup occurred when Serra served and Aragon failed to return it, claiming that they hadn’t been prepared. A point was still awarded to Serra for the score.
Despite the time-out, Aragon could not manage to catch up to Serra’s large lead. They did manage to match Serra for each point, pulling the score up to 14-20.
At that point, the climax of the game occurred as the cheers of the audience and team members became louder, and Aragon’s team tried their best to prevent a loss. While it ultimately did not work as they soon ended both the match and the set with a score of 18-25, Aragon did show an improved performance.
“Toward the end we were finally working together [and] being more like a team on and off the court,” Hala’ufia said. “They showed [that] toward the end of the game.”
Aragon’s boys volleyball team will have their next game on March 14 against San Mateo High School at 5 p.m.
