The Aragon Dons fought hard against Carlmont’s varsity volleyball team and beat the Carlmont Scots in three out of five sets.
On Tuesday Oct. 27, shouts and cheers filled Aragon’s gym as the two teams played against each other for the third time this season.
“We beat them twice already, and we wanted a third victory,” said senior Erin Alonso.
The game started quickly as the Dons were forced to adjust and fill the holes the Scots were hitting into. Strong hits from senior Alexis Morrow and sophomore Maya McClellan were rivaled by equally powerful blocks from Aragon middle blocker Melanie Moore.
“We’ve minimized our errors a lot since the last game against Carlmont. We fought really hard against them today,” said Moore.
Seniors Elena Mateus and Alonso kept the Scots’ energy from falling with positive words, but the team still fell short, and Aragon’s sheer persistence led to a 25-12 victory in the first set.
In the second set, the two teams proved to be even matches. Aragon brought more energy, and Carlmont fought even harder. Both teams strived to hit into holes left behind by poor defense. McClellan and senior Mia Hogan brought more intense power to the front row, and Alonso and Mateus dominated in the back row. The teams tied at both 15-15 and 19-19, but the Dons took the set 25-23.
In the third match, the Dons slowly tired out, while Mateus kept the Scots awake and energetic. Sophomore setter Sophie Srivastava came out of her usual position to play offense, tipping the ball instead of setting so as to confuse the Aragon players. Despite a lost shoe by Morrow, the Scots stayed close behind the Dons, who often substituted players.
“We had 100 percent team effort from the girls. Every single person played in the game,” said Aragon head coach Kelsey Stiles.
A final kill by Morrow brought the Scots a 25-22 win.
The fourth set started off powerfully for Carlmont, with Alonso and Mateus again taking control of the back row. With most of their mistakes at the net, the Scots turned to picking up Aragon’s kills and covering holes. As a result, the Scots stayed close behind the Dons. With Mateus pushing kills deep into the back corners, Carlmont was able to tie the set at 25-25. Morrow killed the last ball and got a 27-25 win for Carlmont.
Carlmont led at the beginning of the fifth and final set, but the game began taking a toll on the Scots, as they grew visibly more and more tired. After two missed serves, Carlmont lost the lead and Aragon pulled ahead.
“We need to learn to serve tougher; our serves were not well done today,” said Alonso.
Adjusting to the Scots’ strong defense, the Dons pulled forward to dump tips and roll shots onto the front row. This proved fatal for the Scots, and the Dons took the set 15-10.
“We’re all pretty disappointed, but we’re going to have to start taking better advantage of practice time. Now, we’re even more motivated to beat Burlingame on Thursday,” said Alonso.
The Scots will take on Burlingame High School on Thursday, Oct. 29.
