Four thrilling matches were all it took for the Carlmont girls’ varsity volleyball team to take the win over Aragon High School.
The first match got off to a great start for the Scots. Led by Elizabeth Prozell, a senior, they took a 6-0 lead. The Aragon Dons battled back, however, eventually bringing the score to 8-11, with the Scots still in the lead.
The two teams went back and forth, but after a few miscommunications between the Scots, the Dons tied it up 14-14 and the game remained tied through multiple rounds.
Carlmont finally took control after the tie had reached 18-18, bringing the score up to 20-18 in favor of the Scots. This didn’t last long though, as the Dons tied it back up at 22-22 and then took their first lead of the game at 23-22.
The Dons ultimately won the first match 25-22. Both teams played extremely well but due to multiple errors by the Scots, Aragon came out on top.
“I think after losing that first set we all we were thinking about was what we needed to do to improve our game going into the next match,” said Tiara Testa, a senior and one of Carlmont’s outside hitters.
The Dons were the first to score in the first set, followed by a five-point run by the Scots, bringing the score to 5-1, again under the serving arm of Prozell.
This match yielded many spectacular plays, as freshmen Grace Xu and Katrina Wong went all out to keep the Scots in control.
The second match had some extremely long rallies as well, with the ball going back and forth in excess of five times. Both teams were playing to their full potential to try and secure the second game.
McClellan also led a score break away, serving as the Scots took a 21-14 lead. The Scots had taken control and were not eager to give it up, but neither were the Dons. They brought the score to 17-21 at which point the Scots called a timeout.
“Our coach is so good during timeouts. We go in there upset that he called a timeout and end up leaving it with more confidence in ourselves. It can really be a game changer in a tight situation,” Wong said.
After the timeout, the Scots maintained the lead and eventually won, 25-21.
“When we get into something good, hopefully, we use that confidence to keep our energy up, and when something bad happens we just go back to the process and try to make the next play that comes to us. We made so many good plays and it’s really motivating, it spreads confidence throughout the whole roster when they watch their teammates make those great plays,” said head coach Chris Crader.
In the third match, the Dons struck first again, this time staying ahead until 6-3. After some more back and forth, a great play by Wong allowed the Scots to tie it up 7-7.
After this point, the score differential between the two teams never exceeded two points, the Scots never falling behind but allowing the Dons to tie it up at 18-18. After a three-point run by Carlmont, the Dons were forced to call a timeout. After the game started back up, the Dons tied it at 21-21, but fell behind yet again and eventually lost 23-25.
The Scots came out hard in the fourth set, scoring four points before the Dons could even get their first point in. The Dons came back quickly though, tying it up at 4-4. Both sides were playing all out, saving hits that required split-second reactions. The game stayed tight until the Scots went on a three-point run, but the Dons quickly closed that gap making it 14-12, Scots leading and eventually progressing to 21-16.
At this point, the Dons had lost their drive and began to fall apart, losing the final set 18-25.
The Scots had secured their first league win.
“Aragon is one of the favorites, they have good players all around the court. We knew they were going to be tough so to come on the road and pull out [a win], it’s fantastic,” Crader said.
