Another dynamic Notre Dame-Belmont volleyball duo

Backed by the senior-freshman duo, the Tigers (2-0) roared to a 25-19, 25-23, 25-23 non-league victory Wednesday night at Moore Pavilion. Rivera, the freshman, fired a match-high 16 kills while Mangan, the senior, clocked 12 kills and four service aces.

“I’ve got a one-two punch and no complaints,” Agresti said. “I’ve got my senior and my freshman. So, it’s a great little combo there.”

A good one-two punch at NDB has historically spelled disaster not just for the West Bay Athletic League, but for the state of California in general. The current tandem of Mangan and Rivera — after just two matches playing together — already evokes memories of Tigers greats Tammy Byrne and Katie Smoot, who as juniors led NDB to the 2015 CIF Division IV state championship.

The 6-1 Rivera has made a quick impression on the varsity volleyball ranks. Prior to Wednesday’s standout effort, the freshman opened the season with a 22-kill performance in last Thursday’s four-set win over Carlmont. And she picked up right where she left off in Game 1 against the Dons.

“It was pretty hard,” Aragon senior Jessica Castroviejo said of trying to pick up Rivera’s powerful shots. “But I think we did really good. We did our best.”

Aragon (1-2) certainly made a match of it, as the team showed it plans to contend in an up-for-grabs Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division this season. While the perennial Central Coast Section playoff contender advanced to the CCS Division II semifinals last season, the Dons settled for third place in the PAL Bay behind second-place Burlingame and undefeated first-place Hillsdale, the eventual CIF Division I Northern California champions.

With both Hillsdale and Burlingame graduating their top players, though, Aragon — a team that has not won a league title since its PAL Ocean Division championship in 2014 — is looking to make its mark.

“I’m not sure who else has the horses to go,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “I’m hoping we’re one of those top ones. I’m thinking we have a good shot at it.”

After NDB dominated from the service line in Game 1 — Mangan and Rivera combined for five aces — Aragon made some noise in each of the last two sets. The Dons led late in Game 2, 20-16, fueled by some dominant serving of its own, with sophomore Sophie Rubinstein scoring three aces in the set. Then in Game 3, the Dons held leads of 15-10, 16-11 and 17-13 before the Tigers came roaring back.

The pivotal moment of the match came late in Game 2. With the score deadlocked 22-22, and Aragon line shot was called out by the sideline official, but Gennaro-Trimble had the same view as the official and saw it differently.

“I thought it was in but whatever, a call is a call and you’ve got to learn to move on,” Gennaro-Trimble said.

The point swung the set in favor of NDB. Then in Game 3, the battle up front came down to Aragon’s strength through the middle, against the booming pin hitters of NDB.

“We have a good amount of height and people with good verticals too,” Castroviejo said. “So, I think that if we just keep practicing, keep working at it, and just focusing, watching the hitters, watching their hands, watching their shoulders, we’ll definitely get better as a blocking team.”

Castroviejo — who was the Dons’ setter last season — has moved to the middle block this season. The senior totaled a team-high nine kills and two blocks Wednesday, including five kills in the closing set. She capped a long rally late in Game 3 with a perfect fade through the middle to swing the Dons in front 21-20.

Then Rivera answered with some thunder, tooling the block with blast off the left side to tie it 21-21. After Aragon misfired into the net to give NDB a 22-21 lead — the Dons committed 22 unforced errors in the match, 10 of them coming in the closing set — junior setter Jessica Ai served up an ace, Rivera scored off the right side to force match point, and Mangan finished off the night with her 12th kill, a bolt off the left side.

“This is our second match of the season so we’re just trying to work through these hard times,” Agresti said. “And I think every time we come through a hard time from coming behind, it just gets more confidence for the season. … I don’t want to continually be down, but if we are down and we can battle back, that’s going to be good for later in the season.”