Aragon back to CCS volleyball finals

That’s what makes Thursday’s victory so meaningful, as No. 1 Aragon (23-9) swept through the CCS Division II semifinals 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 at home over No. 5 Lynbrook. The Dons now advance to Saturday’s championship match, the fourth time in school history they have reached the title round.

“It means a lot because I think we worked super hard throughout this whole season,” Aragon senior Grace Nai said. “And it’s all come together. Last year we were super close, we lost in the semifinals to Valley Christian, but coming back for this game, we’re really pumped to have a chance to take the victory.”

Grace Nai is one half of Aragon’s sister act, that includes junior Leah Nai. The two complement each other perfectly, from playing side by side as middle and opposite hitters, respectively, right down to their matching footwear — Grace Nai sports teal shoes with pink highlights, while Leah Nai rocks the pink kicks with teal highlights.

“I think we really have that connection together because we’re sisters,” Grace Nai said. “It really puts us apart from other teams.”

And after battling back-and-forth for the better part of two sets with Lynbrook, it was when Aragon finally turned Leah Nai loose that the Dons turned the corner.

Late in Game 2, the Vikings (21-11) — paced by a team-high 10 kills from junior Vaishnavi Kunapuli and nine kills from senior Ella Tao — had closed to within a point at 22-21. That’s when Leah Nai elevated off the left side for a well-placed tip over the Lynbrook block to score her first kill of the match. From there, Aragon closed it out with a block by Jessica Castroviejo and a service ace by Kathleen Suayan to take a 2-sets-to-0 lead.

“I think we just like to move the ball around a lot,” Grace Nai said. “So, I think when they’re not expecting it, because we haven’t been going to her a lot. Then we go to our other outsides, and we go to our other middles, and we go to them until they don’t expect it and that leaves one blocker on the outside for her.”

Paced by sophomore outside hitter Sophie Rubenstein’s match-high 13 kills, Aragon balanced its attack well. Castroviejo added 11 kills, while Grace Nai and Isabella Bartlewski totaled eight kills apiece.

Rubenstein was a force in solving the Lynbrook block, which gave the Dons trouble early in Game 1. The Vikings took a 9-8 lead but the Dons turned it around with a 7-0 run, including a Grace Nai kill through the middle to take a 10-9 lead, followed by a Rubenstein block before the sophomore rocked two straight kills by tooling the isolated blocker on the left side.

“I just looked around and, the tallest girl, just go anywhere but there,” Rubenstein said. “Just try to find an open spot.”

Then the Aragon block stepped up. Castroviejo finished with a match-high five blocks, despite not scoring her first one until midway through Game 2 to give the Dons a 12-11 lead. After senior Jordan Lee scored one of her four match kills to give Aragon the lead for good at 14-13, Castroviejo added two more blocks in the set to give the Dons some breathing room.

Rubenstein would close out a runaway Game 3 with a dominant performance, totaling eight kills in the closing set. The sophomore actually made her varsity debut in the CCS playoffs last year but didn’t see a lot of playing time. This year she rarely comes off the court.

“She’s learned a lot,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “She’s still grown as a sophomore. So, even though she was a starter, she’s gotten better and better as the season [has gone along]. I think she’s playing her best volleyball right now, which is what you hope for.”

Gennaro-Trimble said she is over her team’s loss in last year’s CCS Division II semifinals, but that she understands it still looms large in the memory of her players.

“For them, that was a big loss last year,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “They fought hard last year, and it just went so deep. And, also, after COVID last year, that was the first year that the majority of them ever saw CCS. And so, that was their first experience, they really wanted to go far. So, I think maybe in the back of their minds, I think that’s why this win was so big for them, because, right now, this is a new group.”

The Dons will take the championship stage at Gunn High School, where they will face No. 2 Monta Vista-Cupertino. Start time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Division I

No. 3 Menlo-Atherton (20-14) advanced to the CCS Division I finals with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-16 sweep at home of No. 10 Carlmont (14-16). The Bears will now face top-seed Branham at Gunn in Palo Alto, Saturday, at 3 p.m. It is the second straight year M-A has advanced to the CCS finals, winning the program’s fourth Division I title last season.

Division III

Top-seed Santa Cruz (24-7) ended No. 4 Capuchino’s CCS run, defeating the Lady Mustangs (21-9) in four sets. Santa Cruz will take on Sacred Heart Cathedral Saturday for the Division III championship at Palo Alto High School at 12:30 p.m.

Division IV

No. 5 Mercy-Burlingame (22-9) swept its way to the CCS Division IV finals with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 upset at No. 1 Carmel (19-8). The Crusaders now advance to face No. 2 Harbor at a neutral site, Saturday at Palo Alto High School at 5:30 p.m.

In the other Division IV semifinal, Harbor knocked out No. 6 Half Moon Bay (13-19) in a five-set thriller, 25-15, 19-25, 27-29, 25-15, 15-8.

Division V

No. 2 Summit Shasta (30-7) will return to the CCS finals for the second straight year, knocking out No. 3 Santa Catalina (13-11) in four sets. In a quest to win their first-ever CCS title, the Black Bears will now take on No. 4 Castilleja (18-13) Saturday at Palo Alto High School at 3 p.m. Summit’s 30th win marks a new program record.