Aragon bows out of Nor Cal Division II volleyball playoffs

But the No. 3-seed Lady Dons (26-10) saw their season come to an end in Saturday’s Nor Cal Division II regional semifinals, falling to a loaded No. 2 University-SF team 25-22, 25-20, 25-16.

“We’re just all sad because this has been a really incredible season,” Aragon junior Hunter Kwan said. “And we all love each other so much because we’re a really close team. We put a lot of effort … into this, so just all the emotion that spills out after games, we all just lean on each other for support.”

University (28-10) was undefeated on its home court this season, and it’s easy to see why.

The small private school in the heart of the residential Marina District houses one small gymnasium, with a low roof that put Aragon at an extreme disadvantage. The packed gym, with just six rows of bleachers on one side of the court, turned into a standing room only setting. And to make matters worse for the Dons, of the hundreds of championship pennants that line the gym’s walls and ceiling, there were a row-and-a-half hanging directly over Aragon’s side of the court, and none over University’s.

More intimidating than the gym, however, are the Red Devils themselves, who field a deep arsenal of front-row attackers. The Bay Counties West League champions swung with power and precision, scattering the Aragon defense all night long, leaving the Dons hardly able to ever get in system.

“University has a lot of hitters, obviously,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “And we just couldn’t pick up their hits. If we could pick it up, it seemed to ricochet off the ceiling. So, we just couldn’t seem to get into a groove tonight like we normally do.”

Aragon saw a ray of hope in Game 1. Trailing 18-17, the Dons went on a 4-1 run sparked by senior middle hitter Grace Nai, who tooled a quick set through the middle. But University head coach Bob Hillman called a timeout, and the Red Devils emerged from it by overcoming a 21-19 deficit with a 4-0 run on three straight left-side blasts by junior Kinnari Atluru, and a block by sophomore Damysia Walls.

The Dons wouldn’t recover but would bounce back to duel through the middlegame of Game 2. The score was tied at 13 junctures of the second set. After University broke an 18-18 tie on a crisp Walls kill through the middle, junior Mila Chan scored a cross shot off the left side to push the lead to 20-18.

Aragon closed it to 20-19 when the Red Devils knocked the ball into the antenna. But a scorer’s table timeout due to a scoreboard glitch ultimately iced Aragon’s server. University won the next point when an Aragon dig off the roof forced the setter to scramble for a wonky set to outside hitter Isabella Bartlewski, whose approach fell out of step, causing her to misfire into the net.

Not only did the Red Devils lead the rest of Game 2, they jumped out to a fast 6-0 lead in Game 3 fueled by a service run by sophomore Dani Lee and never looked back. Atluru finished with 18 kills and two blocks, Chan added 13 kills and two blocks, and senior middle Lucy Welch scored 10 kills.

“We’ve faced big hitters,” Kwan said. “They’re really good in their own respect. They bring a lot of power. The way we handled them, we just need to focus on our own game.”

Aragon was paced by eight kills from sophomore Sophie Rubinstein, and seven kills apiece from Nai and senior Jordan Lee. Junior libero Kat Suayan totaled 10 digs, while Kwan and senior Ari Gacutan had six digs each.

The postgame scene of Aragon’s final match of the season was an emotional scene, filled with tears and hugs, and lots of love.

“I think it’s just a bunch of happiness,” Gacutan said. “We made it this far. And I’m really proud of the team that we made, the team that we became. Obviously, it’s a sad ending, but I’m very proud.”

University now travels to No. 1 Clovis North to play for the Nor Cal Division II championship Tuesday night. The winner of that match advances to the Division II state finals this Saturday at Santiago Canyon College in Orange.