Aragon crowned CCS Division II volleyball champs for the third time in five years

The Dons won their first two CCS titles in 2018 and ’19, but neither were as dramatic as this year’s five-set thriller. With Saturday’s match hanging in the balance throughout a Game 3 extra-points battle, Aragon turned to its senior leader, middle hitter Jessica Castroviejo, who turned in one of her finest performances of the year.

“We went to five sets with so many teams,” Castroviejo said. “I think that’s what really helped us to push through this game, having the experience and having the endurance, just the ability to fight all the way through.”

Despite not recording a kill in Game 1, Castroviejo went on to total a match-high 20 kills and four blocks. Eight of those kills came in the third set, a set that saw Aragon trailing 18-13 before setter Hunter Kwan started feeding the middle for Castroviejo to lead her team on a 9-2 run.

“Our coaches were saying to set the middles,” Castroviejo said. “So, I knew I had to focus and just play smart, like if I didn’t think a set was good enough, I just had to focus on getting the point.”

Senior outside hitter Isabella Bartlewski rattled the Monta Vista double block to tie it 20-20. Then Castroviejo gave the Dons their first lead of the set with a blast off the block. The Matadors bounced back to tie it at 24-24 with a long cross shot from outside hitter Kiana Mark. But Aragon got the advantage in extra-points with a Grace Nai kill, before Bartlewski finished in system by tooling the block off the left side.

Aragon’s championship performance was far from a one-woman show. Hyper-athletic senior outside hitter Jordan Lee finished with 10 kills, while Nai and sophomore outside hitter Sophie Rubinstein had nine kills apiece. The back row was ruled by Kwan, defensive specialist Ari Gacutan and libero Kat Suayan, who were integral to defending the varied and difficult shots Monta Vista was executing.

“Their hitters were smart,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “They weren’t all power; they were power, they were tooling us, they were very good.”

Heading into Game 4, Gennaro-Trimble shared a sentimental moment with Suayan, as the junior libero was gathering herself at the end of the bench before subbing onto the court to start the set. Suayan, a former beach volleyball player, is used to playing amped up, but coming off the Game 3 marathon, she was perhaps a bit too amped up.

It was nothing a sneak-attack hug from Gennaro-Trimble couldn’t resolve.

“She was just comforting me at that moment,” Suayan said. “It was just really emotional. I knew that coming into this that it would be a really hard game. It was just a very emotional moment for me. And for Coach Nettie to come in and be there for me was just a huge moment, and it really helped me going into the fourth set.”

“She plays so hard,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “Libero is sometimes a thankless position … but the liberos are a lot of what we ride on … because without them we don’t get the set, we don’t get the kill. I just knew she could do it. I knew she’s been a steadfast player on the floor for us for a long time, and I just wanted her to have the best championship game she could.”

After Monta Vista (22-9) turned the tables in Game 4 by overtaking Aragon late in the set, the Game 5 race to 15 was, of course, steeped in more dramatics.

The Dons jumped out to a healthy 9-5 lead but got stuck in a rotation with Castroviejo off the floor. The Matadors capitalized, going on a 4-0 run to tie it on a slide step off the right side by senior Miranda Shakouri for her team-high 15th kill.

That’s when Rubinstein came through with the most pivotal shot of the match. The sophomore had been a force early, scoring four kills, two blocks and one ace in Game 1, only to see Monta Vista keenly target her with its service game to neutralize her attacking rhythm. But with Game 5 deadlocked 9-9, Rubinstein socked a long cross shot off the left side that fell just inside the line for a coffin corner kill.

Not only did the clever shot give Aragon a 10-9 lead, it allowed Castroviejo to rotate back onto the court.

“I think it was absolutely amazing,” Castroviejo said of the shot. “I just really wanted to get back on the court. I just really wanted to do everything I could to help the team win. I was a hundred percent focused ­— senior year, it means everything, especially with these girls.”

Castroviejo gave the Dons a 12-10 lead with a bomb through the middle, but the Matadors fought back, tying it at 12-12 with a rocket service ace by senior Krupa Shanware, her fourth of the match. But after a service fault gave Aragon the lead, Castroviejo finished off the victory with an off-speed kill to force championship point, and a definitive block to end it.

The Dons celebrated with an emotional dog pile in the middle of the court.

“I was just so excited,” Rubinstein said. “I was so nervous the whole game. Just winning is amazing. It’s what we looked forward to the whole season. Being here, I’m so glad we pulled through.”

The Dons’ third CCS Division II championship in five years — there was no postseason in 2020 — is perhaps their most complete one yet in sharing the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division championship with Burlingame. It is Aragon’s first league championship since capturing the PAL Ocean Division title in 2014. It is the program’s first Bay Division championship since 1996.

It is also the first chance to celebrate a CCS championship for each of the 14 players on this season’s roster.

“They’re just fabulous kids,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “They just support each other on and off the floor — they’re just really close — and in volleyball, that’s what actually makes you really good.”