Aragon revels in CCS Division II volleyball finals rematch

Well, the stars aligned this year, with Aragon reveling in the chance to rematch Monta Vista for the CCS Division II title.

“As soon as we heard we were playing Monta Vista in the championships, we were like: ‘It’s revenge time,’” Aragon sophomore Poppy McKenzie said. “‘We can’t let up. We can’t let what happened last year happen again.’ ... So, I think, honestly, if anything, it motivated us that we were playing them again.”

McKenzie, sophomore outside hitter Emilia Kunkel and junior opposite hitter Caitlyn Robertson — all underclassman starters on last year’s team — were the driving force in Aragon’s revenge, as the Dons (26-7) held on for a 28-26, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 victory Saturday night over No. 2 Monta Vista at Palo Alto High School.

McKenzie led the way with 19 kills and four blocks, including the roof at championship point to end it against the Matadors’ potent right-side attack. Kunkel added 12 kills and three blocks. Robertson also had 12 kills to go with one block.

“It’s a totally different year than last year,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “Monta Vista is very good, obviously. Two years in a row running into them. So, we’re excited to win this year. But I have a totally different team than last year.”

Aragon did graduate five seniors from the 2024 team, including its top scorer. But McKenzie, Kunkel and Robertson, along with junior setter Devyn Lee and second-year starting senior libero Sosefina Tatola have all proven stronger and faster throughout the Dons’ three postseason wins. What’s more, they proven fiercer competitors.

This competitiveness was never more evident than Thursday’s CCS semifinal against No. 4 Leland-San Jose. The Dons dropped the first two sets, only to rally back for a 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9 victory to keep their season alive.

“They are very, very competitive ... and they feed off each other,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “They get so excited for each other, when any one of them gets an ace, gets a kill, gets a block ... they just release it for each other.”

Saturday’s CCS finale looked like it might turn into a mirror image of the semifinal comeback. After the Matadors (21-14) rallied to a Game 3 win — overcoming a 21-19 Aragon advantage with a 5-0 run — they jumped out to a big 14-5 lead in Game 4.

It was there Gennaro-Trimble used her second and final timeout of the set in an attempt to right the ship.

“I told them ... ‘This is it, girls,’” Gennaro-Trimble said. “‘It’s up to you. Either you want it or you don’t.’ ... And they came back and showed it. And they did that the other night. They just showed how badly they really wanted to win.”

Kunkel sparked a 6-0 run by evading the block with a tip kill to force a side-out and rotate to the service line. The sophomore soon fired an ace, followed by a creative Robertson kill on a changeup redirect that caught the sideline, and a McKenzie bomb off the left side. Aragon then caught a break trailing 18-15 when the second referee initially whistled the Dons into the net, but the first referee overruled to call the Matadors into the net, closing it to 18-16.

McKenzie fired an ace to bring the Dons to within 1 for the first time since 1-0. Kunkel then took to the attack off the left side and angled long for the kill to tie it 18-all.

Comebacks of this kind are quickly distinguishing 2025 from last year’s playoff run.

“I definitely think it’s the reset factor,” McKenzie said. “Like, after we get a bad swing, a bad hit, a bad pass, I think this year we really can reset faster in our minds. Last year, if we let go of a couple points, we just kind of let go of the whole game. This year, I feel like — we were down by like nine points in that last set, and we reset, we locked back in, and we gained it back and we won it.”

Aragon’s coronation march saw Monta Vista lead twice more — at 19-18 on quick set through the middle to senior Nicole Jeleva, and at 20-19 on an Aragon service fault. The Dons then went on a three-point mini run, with an acrobatic diving dig by Tatola setting in motion an impressive attack with Kunkel finishing on a tight cross shot to tie it 20-all. Robertson then rifled a kill off the right side, and changed it up on the next point by fading the block to give Aragon a 22-20 lead.

The Dons rode the lead to victory, with McKenzie finishing out the match with a mighty block to end it.

“I’m just really happy it didn’t go to five (sets),” Gennaro-Trimble said. “I was ecstatic, because I was a little worried there. So, I was happy with the fight and grit to come back.”

As Aragon celebrated in the middle of the court, McKenzie stumbled toward the sideline before nearly passing out in the excitement. She was attended to on the Aragon sideline before getting back to her feet for the postgame awards ceremony.

“I think she was exhausted,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “She’s fine. She couldn’t breathe for a sec. She’s OK.”

Monta Vista senior opposite hitter Chloe Chen scored a team-high 17 kills to go with two aces. Junior opposite Kylee Mark added 12 kills.

The CCS crown marks the fifth all-time in Division II for the Dons, and their first since 2023. Aragon 2019 graduate Della Trimble, daughter of Gennaro-Trimble and setter for Aragon’s first CCS championship team in 2018, was in the house Saturday night.

With the win, the Dons advance to the CIF Northern California Division II regional tournament. Aragon drew the No. 6 seed and will host No. 11 St. Mary’s-Stockton Tuesday at 6 p.m.