Aragon wins first Central Coast Section boys’ volleyball championship in program history

The No. 3-seed Dons (33-9) realized their championship destiny with a 25-21, 21-23, 25-19, 25-22 victory Saturday in the CCS Division I finals over No. 4 Mountain View at St. Francis High School. It marks the second trip to the CCS finals in three years for Aragon.

“At the beginning of the season, they kind of talked about it,” Aragon head coach Meliame Hala’ufia said. “And I knew I had all the pieces for it. Then it was just getting them to bond together to try and get to this goal.”

Aragon ran a spectacular attack through its middle, as senior Cameron Ngai and junior Raghav Vemulapalli shared the match-high of 12 kills apiece.

“This whole CCS run has been our middles,” Hala’ufia said. “They’re doing the same thing and no one’s been able to stop them yet.”

Ngai has been a starting middle for two years, and was Aragon’s leading blocker in 2025. The Dons, however, coming off the program’s best-ever finish in 2024, suffered a downturn last season. While Ngai was the Dons’ leading scorer through the first two rounds of the CCS tournament against Woodside and Los Altos, the addition of the high-flying Vemulapalli has proven a source of balance and depth.

“I think he definitely contributes a lot in terms of hitting power and scare factor,” Ngai said.

The middle-hitting duo exploited a Mountain View roster shakeup Saturday, as the Spartans lost junior outside hitter Evan Kelly to an injury in the first set. Kelly is head coach Josh Sullivan’s best defensive option against the middle attack. Then, after Game 2, with the match tied 1 set apiece, Mountain View outside hitter Kaio Icasiano departed due to a personal matter.

“When you lose two of your guys between your top three — we’ve also got a ton of injuries — but you’re losing one of your big guys in your big moments, one of your captains, it’s hard to replace,” Sullivan said.

Aragon dropped Game 2 after a ripping comeback, responding to a 12-9 deficit by rotating senior setter Santiago Smirnoff to the service line to reel off a 6-0 run. The Dons tied it 23-all when Mountain View (21-18) committed one of its 34 unforced errors in the match. But the Spartans flexed some power of their own through the middle, when sophomore Colin Ching put down a one of his team-high 10 kills through the middle to force set point, then finished it off with one of his three blocks.

Despite dropping the set, the Dons hardly made any changes to their service order or attacking focus going into Game 3.

“They’ve played together for so long throughout the season that I knew that they could just overcome it and resettle back into the game plan,” Hala’ufia said.

The one change Hala’ufia did make paid off in spades. Aragon turned to opposite hitter Benjamin Cheng in the third set, and senior went off, finishing with nine kills in limited playing time. His impact was felt early, as he exacted the back row with his first kill of the day to give the Dons a quick 2-1 lead. He then powered for two more kills to up the early lead to 7-3.

“I’m just super happy he was able to get this opportunity,” Smirnoff said. “To come on and just rock it like he did, he’s just playing great.”

It was more of the same in Game 4, only Mountain View led by 2 much of the way, including as late as 18-16 when sophomore Mosiah Fruean served up an emotional ace. After his next service attempt misfired long, however, Smirnoff stepped up with two of the biggest defensive plays of the match.

“It feels great, to be honest,” Smirnoff said. “I love those kind of moments ever since I was a little kid. It just feels great to be one of those reasons you can pump up a team, and just through it and pressing on the gas.”

Smirnoff turned back a left-side power attack with a block to tie it 18-all. Then, with Aragon leading 20-19, the senior did it again, catching a bolt of lightning off the left pin to score the block. The Spartans answered to tie it twice more, as late as 22-22, but a shot sailed long to put the Dons back ahead. Ngai then forced championship point with a kill through the middle. Junior Tyler Rivera then finished it off with one of his five match kills, a bolt off the left side to set off the celebration on Aragon’s side of the court.

Mountain View junior Zian Grove shared the team-high with 10 kills. Aragon senior Ailesh Chauhan added seven kills, Rivera finished with five, and Smirnoff and Mountain View junior Augie Kopp shared the match-high with four blocks apiece.

Aragon now advances to the CIF Boys’ Volleyball State Championships, the only San Mateo County team to earn a bid throughout all four Northern California regional brackets. Play opens Tuesday, with the Dons drawing the No. 6 seed in Division II. They will be heading to No. 3 Laguna Creek-Elk Grove for a 6 p.m. start.