Daily Journal Athlete of the Week: Aragon’s Poppy McKenzie

“I definitely felt my head shaking during like those last 10 points,” McKenzie said. “I’m looking over at my friends on the sideline, I’m like: ‘I’m going to pass out! I’m going to pass out!’”

The reason McKenzie was so out of sorts is a condition called vasovagal syncope, classified as a physiological response to stressful situations that results in a drop of blood pressure and heart rate. She was diagnosed with the condition prior to this season, she said.

McKenzie has been named Athlete of the Week after overcoming the impulse to pass out down the stretch of Aragon’s 28-26, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 win over Monta Vista-Cupertino to claim the program’s fifth all-time CCS Division II crown. Not only did she step up with one of the best performances of her varsity career with a double-double of 24 kills, 16 digs and five blocks, she scored the emphatic block at championship point.

“I have to stick with it to the end,” McKenzie said. “I don’t even remember anything that happened in like the last 10 points. I just let it all out. I just played as hard as I could.”

The game-winning block she does remember.

Monte Vista ran its attack consistently off the right side with its hybrid two-setter system for the versatile talents of senior Chloe Chen and junior Kylee Mark. So, when the Matadors were scrambling into system for what would be the final swing of the match, McKenzie read it all the way.

“The right side, that’s their girl,” McKenzie said. “The two right sides, those are their hitters. So, I knew it was going to go there, and I knew I just had to get up and press. It was the last point of the game. I had to give it my all. So, I got there as quick as I could, and I was just there at the right time, at the right moment.”

McKenzie did finally pass out, though. After her perfectly timed block, she let roar with a celebration cry as Aragon players converged in the middle of the floor.

“The end of the game is when you can finally let your body relax,” McKenzie said. “It’s over with. It’s like: ‘We won the championship!’”

McKenzie initially hugged it out with her teammates, and was all smiles. When head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble walked over and embraced her star player with a big hug, McKenzie nearly collapsed into her arms.

For the next few minutes, McKenzie sat on the sideline with Gennaro-Trimble, trading her gleeful smile for a look of concern, calling for a trainer as Aragon assistant coach Diean Hala’ufia fanned her with a clipboard. It took McKenzie several minutes to get her wind back. She eventually got back to her feet and was smiling during the postgame trophy presentation.

McKenzie’s quick recuperative ability was the ultimate inspiring comeback in a week of Aragon comebacks. After the Lady Dons won last Tuesday’s CCS quarterfinal opener 25-21, 25-9, 25-17 against Westmont-Campbell, Thursday’s semifinal with Leland-San Jose opened with a disaster two sets, only to see them rally back for a 22-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 15-9 victory.

“After those two sets, we were like: ‘If we lose one set, it’s done. It’s over,’” McKenzie said. “So, it just felt different because I guess we knew that we all contributed, we all came together.”

Two days later, Gennaro-Trimble used the five-set victory over Leland as a talking point. The message during a Game 4 timeout with Aragon trailing 14-5 was simple — don’t let this one get to a fifth set. What followed was yet another rousing comeback.

“That really motivated us,” McKenzie said. “None of us want to go into a fifth set. To 15 points, that’s too risky for us.”

A native of Australia, McKenzie moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 5. Her one outstanding memory of the Land Down Under is breaking her wrist when she fell off a set of monkey bars.

Since coming to the States, McKenzie has developed into a year-round volleyball player. She joined SF Elite Volleyball Club in fifth grade, and moved from Red Rock Volleyball Club to a new club, NorCal Volleyball based in East Palo Alto, last year.

Now, McKenzie is a two-time first-team All-Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division player, and leads Aragon into the CIF Northern California Division II tournament opening Tuesday.