Greenbaum, M-A volleyball back on top in PAL Bay Division

Greenbaum’s fiery play to start, and end, the second set won the day, though. After an opening set that saw five lead changes, the 5-10 Greenbaum fronted a wire-to-wire lead for the Bears in Game 2.

“For me, I definitely saw her hitting lines, I saw her all the first set, she was definitely dominating on the court,” Greenbaum said. “It was like a personal goal to make sure I’d overtake her, and I could either block her or swing around her when she’s blocking me.

“I was even more fired up,” she said. “Even with the first few times she blocked me in the first set, I didn’t think that slowed me down. I think I was really fired up.”

With the focus moving toward Greenbaum in the form of an Aragon triple block, M-A (4-1 PAL Bay, 11-7 overall) and freshman setter Calista Chou began feeding its array of pin hitters. Sophomore outside hitter Gabriella Lowe swung for a match-high 14 kills, while senior outside hitter Jocelyn Chang added 11 kills.

“It really elevates the game and makes it much more dimensional,” M-A head coach Denny Falls said about the matchup of middle. “Where many times if someone’s not matching up with the middle, someone can just run that play all night. There’s no slowing it down, no stopping it. So, this was a very equal matchup in the middle. Then it made it much more about the outsides, much more about the right sides.”

Aragon (4-1, 13-4) controlled the pace of play early in the match, jumping out to a 16-13 lead in Game 1. M-A responded with a 7-0 run with senior Ruby Stone at the service line, capped by Lowe tooling the Aragon block off the left side to give the Bears a 19-16 advantage. They wouldn’t trail again until the third set.

In Game 3, it was M-A that saw a big 14-8 lead slip away as Aragon junior Claire Richards stepped to the service line and reeled off a 7-0 run, including two aces, to put Aragon ahead 15-14.

“[Richards] really brought that determination that we needed into that third set,” McKenzie said. “And she did what she needed to do. She executed when we needed it. So, props to her. She knew what needed to be done, and she did it.”

The Lady Dons misfired long twice in a row — two of their 18 unforced errors — to give M-A the lead back. The Bears added to it with a long cross-court lob by Lowe that caught the back corner to up the lead to 17-15. M-A never trailed again, breaking ties at 21-all and 22-all, before Lowe put down her 14th kill of the night to end it.

McKenzie finished with a match-high three blocks, while senior setter Gabby Xiao totaled four kills and two aces for the Dons.

The loss snaps a four-game league win streak for Aragon, the team’s best start in PAL Bay play since 2019.

“That was just the first round of games,” McKenzie said. “We still have games next week. So, we just have to bring that mentality to the next couple of games and really know what we need to be doing, taking notes after that one game and apply it to the next few ones.”

Two-time reigning PAL Bay Division champion M-A was coming off a 1-1 week, including a loss last Tuesday to Carlmont.

“Just a weird night,” Falls said. “It was an away game ... just a weird night. The good news is it’s a very equal league this year. So, I can see each team beating each other. I could see a home advantage coming into play. ... I know we’re ready for our next matchup against them.”