Mentally-tough Dons move on

At this point of the season, talent is no longer an issue. Every team still playing has plenty of talent. The difference then becomes which team is mentally stronger. Tuesday night, the sixth-seeded Dons were the mentally stronger of the two teams as they beat 11th-seeded St. Mary’s-Stockton in four sets — 25-19, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, a match that easily could have swung the other way.

“We were mentally tough today,” said Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble. “It’s been nice to see the last two, three matches.”

Aragon (27-7) has shown off the brain brawn by staying calm amid the chaos of the playoffs. After opening CCS with a three-set sweep of Westmont, the Dons were pushed to the brink in the semifinals, rallying from two sets down to beat No. 4 Leland in five sets and set up a rematch with a Monta Vista team that had beaten the Dons for the 2024 CCS title.

Again, Aragon showed its mental fortitude as the Dons beat the Matadors in four sets in the 2025 CCS championship game.

And Aragon (27-7) needed to stay strong to get past a scrappy St. Mary’s (22-13) squad that did not go down without a fight.

“We talked to them that these teams (in the Nor Cal tournament) won’t just give it up without a fight,” Gennaro-Trimble said.

But in the end, the Dons’ depth might have been the ultimate difference because despite the perceived reliance on hitters Poppy McKenzie and Emi Kunkel, the Dons are way more than just their dynamic duo.

But make no mistake — those two got theirs. Kunkel led the offense with 17 kills, with McKenzie, this week’s Daily Journal Athlete of the Week, was right behind with 14 kills.

But it was a dozen putaways from Caitlyn Robertson that gave the Dons that needed third offensive option. It was 20 digs from senior libero Sosefina Tatola, or a pair of service aces from junior captain Devyn Lee, who also came up with back-to-back roof jobs on defense in the third set.

“It was certainly a team win,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “We have an ability right now to change our lineup (based on matchups).”

And the Dons needed contributions from everyone to get past the Rams in a match that was nip-and-tuck the entire way. Aragon trailed early in the first set before going on a 8-1 run to open up a 9-4 lead and it looked like the Dons were going to cruise.

But St. Mary’s stabilized and stayed in the set, closing to 14-11 on an Aragon hitting error. The Dons stretched their lead to 20-14 before the Rams made one last push. Taking advantage of three straight Aragon errors and a kill from Athena Flynn and the Rams were down 22-18.

But a Kunkel kill to cap the longest rally of the set, followed by a St. Mary’s hitting error gave the Dons Game 1, 25-19.

Set 2 was a grind as neither team gave an inch. There were 13 ties and five lead changes in the game, with it tied a 2-all, 3-all, 4-all, 5-all, 6-all, 7-all, 8-all and 10-all in the opening half of the set.

But the Rams appeared to wrest control from the Dons, winning 10 of the next 15 points to open up a 20-17 advantage.

But Aragon finished with a flourish. A St. Mary’s net violation jumpstarted a 7-1 run to close the set and give the Dons a 2-0 lead following the 25-22 decision.

Game 3 was much like Game 2, but this time, St. Mary’s managed to hold on to its lead down the stretch. There were only two lead changes in the set and the Rams always seemed to maintain a one- or two-point lead that the Dons could not quite overcome.

The Dons were down 20-19 following a Robertson kill down the line, but the Rams won five of the last seven points to grab the win 25-21 and force Game 4.

This time, Aragon got off to a fast start, quickly building a 7-2 lead. But the game developed into one of runs from each team. After watching the Dons win seven of the first nine points, the Rams responded by winning four straight to close to 7-6.

But like the St. Mary’s did to Aragon in the third set, the Dons did back to the Rams in the fourth as they kept them at arm’s length for most of the set. After losing the first point of the set, Aragon did not trail the rest of the way.

But as they had done all match, St. Mary’s made the Dons work for the win. Aragon built a 19-14 lead before the Rams had one last push in them. They won four straight points to close to 19-18 and tied it at 21-all following a cross-court kill from Shea Hardcastle to the back right corner.

But three consecutive hitting errors from the Rams doomed their chances of pushing it to a fifth set and Kunkel ended it when her attack from the left side rolled along the tape and dropped for the match-winning point.

Up next for the Dons is a road trip to Roseville to face third-ranked West Park (30-6) at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“My girls are peaking at the right time,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “They’re tired, but there is something to be said about sticking with it.”