M-A roars past Aragon, into first place outright

The dynamo tandem fronted a win in a battle of Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division unbeatens, as M-A (5-0 PAL Bay, 11-2 overall) outlasted Aragon for a 27-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18 victory. Grover scored a match-high 16 kills, and Spindt added 13 as the Bears took over outright possession of first place in the league standings.

“Aragon, they’re our biggest league rivals,” Grover said. “And, especially from last year, when we both took a match off of each other. So, this game was a lot leading up to it, a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat. … So, I think by winning this match, we have a lot more momentum for the rest of the season and more confidence.”

The hard work and sweat certainly showed, as M-A was the last team standing in something of an all-out brawl.

In fact, by the fourth and final set, each team had a player on its respective bench nursing a gruesome-looking injury — Aragon defensive specialist Dylan Scherer took a ball to the face midway through the fourth set and spent the rest of the night with an ice pack stuck to her left eye, while M-A libero Bella Shermis hobbled off after turning an ankle and had to have it wrapped as the match was winding down.

But it was on sure endurance where M-A won the day, seeming to feed off the excitement of long rallies and relentless back-row defense on both sides.

“We not only condition really hard, but we really pride ourselves on making sure we’re the team that’s standing at the end regardless whether we win or lose,” M-A head coach Jairo Sierra said.

“As soon as the end of the second game, beginning of the third game, I just started seeing their side starting to be a little more lackadaisical, whereas at the beginning they were aggressive,” he said. “They got a 10-point run on us at the beginning, and we were just looking at each other like: ‘What’s going on?’”

Indeed, the Lady Dons (4-1, 14-7) jumped out to an early lead 14-7 in the opening set, backed by the explosive play of outside hitter of Lydia Manu. The senior totaled 14 match kills, including five in Game 1. But with Aragon leading 16-10, M-A junior Semaijah Ix-Siu scored a critical block, and Spindt followed with a powerful back-row kill to spark a 7-1 run.

Aragon was able to keep the advantage late, earning two set points, but M-A overcame both, including a flying dig by Shermis for the Bears to earn a set point of their own. Aragon misfired long to end it in extra-points.

“We tried to keep them out of system, obviously, as much as possible,” Aragon head coach Annette Gennaro-Trimble said. “And our defense … [libero Ally Thaw] had an unbelievable match also. So, we didn’t put the ball away when we had to put the ball away. And that’s what wins and loses the match.”

Thaw finished with 21 digs, and the inspired play of Scherer saw her finish with 12. And it was Scherer’s play in Game 2 that saw Aragon draw even. The senior stepped to the service line amid an 11-11 tie and went on a six-point run, including three aces and a slew of digs to sustain the hot streak.

“She’s a great back-row player,” Gennaro-Trimble said. “I love her fight that she has. And she just does whatever we need her to do.”

But M-A acumen on the attack would not be denied.

It was in the third set when the Bears scored on one of the prettiest shots you’re going to see all season, a back-row pipe shot by Grover with a picturesque roll touch to see the kill dive in front of the Aragon back row. That point tied it 9-9, and was a sign of things to come.

“That shot, actually it’s funny because it has a long history,” Grover said. “I’ve been working on that shot for a long time, especially on the back row. The shot, actually, that’s the famous shot of (2016 PAL Bay Division Most Valuable Player) Jacqueline Disanto. I was a freshman and my sister (Eliza) and her, they were all on the team together on varsity. And I saw her always doing that shot and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to get to that shot.’ And it’s always really been a shot I’ve worked on. So, I was really happy with it.”

Later in the set, Spindt put the exclamation mark on M-A’s takeover. At 22-19, the Bears scrambled for the scrappiest of saves, with Grover diving into the front row to bump up a ball, have it spin across the top of the net, and fall to the Aragon side. The Dons had a player waiting for it to come down, but instead of attempting to dig it up, she went for the kill, firing a shot off the right side. But Spindt read the play perfectly, timed it to a tee, and scored with the block.

“The Aragon player tried to hit it and Emma just roofed her,” Grover said. “That was a lot of energy in that point. That was so exciting.”

Ix-Siu scored four kills in the runaway final set to finish with nine kills and two blocks.

Spindt added four kills in Game 4 and Grover had three.

“They complement each other really well,” Sierra said. “And the cool thing is, if one of them isn’t doing well, the other one is standing right there next to her saying, ‘Hey, keep doing it, keep swinging.’ So, there’s a lot of encouragement going on with everyone on the team. And they’re just like, ‘Let me help you.’ They’re both really selfless players.”