The boys volleyball team crushed the Aragon Dons in four sets: 25-21, 28-The boys volleyball team crushed the Aragon Dons in four sets: 25-21, 28-26, 20-25, 25-20, on Wednesday evening.
Before the match, seniors walked down an aisle of teammates and were honored with flowers and took photos with family.
The Bears started strong in the first set with consistent serving from junior libero Jaden Clark, jumping to an early 5-2 lead. A kill by senior middle blocker Luis Licea pushed the score to 9-5, but a string of missed serves and unforced errors allowed Aragon to close the gap to 12-11.
A monster block by senior setter Peter Chriss gave the Bears breathing room at 19-16, but the Dons tied it up again at 20-20. Fortunately, a block from senior opposite hitter Owen Tokic and a run of topspin serves by Chriss helped the Bears pull ahead, and a smart tip to the middle from Tokic caught the Dons defense off guard, ending the set 25-21.
In the second set, senior outside hitter Dominic Auer opened with a series of steady serves to give the Bears a 3-1 edge. Junior outside hitter Ben Warner* subdued the Dons with a block, and freshman libero Nick Sandoval made multiple diving covers to keep rallies alive. A kill off an overpass by Chriss pushed the Bears ahead 6-3, and a string of tough serves from Warner stretched their lead to 10-4. After a kill to the line by Tokic, Aragon was forced to call a timeout.
The Bears came out of the timeout strong with a back-row kill by senior opposite hitter Jonny Kerr. This was continued with blocks from junior middle blocker Millo Skhiri and aggressive serves, giving them a 18-14 lead.
After another Aragon timeout at 21-15, the Bears found trouble on the serve receive line, making several errors that evened the score at 23-23. Nonetheless, the Bears stayed quick on defense, and in a tense back-and-forth play, Chriss won a joust at the net and the Bears finally closed the set 28-26.
“We were a little laid back when the other team had a lot of energy,” Skhiri said.
The Dons gained momentum in the third set. Even though the Bears took a 5-2 lead with well-placed shots and serves, Aragon was able to respond with powerful swings to get ahead 8-7. Multiple kills from Kerr were met with well-placed tips from the Dons, and the teams continued to match each other’s points.A kill to the line by senior outside hitter Aiden Gabriel gave the Bears some rhythm, but service errors proved costly as Aragon secured the set 25-20.
The Bears stumbled early in the fourth set, getting called for multiple doubles as Aragon pulled ahead 7-2. A cross-court kill by Warner helped stop Aragon’s momentum, and the team tightened up their serve receive to close the gap to 13-12. Strong defense kept the Bears, and a hard swing around the block by Kerr gave M-A a 20-19 lead. In one of the match’s longest rallies, a joust at the net by Skhiri pushed the Bears to match point, and Skhiri sealed the win with a final kill to take the set 25-20.
“At the start we struggled because our energy was low, but by the end we were better than how we started,” said Licea.
*Ben Warner is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
