When the calendar turned from August to September, the Christopher volleyball team really took off like a rocket. Lessons learned during the 2-4 start during August matches and the Spikefest I tournament have paid off.
The team has now captured 12 of its last 13 games and roared out to a 6-1 league record, in a first-place tie.
“We lost eight seniors but we have rebuilt,” said senior middle Maddie Ridgway, after an early-season game. “We are young but our team is very lively. We are helping the new players learn and everyone has a good attitude.”
The Cougars are strong on the attack at both the pins and the middles. Harper Corona leads the team in kills and Ridgway is unstoppable as a 6-foot-1 middle. Melody D’Angelo is another major contributor at the net.
Freshman Madelyn Tarasco has contributed right off the bat and Olivia Wilson and Ireland Elerath are all big weapons for the Cougars.
Christopher deploys two setters. Corona is an elite talent who takes three rotations there and then junior Maia Handog comes in to set, while Corona hits and blocks in the front row. The defense is led by Kayla Gundayao and Shiloh Thorton.
“We lost really good girls (to graduation),” said Corona, only just a sophomore after a breakout freshman year. “But we have some new freshmen and they are key players. I’m super excited. We’re a really scrappy team and we have a good shot this year.”
Corona leads the Cougars with 125 kills, with Ridgway at 124 and D’Angelo at 117. Tarasco has delivered 73 kills. At setter, Corona leads with 248 assists and Handog has dished off for 183. Corona also leads the team in digs with 215.
At the midpoint of the campaign, 14-5 Christopher is 6-1 in Blossom Valley Athletic League, Santa Teresa Division play. Sobrato is also 6-1 and Silver Creek is 5-2. Santa Teresa is a little bit back at 2-4. Piedmont Hills is 0-5 and Gilroy at 0-6 brings up the rear.
Christopher dropped its season opener at Evergreen Valley and the first two tourney matches, before finishing Spikefest with wins over Independence and a 2-1 loss to Presentation.
Back in those early days, as the calendar turned to October, coach Tait Rafat reflected on the team and the road ahead.
“We have to mesh the new pieces,” Rafat said.
The meshing has been superb and “rebuild” looks more like “reload.”
On Sept. 1, the Cougars whipped Live Oak 25-12, 25-16, 25-21. Tarasco sparkled with 11 kills, Ridgway had eight and Corona and D’Angelo each put down seven. Corona had 17 assists and Handog had 12 assists and served five aces.
Two days later, they turned the tables on a solid Hollister team that had swept them at Spikefest. On this night, Christopher had a bad start but then roared back with a reverse sweep, winning 25-27, 18-25, 25-20, 25-15, 15-8.
Ridgway was sensational with 11 kills, six blocks and four aces. D’Angelo put down nine kills, Tarasco added eight and Corona had seven. Wilson aided in the aggressive serving with four aces.
The roll has continued. In the 10-1 streak beginning Sept. 1, five of the wins were in sweeps and four came in four sets. Pre-league matches included sweeps of Lincoln and San Jose, both on the road and the success continued in league play.
CHS opened BVAL Santa Teresa competition with a 25-22, 13-25, 25-21, 25-16 win over Santa Teresa as Corona ripped 11 kills.
The Cougars took down city rival Gilroy 25-14, 25-16, 18-25, 25-23 as Ridgway delivered 14 kills, Corona had 11 and D’Angelo drilled nine. Handog was on fire with six aces.
Piedmont Hills was next and it was a road sweep 25-23, 25-14, 25-22. Ridgway belted 11 kills and Corona had nine.
Outside of league, Christopher swept Independence in a sweep with eight Ridgway kills and an amazing 12 aces from Handog.
Then CHS reversed an earlier defeat once again, beating Presentation 24-26, 25-13, 25-18, 25-21. On that night, Corona led the attack with 13 kills and D’Angelo was rocking with 12 kills and 10 aces. Wilson illustrated the team’s depth by belting eight kills.
The Cougars stumbled against Silver Creek, falling in four sets to the Raiders.
Christopher next traveled over to Sobrato to smack the Bulldogs in four. The tally was 21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20. During the last week, CHS swept Piedmont Hills 25-22, 25-13, 25-13 behind 11 kills from Ridgway and six aces from Corona.
The Cougars then throttled Gilroy 25-21, 25-15, 25-21.
On Oct. 18, they took a break from league action with non-league tournament play.
This is the fifth straight solid year for Christopher volleyball, after a rough season in 2021. Two of the four previous records were around .500 and two were better and the 2026 season looks to be the best in that five-year run.
Even with graduations, they are well ahead of the 2025 mark of 11-11, 8-8 in league.
The end part of the regular season schedule includes a challenging road spell, with matches at Santa Teresa on Oct. 20 and Silver Creek on Oct. 22.
The regular season finale is at home on Oct. 26 against Sobrato. Central Coast Section playoffs begin Oct. 31 and continue for a week through CCS finals on Nov. 7. NorCal and State playoffs begin the next week.
