Dons emerge victorious against Cypress

The Santa Ana Dons continued their dominant start to the season by upsetting Cypress at home in five sets. Coming into the match the Dons were ranked 19th, while the Chargers were ranked 11th. As of Tuesday Sept. 27, the Dons have moved up in the CCCAA Rankings to No.16 in the state.

The Dons won the match 3-2.

The Dons dominated the first set 25-13, then took a commanding two-set lead with a 25-22 second set. The Chargers responded in the third set with dominance, winning 13-25. The Chargers then carried their momentum into the fourth set with a 17-25 win. With momentum lost, the Dons came out of the fifth set energized and vengeful, winning 15-10.

The Dons entered the game with a record of 7-1. Their one loss comes due to a forfeit against Golden West College on Friday, September 16.

The team is off to an unprecedented start, given they ended the 2021 season 2-14 in conference play and 7-16 overall. The 2022 roster looks completely different from 2021, with nine new players in the rotation. Of these new players, sophomore outside hitter Matilde Teixeira was the most impressive player on the court.

Teixeira totalled 16 kills and 13 digs. Her kill percentage was .140, mainly lowered due to her nine errors. There’s a lot of power in her swing, but there’s also room for improvement in her accuracy.

The Dons run a high powered offense that often delivers quick blows, but is also subject to many errors.

“I think we have a good team. We have to work the pass better and control side-outs, but we have a good team and we can do it,” said Teixeira.

Another standout player for the Dons was sophomore outside hitter Alison Caswell, who totalled the second most kills at 14. With her 51 total attempts also came more room for error, as she totalled seven errors. Her kill percentage was .137.

Looking ahead, the 8-1 Dons are currently ranked 16th and look to continue their impressive start to the season against the Saddleback Bobcats on Wednesday, Sept. 28.