Dons volleyball triumphs in five-set thriller

Santa Ana claimed an exhilarating five-set victory against San Diego City College on Monday, their last game before conference.

Although the season started rocky, the women’s volleyball team has been working hard on the court and is headed into conference with a 5-4 record overall.

The Dons played a competitive over two-hour match against the Knights, winning by the score of (25-20), (21-25), (25-22), (29-31) and (15-10).

“We wanted to use this as our last preparation for the conference,” said Head Coach Myriah Kunipo-Aguirre. “Our goal was to end preseason with a win and take the momentum with us.”

Erica Valle and Alexis Tortola a diving for a dig. Photo by Kathy Rafferty / el Don

The nerve-wracking game had the crowd on their feet with heads looking back and forth as the two teams rallied point after point.

Setter Alexis Tortola was a key player with 39 assists along with outside hitter Lyric Birdsong who led the game with 17 kills, followed by middle Sara Brittin at 13 kills.

“My teammates help me keep a strong mentality which helps us score the points and put the ball away,” said Birdsong.

During the crucial fifth set, the Dons were down four points against the Knights at 6-10.

Seeing her team struggle, Kunipo-Aguirre called a time-out to motivate her team; this pivotal moment led them to come back on the court scoring nine points in a row to win the game.

“[During the timeout] I reminded them to play our game and focus on what is happening on our side,” said Kunipo-Aguirre. “We needed to focus on things we can control and we don’t have control of what’s on the other side.”

Brittin was a huge threat in the middle throughout the whole match against the Knights with her overpass swings and big blocks.

To top off her impressive performance, she scored the last point with her game-winning kill.