Donna Was Down 2-0. Then Everything Changed.

There was a point Tuesday night where it really felt like Donna might have let this one get away.

Actually, there were a couple of those moments.

Donna had opportunities in each of the first two sets, Edinburg North kept battling back, and suddenly the Cougars were up 2-0 and just two points away from a sweep.

Then everything changed.

Donna came all the way back to beat Edinburg North 3-2 (26-28, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-5) in our Diamond DITV956 Game of the Week.

And that 15-5 fifth set doesn’t even tell the craziest part.

Donna started it 12-0.

Yeah. Twelve straight points in a winner-take-all set to 15.

This One Took a While to Get Going

If we’re being fair, this wasn’t great volleyball from the opening serve.

Both teams were making mistakes. There were stretches where points were coming more from miscues than somebody going up and taking one.

But something happened as the match went along.

The volleyball got better.

The rallies got longer, the defense started picking up, and what initially felt like a somewhat sloppy early-season match turned into a really fun five-set battle.

Edinburg North deserves a lot of credit for putting itself in position to win it.

Donna led 19-13 in Set 2, and North still found a way to come back and win 25-23. Then, already leading the match 2-0, North went up 23-20 in the third.

Two points from a sweep.

Donna never let them get there.

The home team closed the third on a 6-1 run to win 26-24, and that’s where it felt like the match started turning.

North wasn’t done. The Cougars led 19-17 in the fourth.

Donna responded again.

An 8-1 run finished off a 25-20 fourth set, and now we were going five.

Then Donna basically ended the fifth before North had a chance to settle in.

12-0.

North kept playing. In fact, we got some of the longest rallies of the entire night after the score had already gotten away from them. But overcoming 12-0 in a race to 15 is asking a lot.

Donna finished it 15-5 and completed the reverse sweep.

Now Audrey’s Night Makes Even More Sense

One of the first players who jumped out to us was Audrey Jones.

We didn’t have the stats in front of us. We were just watching.

She was finding open spots on the floor. She was giving North problems from the service line. She was setting. She was attacking. It seemed like wherever the ball was, Audrey wasn’t far away.

Then we got the final numbers.

20 kills. 26 assists. 26 digs. Eight aces.

That’s a ridiculous all-around night for the Donna sophomore.

And it makes something she told us afterward even better.

“Every ball should be mine.”

That’s how she described her mentality.

After watching her for five sets, we’d say that’s pretty accurate.

Kstar Howell was a little different.

Her impact became more noticeable to us as the match went along, especially at the net. The numbers show just how big she was: 25 kills and five blocks.

Howell told us afterward that as Donna got closer, she could feel the pressure.

“I just wanted to be there for my team.”

She was.

And don’t overlook Mia Moreno, either. She finished with 35 digs for Donna.

North Had Some Really Good Volleyball Too

The final three sets shouldn’t erase what Edinburg North did in this match.

Kaylin Dominguez was probably the North player we noticed most consistently.

It felt like she was digging everything.

Turns out, she almost was.

Dominguez finished with 32 digs, and she handled 41 serve-receive attempts. She was constantly involved in keeping North alive defensively.

Ximena Pena also kept catching our attention and finished with five kills, 15 assists, 15 digs and two aces.

And while we didn’t notice it as much in real time, Renata Romero led North with 10 kills. That’s one of those things the stat sheet helps fill in after watching the match live.

Diamond DITV956 Final Word

The thing I’ll remember about this match isn’t that Donna played great volleyball for five sets.

They didn’t.

Neither team did.

What I’ll remember is how much better this match became as it went along.

Edinburg North kept fighting back early. Donna kept answering late. The rallies got longer, the defense got better and by the end we had two teams absolutely battling.

North was two points from a sweep.

Donna was down 2-0.

And a couple of sets later, we were staring at 12-0 on the scoreboard in Set 5 wondering how the match had completely flipped.

Audrey gave us the simplest explanation afterward:

“Next set, next ball.”

Sometimes volleyball really is that simple.