BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg High and Edinburg Vela may both be young, but they were still able to crank out a heart-stopping, five-game thriller like old times on Tuesday night.
In the end, the Bobcats scratched and clawed back from the grave in the decisive fifth game to down the SaberCats 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 16-25, 16-14 on Vela’s home court.
“You know, it’s too early in the season for a game like that,” Edinburg High coach Deanna Dominguez teased. “It goes without saying: any time we play an Edinburg school, this is the way it is. It’s not even about us. It’s the student sections, the kids — they were all over it. I’m glad that we were fortunate enough to finish.”
“I thought we did really well as a team,” Edinburg High senior Tianna Howard said. “We came together in that last set and pushed to the end. We’re not the type of team to give up, and neither is Vela. I’m proud of the way both teams performed tonight.”
After facing early deficits in each of the first two games, the Bobcats (10-10, 2-0) charged back to take both and put the SaberCats (12-14, 1-1) in a 2-0 hole. But Vela turned its fortunes around by taking the third and fourth games, knotting the match at 2.
In the sudden death fifth game, the SaberCats found new life and were quickly taking whatever life the Bobcats had left, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. But EHS was not to be denied.
“It’s a game of errors. We just needed to clean it up a bit,” Edinburg Vela coach Araceli Ortega said. “We lost some points, and it kind of threw off our momentum when we had a nice lead at the end. It’s something we’re battling, since we are a young team.”
Ortega said Tuesday night’s match was the first five-game outing her team has competed in this season.
“It’s a lot for our girls to learn in one night, but I think we did some growing up tonight,” Ortega said. “I know they don’t like this feeling of ending a five-setter with a loss. I hope this will help us to cross that bridge when it comes time to win these types of games.”
Howard led the way for the Bobcats with 26 kills, 15 digs and 10 blocks while playing the entire match.
“Vela has always been a strong team, and so have we,” Howard said. “I love being in this kind of environment. These games are always intense. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, especially with my team behind me.”