After falling into an 0-1 hole to start the match, the Lady Kats battled back to take a 2-1 lead only to watch the Lady Red Ants rally and tie things up at 2-2.
It all came down to a pivotal Game 5 and in the end it was the Lady Kats who gutted out a thrilling 22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 23-25, 15-9 victory.
The win improved the Lady Kats to 10-1 in league play and put them one step closer to clinching their first conference crown since 2009.
“The last time we played them (Progreso), they beat us over there and it also went five games,” said Lady Kats head coach Norma Rodriguez as she slumped exhaustedly into a chair after the match.
“After that first-set loss, I told the girls that if they want a district title then they were going to have to fight for it. They did, but we knew they (Progreso) were going to fight hard.”
Indeed.
After falling behind in the match 1-2, it appeared that the Lady Red Ants were going to fall in four sets.
However, they showed tremendous resolve and held on for the 25-23 Game 4 win to send their small but boisterous group of fans into a frenzy.
At that point, the match could have gone either way but the Lady Kats seemed to feed off their own rambunctious supporters, who were extremely loud and vocal throughout the entire match.
“When we dropped that fourth game, I told the girls to not give up and to fight hard,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve been playing real good together and communicating well and tonight it really showed.”