Thriller: Warriors down Mack in five

 When it mattered the most the Del Norte High varsity volleyball team believed in themselves and their teammates in a battle on the court Thursday night.

Facing league rival McKinleyville in a crucial Big 5 contest, the Warriors came back from being down two games to one to win in five games  25-22, 24-26, 12-25, 25-13, 15-10 in front of the home fans.

Co-coach Debbie Lorenzi said the key difference in the final two games was a mental one. She noticed that when the Panthers got a lead on Del Norte in games two and three “they started to lose faith in themselves.”

Before the start of game four Lorenzi said she and the rest of the coaches told the girls they needed to “start to believe in themselves,” adding that they told the team that the coaches believed in them but it was up to the girls to go out and do it.

“I’m proud of the team and the way they recovered,” Lorenzi said. “It could have gone 50-50.”

Key players for the Warriors  included seniors Kristen DeBacker and Paula Rhodes. DeBacker had 32 kills and three blocks for kills, four digs and three aces. Rhodes had 28 assists, five kills and one block for a kill.

 In the first game, in front of a large home crowd, the Warriors seemed to be fairly well polished and jumped out to a 17-8 lead.

The Panthers bounced back and cut the lead to 18-17, but the Warriors settled down and won the game 25-22.

In the second game things were close pretty much the whole way with McKinleyville prevailing by two points to win the match.

Game three was one that did not go well at all for the Warriors, who seemed to be out of sorts.

With the score 16-12 in favor of the Panthers, Del Norte did not score a single point the rest of the way as McKinleyville cruised to the 25-12 win and put Del Norte in a hole.

The Warriors bounced back and seemed to be a different team in game four as they communicated well with one another and appeared confident in what they brought to the volleyball court.

The pep talk the coaches gave obviously worked as the Warriors won the last two games fairly strongly and battled  back for the victory.

The win improves Del Norte to 3-1 in the Big 5, and they are currently in a tie with Eureka. The Warriors are 12-10 overall while the Panthers fell to 2-2 in the conference.

With the win the Warriors are right in the thick of earning their 21st straight Big 5 title. With a loss the road to a conference crown would have become much more difficult, which made this win so vital.

In the junior varsity game Del Norte fell to the Panthers 25-21, 22-25, 13-15.