Falling behind by two sets after an emotional Game 2 loss in extra points might doom mere mortals. But oh no, there was no doom in the eyes of the Sacred Heart Gators. Not when they tout the likes Super Cate.

Senior outside hitter Cate Desler led the Gators (9-2 overall) back from the abyss, totaling a season-high 25 kills as Sacred Heart Prep scored a riveting 11-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-9, 15-13 comeback victory in non-league action Thursday at Aragon.

“I feel like the whole time we felt we could win,” Desler said.

Desler totaled just two kills in the opening set, as SHP blundered with nine unforced errors. But as the returning first-team All-West Bay Athletic League Foothill Division outside hitter goes, so go the Gators. And the expert marksman began mixing up her shots from anywhere and everywhere on the court to settle her team down. While the Gators committed 16 more errors through sets 2 and 3, they totaled just six errors in the final two sets.

“I think she played a great roll,” SHP junior Ally Polverari said. “She definitely helped turn it around — all of her kills.”

Polverari balanced the attack as SHP’s other outside hitter. The third-year varsity junior struggled through a miserable opening set as well, during which SHP totaled just seven team kills. Polverari, though, went on to record set-point with a smash off the left side in Game 3 en route to finishing the night with 19 kills.

“Both of our outsides are very smart,” SHP head coach Ali Magner said, “and they have a finesse game too. When you can mix hard attacks with finesse, it’s going to be really hard to defend.”

Aragon has had a tough go of it this week. In a sweep at the hands of Menlo School Tuesday, opposite hitter Della Trimble slammed her chin on the court midway through the first set. The bloodied junior had to come off the court for the remainder of the set, but got patched up and soldiered back onto the court for the second set.

Bandaged and unable to effectively communicate verbally on the court, Trimble started Thursday and paired with senior middle Lilli Tuiavailala to share the team-high with 14 kills apiece.

“We were there in the first and second sets, and then we just mentally weren’t in the third fourth and fifth,” Trimble said. “And volleyball is a mental game.”

The variety of precision shots from Desler seemed to get into the Dons’ heads as the match wore on. In the fifth and decisive set, the left-side smasher seemed bulletproof, as Aragon couldn’t keep anything she sent over the net off the floor.

“She’s just smart,” Trimble said. “She knows were the holes are. She sees everything.”

To make the comeback even more impressive, SHP fell behind early in Game 3. Aragon sophomore middle Maddie Campbell opened the set with a kill, then Trimble later hit a fade off the right side to up the lead to 7-1. The Dons maintained a comfortable lead up to 17-13 when sophomore Lydia Manu (nine kills) put one down off the right side.

Then Desler and the Gators went on a 4-0 run to equalize. After back-to-back Desler kills, Polverari scorched a service ace to tie it 17-17. The tie advanced to 22-22, but SHP sophomore Elena Radeff (five kills, two blocks) scored a kill off middle to put the Gators in front. They would never again trail in the match.

“I think we really decided to play great defense and we came together as a team to work a lot harder,” Polverari said.

SHP jumped out to a fast lead in Game 4, from 10-3 on Polverari’s second match ace, to 17-5 and to 24-8 on Desler kills. Polverari finished off the penultimate set with a kill off the left side.

Then the Gators rolled the momentum right into Game 5, jumping out to a 4-0 lead with kills from Radeff and Polverari and a service ace from Desler.

Aragon battled back though. Trailing 13-9, the Dons went on a 3-point run to close it to 13-12 on kill by Manu. Polverari answered with a kill to force match point. Aragon prolonged the battle when Tuivailala fired a kill off the left side. But Radeff finished off the night with the game-winner.

Magner was keen to chalk up the victory to a team effort. Senior setter Haley Martella and junior setter Katie Quinlan were on point through the final three sets in running the Gators’ 6-2 offense. Senior libero Caroline Caruso, senior defensive specialist Celia Charlton, junior defensive specialist Eliza Foley and Desler played and exceptional back row.

“We shift lineups quite a bit,” Magner said. “[We] believe we have 13 players that can all contribute. To have that kind of depth is a blessing because we plan on going far.”