Cape volleyball wins nailbiter in Dover
The Cape volleyball team was down but not out, as the Vikings hung in for an exciting and exhausting 27-25, 25-22, 22-25, 22-25, 16-14 win over the 9-4 Senators on Dover’s Senior Night.
“I think we have really good stamina,” said a hoarse Breahna Kusen, who knocked down nine kills in the match. “It helped us push through and keep our heads in the game when we needed to. As our coach says, be humble and be hungry.”
Sophomore Katie Knarr also had nine kills and Mikiyah Ennals tallied seven. Setters Abbey Derrickson and Teaghan Van Brunt had 18 and 12 assists, respectively, and each served four aces. Emily Lamb picked up 13 digs.
The Lady Vikings jumped out to a two-set lead, but the Cape coach wasn’t comfortable against a scrappy Senators squad.
“Even though we were up 2-0, I wasn’t happy with where we stood,” said Cape coach Tyler Coupe. “I don’t think we played a clean game from the jump. We made way too many unforced errors, and to Dover’s credit, they kept the ball alive and put pressure on us throughout. I don’t think we responded the way we should have and the way we know we can. I think we are extremely fortunate to come out with the win today.”
The pressure in the air and on the Senators’ hardwood could be cut with a knife. One who responded to the pressure was junior Simran Patel, who was put in during the intense fifth set after not appearing in the first four sets. She played with ice water in her veins.
“I was feeling really excited and nervous because I wasn’t warmed up,” said Patel. “But once I got in there I was fine. When we were down 14-13, I was honestly thinking that we can’t lose this. I knew that we would pull it off. It could go either way, but I was hoping we would come out on top.”
“I put Simran in a really tough position,” said Coupe. “And she rose to it. She met the challenge head-on. I’m very pleased with her performance, and Bre Kusen kept her cool and composure, and we were able to scrape that win out. It was a great win that was much needed.”
The head coach believes the Lady Vikings still need to work to reach the next step for the postseason.
“We were pretty error-prone sets one through four, but we were able to grit it down and pull out the win,” said Coupe. “It is pretty eye-opening for us that we are not where we need to be, and we don’t have a whole lot of time to get it together. Hopefully we can come to the next practice hungrier and have more focus, and we can take it to the last week of the season.”
Cape returns to the hardwood Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Caesar Rodney.
