Delmarva Christian volleyball overcomes Indian River 3-1
Playing in front of a nearly packed house, Delmarva Christian avenged last year’s overtime loss to Indian River with a 3-1 victory in a match that played close than the score indicated.
“It was a little intense, and it was kind of a cleanup game, just figuring out what we need to clean up and what we need to do better, and it revealed our weaknesses,” said senior Elaina Millaway. “But we pushed through it, we battled, and we came out with the win.”
Millaway proved to be the best player on the court, starting with a dominating performance in the first game. Delmarva Christian won 25-20 and started to pull away in the second game, but needed to come back after a timeout was called at 14-11.
“A lot of our mistakes were just mental mistakes; we got caught up with the spotlight and we got caught up with the crowd cheering,” Royals coach John Luong said. “We know how to play; a lot of our mistakes are just us overthinking when we could be just focusing on one ball at a time.”
The Royals’ proceeding run put them up 20-15, but IR bounced back with its own run to grab a 22-20 lead and force a Delmarva Christian timeout. The Royals could only muster up a single point and IR claimed the second game 25-21.
“We definitely started off a little rusty, but as the game went along, we definitely cleaned it up,” Millaway said,
The Royals jumped out to an 11-5 lead, forcing an IR timeout. The break did not help the green team, as Delmarva Christian went up 19-8 thanks in part to senior Keely Kondracki’s serves. The most lopsided game of the match went to the Royals 25-13.
Continuing the hot streak, Delmarva Christian, up 2-1 in sets, staked an 11-3 lead and seemed to be on easy street before a last gasp from IR made it 23-19. The Royals held onto their lead to take the game 25-19 and the match 3-1.
“We've been tested, and that's the best thing because it’s not how the team starts, it's how we finish,” Luong said.
The 2-3 Royals will look to get back to .500 when they welcome Ursuline Academy at 5:15 p.m., Friday Sept. 20.
