Patriots volleyball gets past Cape
Newark Charter School’s volleyball team survived a comeback attempt from Cape in the first set 18-25 and finished the match with 25-16 and 25-10 second and third sets to move to 5-0 on the season. The Vikings drop to 3-3.
Cape’s Ava Calciano, Kali Lawson, Tatum Friend, Kayleigh Mault, Amelia Fruchtman and Taylor Ockels teamed for just 16 kills, while Harlee Graulich bumped 14 digs and Megan Smith assisted on 11 points.
Lila Seiler and Kennedy Pavlekovich knocked down 15 kills for the Patriots. Pavlekovich and Devin Diodato teamed for 24 assists.
“We made too many mistakes,” said Smith. “A lot of unforced errors. We showed signs of greatness at moments in the first set, but I think we underestimated their defense and their ability to keep balls alive. As a result, we didn’t come out ready to hit different shots. We’re ready to bounce back. We just have to work hard in the gym every day.”
“We started off strong,” said Mault. “They had a really good defense and were able to keep everything up, and it frustrated our hitters.”
“A tough loss,” said Cape coach Tyler Coupe. “It technically was better than our performance versus Smyrna, but it still leaves a lot to be desired in regard to improvement. Our serve-receive in set one was back to normal levels, which was good to see, and from that we were able to run a relatively in-system offense and spread the ball. Sets two and three we made some matchup changes to try and get some different looks, and I don’t think that hurt us. Our defensive consistency went away in sets two and three, and so did the scores with it. Unfortunately, we made Megan [Smith] run all around the court to try and put hittable balls up, which to her credit she did relatively consistently. It’s a tough week, but that’s also on purpose. Newark Charter is an out-of-conference matchup, and they’re arguably a top-three team in the state right now. Smyrna, while in conference, is also a top-three team, so it’s great reps for us. It shows some of the glaring inconsistencies we have, and gives us a perspective that we’ve got to keep working on small details to be able to achieve greater success. I think our practices this week are going to be telling of how we continue on the rest of the season, and I’ve got faith they know what they need to bring.”
The Cape JV squad moved to 4-2 on the season with a 2-0 loss to the junior varsity Patriots.
The Vikings travel to Lake Forest Tuesday, Sept. 27, for a Henlopen Conference battle with the Spartans.
