Cape volleyball falls in five to the Senators
It was a duplicate of the regular-season matchup but with the opposite result, as Cape lost in five sets 19-25, 25-16, 25-11, 21-25 and 14-16 to Dover Nov. 3, at the Vikings’ home gym.
Previously, Cape beat Dover Oct. 6 in five sets, but took the fifth set 17-15. The loss knocks the Vikings out of the DIAA state tournament, while Dover moves on to play Archmere Saturday, Nov. 5.
“I’ve had a wonderful four years as a part of this Cape program,” said an emotional Megan Smith. “It’s been so rewarding, and it’s taught me so much maturity beyond the sport of volleyball. This season was very special to me as a senior playing with these girls I’ve played with since middle school. But also, these younger girls have been very special to work with this season.”
“We didn’t start off in the match the way we wanted to,” said senior Kayleigh Mault. “We showed what we can do in the second set. We had trouble keeping up the energy. Dover was really scrappy, and we just couldn’t throw it back to them. We just couldn’t push through.”
“We’ve had a lot of growth this year,” said senior Tatum Friend. “We came really far with half the team being new players. We had an awesome season.”
“We had our ups and downs this season,” said senior Kali Lawson. “There were moments when we thought we could win it all. We just fell short tonight.”
Friend led the Vikings with nine kills at the net. Lawson powered seven kills and bumped 11 digs. Mault knocked down five kills and roofed four blocks. Smith put up 29 assists, and garnered four kills and six digs along with two aces served. Senior Harlee Graulich bumped 11 digs while serving three aces. Ava Calciano knocked down three kills and got two important digs. Senior Natalie Derrickson had nine digs. Freshman Amalia Fruchtman came in and showed maturity at the net, knocking down five kills. Junior Emily Cook bumped seven digs and served two aces.
“Tonight stings,” said Cape head coach Tyler Coupe. “We came into the match with a week’s worth of quality practices, and I don’t think we were able to put that on full display. A credit of that goes to Dover. Their defense played a fantastic match and kept countless balls in play that have typically scored us points during the season. Set four was something that was within our grasp, and we needed to hang on to it. Unfortunately it’s been our MO most of the season; build a lead of 6-8 points and then make a run of unforced errors. Our girls never quit, though. They did their best to fight through, and I’m comfortable with that. We threw freshman Amalia Fruchtman in after set one to get a different look vs. their outsides, and I think it proved beneficial. She did a great job applying offensive pressure for her first true playing time of the year.
“It was a year of growth. We introduced almost half new starters, and each found consistent ways to contribute. I’m thankful for the eight seniors and their multiple contributions over the years. I’m excited for the challenge of filling so many voids next year with a group of returning hungry and talented athletes.”
