Cape volleyball downs Knights, falls to Senators
Cape celebrated three seniors in the 3-0 win over Sussex Central to win the Northern Division title Oct. 24 at the Vikings’ Little Big House.
Harper Mamele led the Vikings with 24 kills and eight digs in the 25-16, 25-13, 25-5 victory. Senior setter Emerson Smith distributed 42 assists. Senior hitter Ava Calciano pounded six kills and bumped nine digs. Senior Brielle Ross got in on the action, slamming five kills, while junior Amalia Fruchtman collected five kills and five digs. Mallory Terhune bumped seven digs, and McKenzie Everson tallied four kills. Libero Amara Fruchtman recorded 12 digs.
The Vikings hosted Dover Oct. 26, and the results didn’t go the way the Vikings would have liked. The Senators brought their A game and handed the Vikings a 3-1 loss in a match that had significance on state tournament seeding.
Mamele continued to be a force at the net, pounding 17 kills for a total of 41 over two games. She added 11 digs. Amalia Fruchtman added 13. Amara Fruchtman and Mallory Terhune teamed for 33 digs. Calciano bumped 15 digs. Smith put up 36 assists, giving her 383 on the season.
“I just think we were a little down today,” said Terhune. “I don’t think we had the intensity today. They had the higher energy, and that gave them the leg up.”
“We just made way too many mistakes today,” said Mamele. “We just need to learn off from this. Props to them; they played well.”
“Today’s loss certainly stings,” said Cape head coach Tyler Coupe. “But it doesn’t leave a bad taste in our mouth. Dover’s a really physical team, primarily as a defensive unit. They really caused trouble for our pin blockers, taking away seams and angles that we’ve had some success with in recent matches. Their back-court defense also proved difficult to score against. I thought we hit some really good, aggressive and smart shots that were kept alive by their D.”
Coupe was quick to praise his squad.
“With respect, I thought our defensive responded with tenacity too. Mallory and Amara did a great job anchoring us down and giving us opportunities to score. As an offense, we didn’t hit our season average, but that’s not because we made poor plays; it’s due to Dover’s defensive impact. I thought we could have used a little more service pressure, but we kept our errors down behind the line overall, and that’s really important. It’s an odd feeling because we know we’re in the tournament; however, the match does have seeding implications. Yet we still have the conference championship match on Monday, which is a great opportunity for our program. However, it has no bearing on seeding for the state tournament. I look to our girls to continue their intensity and fearless style of play on Monday.”
The Cape junior varsity ended the season with a 2-0 win over the visiting Senators JV. The scores were 25-9 and 25-15. They finish their 2024 campaign at 11-4.
The Cape varsity squad earned the 16th seed in the 24-team state tournament. They will host No. 17 Middletown at 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 31. If victorious, they will head north to take on No. 1 Padua Saturday, Nov. 2.
