WILMINGTON — Archmere and Ursuline brought out the big swings, aces and pinpoint setting in their volleyball match on Sept. 20, but it was the defense that stood out. The Auks had an answer for much of the Ursuline attack, blocking and digging their way to a sweep of the Raiders in a battle between top-5 contenders.
Set scores in a crowded Laffey-McHugh Gymnasium were 27-25, 25-19, and 25-22.
Early on in the first set, however, the Auks, ranked third by Delaware Live Sports, had no answer for the serve of Ursuline’s C.C. DeCaro. She delivered three aces in a 5-0 run as the No. 4 Raiders built an 11-5 lead. The Ursuline lead was 14-9 when a service error gave the side out to Archmere, sending Ella Strohmaier to the back line. She began her run with an ace and added two more as the Auks went on top, 15-14.
Back and forth the teams went, tied at 15, 17, 18, 19 and 20. The Auks took a 21-20 lead on a Raiders violation, and a Katie Kuehl ace extended that lead to two. After an Ursuline timeout, the Auks’ Bridget Malloy scored with an attack off the Raiders front line, but not before the teams’ sensational defense extended the rally.
The Raiders were down three, but not out. DeCaro sent an attack deep, and two Auks errors evened the score. Archmere reached set point, but the Raiders, down 24-23, got it to their own set point when Caitlyn McGonigal stuffed an overpass. After a timeout, Archmere took the set on a smash by Ava Beach, followed by another Strohmaier ace.
The second set began much like the first ended. The teams were knotted, 4-4, when a Raiders service error kicked off a 4-0 Auks run. The lead grew as large as seven points, the last time at 16-9 when Claire McGonigle went cross court with an attack. Ursuline’s McGonigal began the comeback with a consecutive kills, followed by a block by Claire Kelly. DeCaro scored, and Ursuline won a 50/50 battle to cut the Auks’ advantage to two.
Ceci Connolly, however, ended that streak with a slam, and the Auks kept the Raiders at bay the rest of the set. Connolly got it to set point on a thunderous straight-down kill that no defense could have stopped, and Strohmaier worked her magic from the service line with a set-clinching ace.
The Auks opened up a lead at the outset of the third, but nothing came easy on this night. The Raiders tied the score, 8-8, thanks to a 4-0 run that include two aces and a dink from DeCaro wrapped around a Juliette Cummings push kill.
Later in the third, Malloy knocked down an overpass to push the lead to 18-12 after a long rally with several fantastic defensive plays by both squads. But the Raiders were not out of it. Trailing, 21-15, two Auks errors, along with a block by Cummings and yet another DeCaro smash, cut the Ursuline deficit to a pair. DeCaro did it again a minute later to get the Raiders to within a point at 23-22, but a Raiders error got it to match point, and the Auks’ Daphne Addo crushed a ball that the Raiders dug but could not return.
Connolly had 12 kills and 10 digs for the Auks, and Kuehl added 10 kills and 12 digs. Strohmaier finished with seven aces. Archmere (4-1) hosts Red Lion on Tuesday at 6 p.m. as they begin a three-match homestand.
For the Raiders, DeCaro had eight kills, five aces and 10 digs, while McGonigal finished with seven kills. Grace Burns had a match-high 18 digs. Ursuline (4-1) plays the third of five straight at home on Friday at 5:15 p.m. against Delmarva Christian.
All photos by Mike Lang.
