NEWARK — Ursuline’s volleyball team lost the first set in its semifinal battle against Tower Hill on Nov. 13, and the fourth-seeded Raiders promptly fell behind in each of the next three sets. Fortunately for them, they were able to complete comebacks in the second, third and fourth sets for a 3-1 victory and a berth in the DIAA state championship match on Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware.
Molly Pietlock opened on the serve for the ninth-seeded Hillers, whose last match at the Bob was the 2022 state championship, which they won. She fired off an ace, beginning the set with a bang. After Ursuline’s Caitlyn McGonigal scored the Raiders’ first point on a kill to cut the Tower lead to 2-1, the Hillers took control.
The Hillers went on a 7-0 run to take an 11-3 lead, which ended on a Claire Kelly kill. The Raiders slowly climbed back into it, leveling the score at 16 on an ace from Emelia Panunto, a block by Juliette Cummings and an unforced error on the Hillers. Tower took an 18-17 lead on a service error, launching an 8-1 run to end the set. #20TH closed it out with an ace.
A Lydia Spencer block helped the Hillers to a 4-1 lead early in the second, but a 4-0 run capped by a Cummings block gave the Raiders a 5-4 advantage. The set remained close for a bit, but Ursuline eventually pulled away a bit, led by some fantastic frontline defense. They also got some production from the service line. C.C. DeCaro, who does much of her damage on the front line, sandwiched aces around a bomb from Cummings as the lead grew to 17-11.
Pietlock helped the Hillers to a 6-0 lead to start the third, tossing up four aces in the opening run. This time, the Raiders stormed back, getting to within a pair at 7-5 after DeCaro smashed an attack off the Hillers’ wall. The defending champs withstood the punch and grew their lead back to five when Lydia Spencer knocked down a spectacular winner.
Trailing, 13-8, the Raiders went on their own 5-0 run as the Hillers helped them with a few unforced errors. Pietlock’s bomb got Tower back to a 16-13 advantage, but, again, the Raiders came back. A service error gave the Raiders a 20-19 lead, and Cummings knocked down an overpass to add another point. A Spencer smash a few points later cut the Ursuline lead to 23-21, but the Raiders closed it out with a push kill by DeCaro and a McGonigal ace.
Spencer had three kills in a 5-0 run for the Hillers to open the fourth, and the Tower Hill student section made its presence known. Kelly got the Raiders on the board with a dunk, beginning a run for them that eventually put them ahead, 6-5.
A kill that tickled the end line from Spencer tied the score, but the Raiders would turn up the heat and put the set — and match — away. They took a 7-6 lead on a sideout, and McGonigal fired off an ace. When the run ended, Ursuline had a 15-6 advantage.
DeCaro put them ahead, 17-7, with another ace later on, and the Hillers ran off five straight after that. Tower got to within four on an ace from Maggie Newswanger, but a Kelly slam got the Raiders back on track. Down the stretch, Hayley Timmons served up an ace, and McGonigal smoked a shot. Kelly got the winner with her final kill of the night.
DeCaro finished with 11 kills and 11 digs, along with three aces. Kelly had 10 kills, and McGonigal and Cummings each had eight. Cummings was huge on defense, throwing up seven blocks. Grace Burns led the Raiders with 13 digs. Ursuline returns to the championship match for the first time since 2017 against No. 2 Smyrna, who defeated No. 3 Caesar Rodney in the first semifinal.
The Raiders have not played the Eagles since 2008.
Tower Hill finished the season 17-2.
All photos by Mike Lang.
