WILMINGTON — A comfortable win in the first set was no indication of the fight to come for the Ursuline volleyball team on Sept. 9 against Delaware Military Academy. Before a big crowd at the DMA Dome, the Raiders and Seahawks battled through four sets, with Ursuline taking the 3-1 win.
Set scores were 25-11, 25-21, 23-25, and 25-18.
The Raiders had a 12-8 lead in the first before putting it away. They scored four straight on unforced errors on the Seahawks before Carly Opalach ended the run with a kill. A Cece DiCaro smash extended the lead to nine at 18-9, and DMA could not cut into the lead. Ursuline scored the final six points of the set for the win.
After the three-minute break, Delaware Military came out and played a much cleaner brand of volleyball. Keira Benoit opened the second with an ace, but two kills by Claire Kelly helped the Raiders to a 4-2 advantage. After DMA tied it at 5-5, back-to-back-to-back kills from Nina PIretti, Emelia Panunto and DiCaro put Ursuline back up, but that wouldn’t last.
Another Benoit ace tied the game at 11, and a block by Maddie August put the Seahawks on top. They got the lead up to 14-11 thanks to a kill from Tara Batula, but the Raiders rebounded with the next four.
The second was last tied at 18-18 before Caitlyn McGonigal went straight down to give the Raiders a lead they would not relinquish. DMA was within a point at 22-21 after an Opalach attack, but Ursuline finished with the final three points, the last coming on a smash from Kelly on the set by McGonigal.
Juliette Cummings tied the third set at 7-7 with a cross, but the Seahawks responded with a 5-0 run that included two more Opalach kills. Trailing by five late in the set, the Raiders got as close as one at 23-22 thanks to an Avery Randall ace. But two Ursuline errors brought the set to an end and sent the match to the fourth.
The Seahawks opened the fourth with a 3-0 lead, and they held on to a small lead for a while thanks in large part to Hill, who three kills and an ace in the early going. Ursuline tied it at 11, but Opalach struck again, going cross court to get the lead back for DMA. Ursuline, however, found another gear to take control.
McGonigal loaded up for a kill, leveling the set at 12-12 and spurring a 9-0 run. DiCaro scored when her attack was blocked out of bounds. Kelly threw up a block. McGonigal ended a long rally with a dink, and DiCaro wrapped it up with another kill.
DiCaro had two more kills down the stretch, and Cummings smoked one to get it to match point. The contest ended on a line violation by DMA.
DiCaro led the way with 20 kills, while McGonigal had 10 to go along with 12 digs and 16 assists. Hayley Timmons finished with 29 assists, while Grace Burns patrolled the back line all afternoon to the tune of 23 digs. The Raiders (2-0) wrap up a season-opening three-match road trip on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. against defending state champion Tower Hill at Carpenter Field House.
For Delaware Military, Hill had 11 kills. Libero Kate Hines led the team with 15 digs, and Benoit had 11 digs and 17 assists. The Seahawks (1-1) visit Wilmington Charter on Tuesday, also at 5:15 p.m.
All photos by Jason Winchell.
