CLAYMONT — Archmere gave the state’s top volleyball team and defending champion Tower Hill all it could handle, putting the Hillers on the ropes before Tower rallied for a 3-2 victory on Sept. 30 at Moglia Fieldhouse.
Set scores were 25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 25-19, and 16-14.
The marathon pitted No. 1 Tower as ranked by 302 Sports and the fourth-ranked Auks. A good crowd saw a match filled with solid serves, stellar defense and plenty of big hits. In the end, Tower Hill fought off two match points before getting the narrow win.
Tower Hill played without hitters Sydney Fischer and Wren Steiner, but Cadence Davis and Jillian Truesdell were there to fill the void. The Hillers opened up a six-point lead in the first, the first time when Kennedy Haskins dinked the ball over to make it 13-7. The lead remained at six, 18-12, when the Auks made their move
Grace Mahoney (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) got the comeback started with a smash. It was the first of three kills she would collect during a 6-0 run that tied the score. Archmere stormed back to take a 21-19 lead on a Michaela Iacono ace. The set was tied at 23 when the Hillers sent it to set point with a Parker Lewicki ace, and Davis ended it by sending an attack off the Auks’ block.
Iacono put the Auks on top, 5-4, in the second set, and they would not trail. Lewicki drew the Hillers within one at 12-11 with another ace, but Archmere went on a 9-0 run to pull away. Bridget Malloy (St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Glen Mills, Pa.) fired off four aces during the run that gave the Auks a 20-11 lead.
Riding the momentum of the second set, Archmere kept the hot play going into the third. Mahoney broke a 5-5 tie with a blast that send the Auks on their way. Malloy followed that attack with an ace, and Mahoney smashed one a few points later as the lead grew to four. The Auks kept the lead between three and five points with some solid defense against the bit hits of Davis and the slam dunks from Kennedy Haskins. Jillian Truesdell got Tower as close as 23-20 with a late kill, but two errors sealed the set for Archmere, giving them a 2-1 lead.
The Hillers fell into a small hole early in the fourth, but they roared back. Haskins scored consistently, with a dunk midway through giving them a 16-10 lead. Malloy led an Auks comeback attempt, with consecutive aces making it 18-17 Tower. It was 20-19 Tower after a Mahoney smash for Archmere, but the Hillers scored the final five points.
Archmere opened up a 4-1 lead in the fifth on an ace from Maddie Frampton, and kept the lead for much of the set. Lillian Guzevich (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) gave the Auks an 11-7 lead when she tipped the ball into an empty space. Davis responded with two straight kills before Malloy got one back for Archmere. A Mahoney attack sent it to match point at 14-12 before a service error saved one for Tower.
Aashritha Koya tied the fifth with an ace, ensuring bonus volleyball. After an Archmere timeout, a hitting error on the Auks gave Tower match point, and Haskins sent her final dunk off a few hands and to the floor, ending the marathon battle.
Davis finished with 19 kills, four blocks and nine digs for the Hillers. Haskins added 12 kills, and Truesdell had 11. Lily Leung led the way with 35 digs. Tower Hill (6-1) remains on the road Friday at Tatnall at 5:15 p.m.
Archmere (7-2) visits No. 2 Saint Mark’s on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
