ALAPOCAS — Lillian Guzevich served up an ace on the first point of the season, and her Archmere Auks went on to a 3-0 sweep at Wilmington Friends in the volleyball opener for both teams on Sept. 3. Set scores were 25-12, 25-11 and 25-11.
Guzevich (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) led the Auks to the first six points of the set before a service error put the Quakers on the board. Bridget Malloy ended that streak at one with a tip for Archmere, and Grace Mahoney got started on her big afternoon with the first of many crushing kills.
The Quakers were within four as late as 12-8, but another smash by Mahoney (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) ignited a 13-4 Auks run to end the set. Malloy (St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Glen Mills, Pa.) ended the first with a slam.
Guzevich scored for Archmere on a backhanded shot that found the floor, and she added an ace as the Auks got going in the second. Malloy showed off her versatility with consecutive aces a few points later, and the Auks used a series of short runs to pull away. Friends had a 4-0 run midway through the set punctuated by consecutive aces from Pamela Moore, but Brooke Maddox answered with a bump that eluded the Quakers’ defense, and Guzevich followed with another ace. Malloy and Mahoney added kills down the stretch, and Malloy served up an ace for set point.
The third set began similar to the first, with Caroline Hahn tipping an overpass after an impressive dig by Friends and putting the Auks on top, 6-1. Archmere capitalized on their strong service game, with Malloy and Vivienne Govatos adding aces. An 8-0 run with Guzevich on serve put the set out of reach.
Final statistics were not available Thursday morning. Archmere (1-0) will visit Wilmington Christian on Friday at 5:30 p.m., while the Quakers (0-1) host Brandywine on Friday at 5:15 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
