CLAYMONT — Delmarva Christian’s volleyball team made a rare trip to New Castle County on Oct. 9, showing flashes of good volleyball but eventually falling to Archmere, 3-0. Set scores were 25-7, 25-14 and 25-15.
The Royals, out of Georgetown, came into the match with more wins than any other team in Delaware, 11. Most of their matches have been against Maryland foes, but they do have wins over Cape Henlopen, Sussex Central and St. Andrew’s. Their previous losses came against Caravel and Indian River, so they had played some good competition.
In the first set on Wednesday night, however, it was all Auks. Madeline Fisher opened with the serve, and a three-point run to begin the match included a service winner and an ace. The Royals closed to within a point on an ace from Ashlyn Stonebraker, but Archmere showed off its multiple weapons during a five-point run. After a service error from Delmarva Christian for the first point, Julia Kochie served up an ace, Abby Kates threw up a block, Ava Scarpaci went cross-court with a smash, and Kates crushed a spike.
The Auks scored 14 of the final 15 points to end the set. Kochie showed off her hitting skills, painting the sidelines more than once, and Kaleigh Burke had consecutive aces as the set neared its end.
Archmere jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the second, thanks in part to three straight Hannah Wright aces, but the Royals found their footing after that. They picked up a few kills from Sierra Troyer as they hung around for a bit. Delmarva Christian trailed by 10, 17-7, before cutting that lead in half.
Savannah Stewart started that run with a block, and the streak also included #2’s ace. Scarpaci was blocked out of bounds to end the streak, and Kochie ended it with another bomb.
The Royals put 15 points up in the final set, but the Auks were just too much to overcome.
Final statistics for Delmarva Christian were not available early Thursday morning. The Royals (11-3) have a showdown with ESIAC power Holly Grove on Friday at 5 p.m.
For the Auks (9-2), Kochie led the way with 13 kills, while Lauren Edmiston added eight. Edmiston had six of the team’s 13 blocks. Archmere also was credited with 16 aces, led by Mackenzie Popp’s four. The team hosts Conrad on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.
