WILMINGTON – After six straight matches on the road, the Ursuline volleyball team returned to its temporary home at Salesianum School on Oct. 12. The Raiders liked the home cooking, earning a 3-0 sweep over Cape Henlopen. Set scores were 25-11, 25-16, and 25-13.
Cape cut the Ursuline lead to 8-5 in the first set after a kill from Emerson Smith, but a smash from Claire Kelly (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) that went off a Vikings blocker and out of bounds began a 8-0 run. Emme Panunto (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) chipped in with two big kills during that stretch. Cape responded with four straight, capped by an Ava Calciano attack down the left sideline and an ace from Harper Mamele, but the Raiders closed it out. Kelly had several points down the stretch, and Julianna Lenz (St. John the Beloved Parish) ended it with an ace.
The Raiders went on a few streaks in the second to take control. The score was 5-4 Raiders when Jules Cummings (St. Joseph Parish, Aston, Pa.) crushed a ball to start a 5-0 run, one that also included an ace from Caitlyn McGonigal (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) and consecutive winners from Kaitlyn Rzucidlo (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish). The frontline play of Amalia Fruchtman helped keep the Vikings in the hunt, but Ursuline had too many weapons up front, with Kelly and Rzucidlo leading the way. The lead grew to 10 at one point, and although Cape Henlopen was able to cut that in half, the Raiders prevailed.
Mamele gave the Vikings a 2-1 lead in the third, but Panunto tied it up, giving Ursuline a lead it would not give up. Cape cut the lead to 11-9 on back-to-back aces by Camilla Willis, but two errors and a Hayley Timmons (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) ace gave the Raiders some breathing room. Lenz fired off two more aces during the final moments of the match, and kills from Liz Barnett (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) and Rzucidlo ended the day.
Final statistics were not available for Ursuline as of Sunday morning. The Raiders (9-2) take to the road on Oct. 15 at Wilmington Charter at 6 p.m. in their final road match of the regular season.
For the Vikings, Harper finished with 8 kills. Cape (8-3) visits Laurel on Oct. 17 at 5:30 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
