Cape spikers drive home 3-0 win over Lake Forest
Vikings volleyball players from the beach chased the 2020 season all summer and fall, from travel ball to practices at the 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington, and finally got to play a game in their own barn with the word Cape emblazoned across their uniforms.
Cape was killing it at the net versus the Lake Forest Spartans Oct. 20, winning the match 3-0 in straight-game victories of 26-16, 25-12 and 25-23.
Leading the team in put-away kills were Rileigh Wilson with 14, Katie Knarr with nine, Bre Kusen and Hope Reed with five each, and Madison Mahoney with four.
Megan Smith, “the setter, don’t forget her,” was in the middle of all the put-away shots with an incredible 33 assists.
Emily Lamb, who takes care of digging out the low balls on the backline, led all players with 12 digs. Knarr also contributed eight digs.
Coach Tyler Coupe, now in his sixth season as Cape’s head coach, said of the victory to open the season: “I’m happy with the win. I was hesitant coming into the match in the sense that we haven't played anyone but ourselves for three weeks. I thought we came out flat in the early portion of each set, but as a team responded very well each time. We limited our errors behind the service line, and Megan Smith did a great job in her varsity debut of distributing the ball and keeping our offense balanced. Our free ball passing was rather inconsistent which is a frustration, because that's a play we need to capitalize on to run our offense as in-system as much as possible. I'm pleased overall with how we played and look forward to getting back in the gym tomorrow to prep for a tough CR team on [Oct. 22].”
Cape will play at Caesar Rodney on Thursday (after the Cape Gazette deadline) in a pivotal early-season game against one of the top teams in the Henlopen Conference. The Riders opened their season with a 3-0 win over Sussex Academy.
