The Cape girls’ volleyball season came to an end Nov. 2, with a 3-0 loss to top-seeded Padua Academy in the second round of the DIAA state tournament. 

The Vikings couldn’t match the Pandas’ power, as they fell 25-11, 25-17, 25-14. 

Harper Mamele tallied nine kills and six digs. Ava Calciano recorded four kills, one ace, two blocks and six digs. Amara Fruchtman collected 11 digs. Emme Smith put up 20 assists. 

Cape scary good against Middletown

The Cape players' hopes spiked following a thrilling 3-0 win at home against Middletown.

“It was crazy! It was so wild and such a fast-paced game,” said Cape senior Ava Calciano. “These girls on our team, they killed it, and I'm just so proud of every one of them. It's a blessing to be on this court every day with them.”

Middletown went up early in the first set, but Cape battled back to a 19-19 tie. The Cavaliers won the 20th point, but the Vikings rebounded to force a timeout from the visitors, with Cape leading 22-20. The home team remained in control to close out the set 25-20 and take a one-set advantage.

Relying on deceptive serves and a strong middle block, Middletown jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Cape called timeout. A normally strong serve-receive unit was having some issues.

“The serves were intense; it was a really soft ball – it wasn't a hard ball – but it was just floating in the air,” Cape libero Amara Fruchtman said. “It's hard to read.”

The Cavaliers added three more points before Cape could get on the board. 

“We didn't approach it as ‘Oh, there's this 11-0 deficit, this is insurmountable,’” said Cape coach Tyler Couple. “It's, ‘Hey, can you get two points in a row for us?’ and then let's try and get three more by us and let's get two more. Again, if you just take it in smaller windows, it's much more digestible. They applied, on that first run of the second set, a lot of service pressure.”

Chipping away, Cape forced a Middletown timeout with the lead down to 13-9 before they took their final timeout trailing 19-14. 

“Being able to come in the circle during the game, and say, ‘We need to fix this, let's go’ and holding each other accountable – holding ourselves accountable – I think that really pushed us over the top and helped us get back in there,” Calciano said.

Down to their last point, the Vikings forced Middletown to take its last timeout with a 24-22 score. 

“I never doubted that we would get back up, because we've done it before, and we just had such a good energy on our team that we never got down together,” Fruchtman said.

By this time, momentum had slipped to Cape, and the girls went on to tie the game and steal the second set 28-26 out from under the Cavaliers.

“Usually at this time of the year in the tournament, you can't give up those runs and still win,” Coupe said. “It’s a testament to our belief in ourselves. In Smyrna, earlier in the season, we were down 19-9 in set three, and we still won that. We have a little bit of proven mental history that we can take any lead down.”

Cape finished the mission with a convincing 25-13 win in the third set to take the 3-0 victory. The big lead allowed the girls to soak in their accomplishment.

“It was so fun; I'm so grateful that we get to move on, grateful to be with these girls,” Calciano said. “It's a great feeling!”

Emme Smith led the team with 29 assists, while Harper Mamele had 15 kills to top the Vikings. Calciano had 16 digs.