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Cape volleyball outlasts Dover 3-2

Cape celebrates seniors with a big win
October 23, 2019

The Cape volleyball team showed their grit and heart with a 16-14 fifth-set victory over the Senators Oct. 22 on Senior Night.

After dropping the first set 18-25, the Vikings went into marathon mode to take the second 30-28.

The Senators took the third 26-24, but the Lady Vikings wouldn’t be denied, winning the fourth 25-20 and setting up the rubber set. Cape took a 6-1 lead in the fifth only to have Dover fight back and go ahead 14-12. Senior Abbey Derrickson came in to serve out the match and Rileigh Wilson slammed down a kill at 15-14 to give the Vikings the important Northern Division victory.

“This feels awesome to able to battle in such a game like that and come back after losing a couple of sets, especially after having such a rivalry with them from the previous season [Cape won both matches played against the Senators in the 2018 season 3-2],” said Derrickson. “We knew we had to come out and just hand it to them. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game, but we did it. Tonight is a good way to go into our last match with Conrad. We came together as one; we played 14 as one. We all trusted each other and we communicated. We battled point after point. There is nothing we can’t do in this game that’s going to keep us from winning.”

“I think the second set helped set the tone for the rest of the match and gave us momentum on our side,” said Cape coach Tyler Coupe. “It proved that when we’re pushed we can bounce back and we aren’t afraid. Dover plays a very unique game. They’re uptempo and forced us out of system a lot. It’s something we haven’t seen before. I think we responded well. At times we got out of sorts and didn’t trust ourselves, but when we were in our own rhythm and our own system we were able to capitalize. I do think that second set going the distance proved our girls’ mental strength. In our huddle we said to play fearlessly and trust each other. They took swings with their backs against the wall, and it was great to see.”

Derrickson set up 32 assists, had nine digs and powered in three aces in the contest. Sophomore Rileigh Wilson scored 17 kills while Bre Kusen put down 15 kills.

“We really worked on fine-tuning some things that we have been working on in the past few weeks,” said Wilson. “We really just knew that we weren’t giving up without a fight. We had high energy and really trusted our teammates, and each player carried out their specific assignment on the court.”

Libero Emily Lamb scored 16 digs, while Jocelyn Leach had 11 digs and four aces. Alyssa Whaley assisted on 16 points. Katie Knarr bumped 12. Erin Morrissey scored four kills and three blocks. Angelica Knusen had two kills and two blocks while Madison Mahoney had three kills and three blocks. Senior Simran Patel hit seven kills while picking up two aces.

“It was the best feeling I’ve had all season,” said Patel. “It was our greatest win, not our best game, but our best win for sure. I’m really glad we pulled through. We trust each other a lot. We played our hearts out. We were ready to bring our all. We played all as one, and that’s what got us through the night.”

Cape’s junior varsity defeated the Senators 2-0 [25-23, 25-7] to move to 9-5 on the season.

The 9-5 Cape team finishes their regular season Friday, Oct. 25, with 12-1 Conrad at home.

 

 

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