Cape volleyball sinks Christiana in four
After dropping the first set to a physical Christiana team 25-18, the Cape boys’ volleyball team came roaring back to win the next three 25-18, 26-24, 25-12 to upend the No. 7 Vikings and advance to the second round of the DIAA state tournament. The No. 10 Cape Vikings will travel to No. 1 Salesianum Friday, May 16.
Junior Lawson Whaley had the game of his career, tallying 17 kills, 10 digs and two blocks.
“I wanted the ball tonight,” said Whaley. “I didn’t want my seniors to go home. It could have been the last match they would play. I wanted them to play more matches. We weren’t playing well in the first set, and we were making mistakes and bad passes. We made unforced errors that gave them points they shouldn’t have had. After I started to get going, I was telling Jason [Harpel-Rickards] to feed me because they couldn’t touch me. I felt good.”
Senior Bryce Patterson added 13 kills and four digs. Keller Mancari powered in six kills, while Braxton Figgs and Ryder Van Horn each hit five kills. Jacob Panyko had eight digs. Kieran Morrissey bumped five digs.
“I think we focused on what we know,” said Morrissey. “We didn’t want to go home with a loss. Lawson got the hot hand and HR got the ball to him. He had a legacy game.”
Harpel-Rickards spread the ball around with 38 assists and plowed two kill shots.
“Passing improved in the second set onward,” said Harpel-Rickards. “When passing improves, it give us more options, especially in the middle. Lawson was on fire and I tried to get the ball to him. We focused, and when we get going we don’t stop.”
Cape coach Tyler Coupe said it was a fun match to watch.
“I thought Christiana played a really physical, defensive match that we had a tough time adjusting to early on,” he said. “We had poor service mistakes and couldn’t find the court consistently enough in set one. In set two, I think we got lucky a few times with some unforced errors from Christiana. I thought sets three and four were a much better showing of who we are and can be.”
Coupe had a lot of praise for Whaley.
“That was such an elite level of play from Lawson Whaley,” he said. “To be a middle blocker and lead the team in kills is never easy. More impressive is the efficiency in which he did it – to hit over .700 on 21 swings is stupendous. We were able to keep our composure and score points when it mattered most.”
