Delmarva Christian volleyball falls to Newark Charter
The Delmarva Christian girls’ volleyball team came into its home opener against Newark Charter with a good bit of momentum after avenging last season’s loss to Cape Henlopen. The Royals managed to keep that momentum in the first set and put forth a quality effort throughout the match. Unfortunately in sports, sometimes hustle is not enough to secure a win.
The Royals won the first set 25-17. Contributions were made across the board and the team effort gave the girls a 1-0 in the match. During the second set, Newark Charter’s height started to cause problems at the net. The Patriots took the second set 25-11, the third set 25-14, and the fourth set 25-12 to claim victory.
“I just told them not to get discouraged and it’s a long season ahead of us. We learn from our mistakes. They stepped up and played quicker volleyball, and we weren’t ready for it,” said Royals coach Mike Zampini.
Newark Charter had four players register at least five kills, and two players had at least five blocks. Their collective height was noticeable.
“That’s the trick – height is volleyball, so if you have the height, you have a big advantage,” Zampini said, noting his team is smaller but he’s confident they’ll be able to combat that in the future.
The Royals countered as best as they could, with senior Tobi Robinson registering a match-high 13 digs, while juniors Layni Dukes and Elaina Millaway had 12 digs each. Dukes’ 10 assists were second on the team to senior Maggie Kwiatkowski’s match-high 20. Millaway had a match-high 14 kills, and fellow junior Taylor Lowe finished second for the Royals with seven kills.
“I thought our team gave the effort; I just felt like they out-powered us,” Zampini said.
The Royals couldn’t get back on the winning track Sept. 16, as they fell to Dover 3-1. After falling 25-16 to open the match, Delmarva Christian battled to a 30-28 win in the second set. They then fell in two close sets by identical 25-23 scores to drop the match.
Millaway led the way with 23 kills, 18 digs and 10 assists. Lowe had 13 kills and 14 digs. Robinson had a team-high 24 digs.
