There have been monumental sports rivalries throughout history like Ali-Frazier in Manila, USA and Russia ice hockey at Lake Placid and Borg-McEnroe at Wimbledon, and now locally Delmarva Christian and Cape volleyball can be added to the list. 

The Vikings garnered a five-set triumph Sept. 6 in the season-opening match for both squads.

Each set was more exciting than the prior. The Royals drew first blood taking the first set 29-27. Cape battled back to win 25-13 in the second stanza. The third set found the Royals coming from behind and grabbing the 26-24 win. The Vikings played to a 25-20 victory in the fourth before prevailing 15-12 to avenge last season’s five-set loss to the Royals.

The match featured power kills from Delaware’s No. 1-ranked player Elaina Millaway and soft accurate sets by Khushi Patel and Keely Kondracki. Cape’s twin towers of Amalia Fruchtman and Harper Mamele made crushing roof blocks and featured precise sets by Emme Smith, including one from lying on her back on the floor.

Smith led the way for Cape, putting up 28 assists and powering four aces. Sophomore libero Amara Fruchtman bumped 21 digs, while Mamele recorded four aces, 13 kills and 11 digs. Senior Ava Calciano garnered 13 kills and seven digs. Brielle Ross and Amalia Fruchtman teamed for 13 kills. Delmarva Christian’s stats were not available by press time. 

“What a fun start to our season,” said Cape head coach Tyler Coupe. “Walking into a match against Delmarva, there’s an obvious and clear understanding that a large portion of the match is going against Elaina [Millaway]. She’s the most dynamic attacker in the state with the range of how and where on the court she can attack. Defensively, she’s like a free safety back there; she has such a green light to make reads and take balls she sees that it makes it tough on our offense.”

Coupe said his team showed brilliant resiliency.

“In sets three and four, I thought Elaina really started to find her offensive stride and we struggled to make any type of play on it,” he said. “However when we had other opportunities, we took advantage of them offensively. I thought Emme [Smith] played a great match for us. She was able to keep our hitters in system even when dealing with an out-of-system pass.”

Smith said Cape’s offense is really good this year. 

“When we put up a good pass, I know our offense is going the get the kill,” she said. “This early win is really good for us. Elaina [Millaway] is great, and we tried to not put too much focus on her. We wanted to beat Delmarva Christian as a whole because they are a great team.”

Royals senior libero Layni Dukes said Cape is always a difficult opponent to open the season. 

“It’s a big game for everyone. It gets a lot of hype,” she said. “We have a lot of great players, and we just have to grow a little more with each other.”

Coupe said he’d like to see a little more consistent physicality from his middle attackers.

“We had glimpses of it, but now can it survive the duration of a five-set match?” he said. “I thought in her debut at libero Amara [Fruchtman] played really well. She still has a ton to learn as a non-volleyball player, but her natural athletic instincts put her in such a position to succeed. It’s really fun to watch. It was a really good early battle for us, and we’re looking forward to two more opportunities next week to show our growth."

Cape hosts Woodbridge at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 10, and Smyrna at 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 12. Delmarva Christian travels to Newark Charter for a match at 6:15 p.m., Sept. 12.