The Indian River High School boys’ volleyball team dropped three close sets to Henlopen Conference rival Cape Henlopen on Monday, May 5.
The visiting Indians lost 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20, and fell to 9-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.
Junior Jason Harpel-Rickards contributed 37 assists to the victory for Cape (8-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play). Senior Bryce Patterson added 12 digs, while junior Lawson Whaley provided 10 kills and 10 digs, and junior Ryder Van Horn added 10 digs.
“It was a very frustrating match,” said Indians head coach Mike Markovic. “Cape is a good team with a number of outstanding players. We started strong but couldn’t maintain any long point-scoring runs. All the matches were very close, and we did manage to even things up after we fell behind. But we weren’t able to establish an effective block against their better hitters. We could meet up with them again in the DIAA state playoffs, and we need to be prepared.”
Indian River 3, MOT Charter 0
The Indians returned to the win column against visiting MOT Charter on Friday, May 2.
IRHS won the non-conference match in straight sets by the scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-16.
Senior outside hitter Johnny Di Carlo led the Indians with 18 kills and added 13 digs, or saves. Junior setter Zach Hirn contributed 34 assists, and senior libero Evan Forjan added 14 digs. Junior outside hitter Amor Townsend contributed nine digs and seven kills.
Caesar Rodney 3, Indian River 1
The Indians became the first team to win even a single set against undefeated Henlopen Conference rival Caesar Rodney on Thursday, May 1.
However, the visiting Riders (13-0) remained undefeated, with a 3-1 triumph that snapped the Indians’ six-game winning streak. Caesar Rodney won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-17, respectively. After the Indians won set three by a 25-18 tally, the Riders closed things out with a 25-10 triumph.
Carlo led the Indians with 16 kills and 15 digs, while Hirn contributed 26 assists, 10 digs and seven kills. Forjan added 10 digs, and junior outside hitter Amor Townsend provided nine kills and nine digs.
The Riders, who entered the match with 36 consecutive set victories, were led by senior middle blocker Jamal Alsadrani’s 11 kills and 10 more by senior outside hitter Xylord Martin.