ERMA – The Caper Tigers and Red Raiders proved to be evenly matched volleyball teams last week.
Although Ocean City High School’s girls came out on top, the Lower Cape May Regional girls had the chance to win with a pair of match points in the second game.
The Caper Tigers controlled the first set, winning 25-18, and the Red Raiders controlled the third, never trailing and winning 25-15.
LCMR looked like it was on their way to victory, leading 17-12 in the second set, but Ocean City battled back to tie 17-17. Even though the Caper Tigers were a point up three more times, the match kept tying through 20-20.
The Red Raiders took a 22-20 lead and then a 23-22 lead, but the Caper Tigers went ahead 24-23 for their first match point. Ocean City tied again, then had a set point at 25-24. The LCMR girls responded to tie and then to lead again at 26-25 before Ocean City scored three straight points to win 28-26 and stay alive in the match.
In the third set, Ocean City controlled the pace early, taking an 8-3 lead, expanded it to 15-7 and then 20-13 before finally winning 25-15.
Caper Tiger Ella Biersbach led the team in kills with 6. Ava Riggins and Harley Siner had four each, Chely Candelaria had three and Melinda Reeves, Adeline Pacevich and Addison Lagares had two each. Riggins had 11 service points.
Reeves had 13 digs, Candelaria and Pacevich 10 each and Biersbach eight. Pacevich led her team with 15 assists.
Brynn Williams was the force for the Red Raiders with 12 kills and 14 digs, both team-leading stats. Rylee Boyd had 17 assists, 12 service points and seven digs to go with her five kills. Brooke Sutor had eight kills and five digs; Cassidy Derrickson had eight digs, seven assists and five service points; and Gabrielle Erace had 20 digs and four service points.
“We feel really great about our team this year. We have some new players,” Ocean City head coach Jillian Garza said. “Our freshman squad is awesome. They’re working together great already. We had like 20 freshman girls go out for the team. So we have a big freshman team and everyone else looks really good. We’re really excited.”
Asked about her key players, Garza said the team’s libero, Gabby Erace, “is awesome and we have Brynn Williams. She’s an outside hitter, but she’s great all around. (Freshman) Rylee Boyd is one of our new girls. She’s been playing setter and opposite hitter and she’s really great.”
The coach said the team has “a ton” of juniors, providing experience in the lineup.
“We have been working really hard to create a team dynamic where we work together and communicate with one another and just encourage and support one another,” Garza said. “I think that’s huge for any team and we’re working really hard to do that.”
Last year the team made it to the second round of the playoffs.
“We definitely want to try to take it further into the playoffs this year,” she said. Making it to the second round last year “was awesome for us because it was only the third year of varsity so I’m hoping to get farther this year.”
Ocean City is 5-1 to start the year. The girls beat Middle Township 2-1, Triton 2-0, LCMR 2-1, Absegami 2-1 on Friday and Mainland 2-0 on Monday. They lost to Cedar Creek 2-0 Sept. 11.
The Red Raiders were at Cape May Tech Tuesday. They will host Saint Joseph Academy at 5:15 p.m. Thursday. Junior varsity plays at 4 p.m.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
