Dialog reporter
CLAYMONT — Archmere’s volleyball team ended its regular season Monday night by welcoming Concord to the Moglia Fieldhouse, and the Auks showed they are ready for the state tournament with a convincing 3-0 sweep of the Raiders.
Set scores were 25-11, 25-11 and 25-14. The Auks finished the regular season with an 11-4 record, winning seven of their last nine matches since the return of senior hitter Justine Pantaleo, who missed the first six matches because of a high ankle sprain. The only losses during that span were to the state’s top two teams, Charter and Delaware Military Academy.
The Raiders had 2-0 leads in each of the first two sets and 4-1 in the third, but in each Archmere turned the momentum around. Pantaleo figured prominently in the comeback in the first set. After senior hitter Abby Dischert gave Concord a 6-5 lead with one of her match-leading 16 kills, Archmere tied the score on a Concord service error, then took its first lead when senior Emily Dentinger blocked the Raiders’ next attempt.
That gave Pantaleo the serve, and the Auks would run off seven more points before Concord stopped the bleeding. Archmere would also get great serves from sophomore Kaylie Leclerc, who helped turn a 16-10 Auks lead into an insurmountable 23-10 advantage. The first set ended when Leclerc set classmate Zoe Akoto, whose blast down the left sideline found the floor.
Pantaleo said the Auks know how good an all-around player Dischert is, so they had to make sure they kept the Raiders off-balance on the serve.
“I went to couple of Concord games. I kind of went short and deep. I knew how to mix it up,” she said.
Another lengthy run, this one early on, gave Archmere control of game two. After a service winner by senior Veronica Hill gave Concord a 2-0 lead, the Auks began the comeback. This time, a six-point streak – including an ace by junior Sami Mengers – gave Archmere the lift it needed. Dischert ended the run with a kill, but, with Pantaleo serving, the home team scored four straight to make it 11-4. Pantaleo served through another four-point run to end the set, with the final point coming on an ace.
Concord took a 3-0 lead, tied for its biggest of the evening, in the third game on a nifty back set over the net by Jessica Fyock, but the Auks rebounded, again scoring points in bunches. Down 4-1, Archmere scored five straight and steadily took control of the match. Dischert brought the Raiders to within 14-11, but Archmere ended any doubt about the outcome by scoring the next seven points. The final two points came on a blast by Dentinger that deflected off two Raiders and out of bounds, and a tip kill by senior Christina DeFelice.
Dischert was magnificent for the Raiders, but without her all-state teammate, Emily Panchak, Archmere was able to concentrate its defense on her. In between all of her kills, Archmere blocked or deflected a number of other attempts, turning them into points of its own. Panchak has missed the last four matches, in which Concord has gone 2-2. She is not expected to play in the early rounds of the tournament. Concord finished the season 10-5.
Archmere benefited from a balanced attack. Akoto led the way with 11 kills, while Regan Bice, Dentinger, DeFelice and Pantaleo each had four. Pantaleo also contributed four aces and five blocks. In addition to her kills, Dischert added 11 digs.
Monday was the final night of the regular season. The tournament seedings and schedule will be announced Tuesday or Wednesday; both teams will make the 16-team field. Concord ended Archmere’s season last year in the second round, but Pantaleo said the Auks have their sights set on a better finish in 2014.
“We know we want to get to the Bob. We’ve been working for that, we’ve been practicing for that,” she said.
