LEWES — Tyler Coupe isn’t a fan of looking too far ahead.
He knows that’s easy to do when a coach has a young team.
But even with an inexperienced Cape Henlopen High girls’ volleyball squad last season, Coupe tried to get the most out of the Vikings.
“I think it’s OK to look at the big picture,” said the veteran coach, “so long as you’re still focused on doing the best you can in the moment.
“We fought for every practice, we went in to fight for every point. At times it didn’t go our way but we still gave it our all. We never lacked that commitment to the team that was in front of us.”
Coupe would like to think the rewards for that approach in a 9-7 campaign can be seen in Cape’s success this fall.
Going into the week, the Vikings were 4-0 in the Henlopen North, 7-2 overall. With a big division match at Dover still to be played, Cape Henlopen has already beaten both defending DIAA state champion Smyrna and state semifinalist Caesar Rodney.
The victory over Smyrna was the program’s first since 2009. The win over the Riders was the first since 2020.
Coupe said the Vikings have a number of good multi-sport athletes whose primary sport is something other than volleyball. They seem to mesh together on the court, though.
“We’re in a unique position because of our athleticism,” he said. “We have kids who have more control of their body and more comfortable around the court. That’s setting us up for a lot of success.
“Last year, we were the young team that made a lot of errors. But they were able to grow and get better. As a coaching staff, we kind of knew the big picture — that we had to take those lumps as long as we were making the errors with the correct intention — and we were. Now you’re seeing us score a lot more points on our own and minimalizing our errors.”
Cape Henlopen still has only three seniors on a roster that includes seven juniors.
Sophomore Harper Mamele Harper leads the Vikings with 102 kills and 12 blocks, senior Ava Calciano has 26 aces, senior Emerson Smith has 229 assists and 21 aces, sophomore Amara Frutchman has 124 digs and junior Amalia Frutchman also has 12 blocks.
Cape Henlopen’s only two losses so far have been a five-set match with Conrad and setback to Newark Charter.
Coupe said he and his coaches acknowledge to their players where they stand in the Henlopen North. But he doesn’t want them dwelling on it.
The Vikings still have three Henlopen North matches to play. They also face a challenging non-conference date with Ursuline on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Salesianum.
“We really try to hammer our focus on the day ahead of us,” said Coupe. “If we don’t take advantage of that day, we’re never going to have the opportunity to get to that North victory or the conference (title) match. ... Our priority is how we can win today.”
The last thing Coupe wants his players to do is get ahead of themselves. He likes to think of the season like a ladder.
“Say it’s a Monday practice and you’re thinking about that Thursday match,” he said. “You are going to miss the ladder step that is Tuesday and now you’re going to fall off your ladder.
“We really try to make sure that our focus is on the current step that’s in front of us and how we can win that step.”
EXTRA POINTS
• Milford has made tremendous strides under former Delmarva Christian coach Mike Zampini. The Buccaneers started the week with a 6-3 record, giving the program its most victories since 2016.
•Both 4-0 in the Henlopen South, Indian River and Lake Forest are currently battling for the division title. They don’t face each other until the final match of the regular season on Oct. 24 in Dagsboro.
Sussex Academy is also in the picture at 3-1 in the South, with only a loss to IR in the division.
•All eight teams in the Henlopen North have at least one division win.
•The Henlopen Conference championship match is tentatively slated for Oct. 26 with the North champion hosting it.
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