Smyrna High earned the No. 7 seed, leading a group of eight downstate teams that made the 24-team field for the DIAA volleyball state tournament.

The tourney starts on Thursday night with eight first-round matches. The top eight seeds earn first-round byes, opening the tournament with games on Saturday.

Thursday’s opening-round contests will be played as doubleheaders, with the first games starting at 6 p.m. and the second ones to follow.

At Caesar Rodney, No. 21 Delmarva Christian takes on No. 12 Wilmington Christian at 6 p.m. with No. 16 CR facing No. 17 Sussex Tech in the nightcap.

At St. Thomas More, No. 14 Cape Henlopen squares off with No. 19 Appoquinimink at 6 p.m. before No. 11 St. Thomas More hosts No. 22 Delmar at 7 p.m.

Also on Thursday, in a 6 p.m. game at Tatnall, No. 15 Polytech will play No. 18 Newark Charter.

The Riders and Ravens tied for the No. 16 spot with CR taking the lower seed because it beat Sussex Tech during the regular season.

Henlopen Conference Northern Division champion Smyrna tied with St. Mark’s and Ursuline for the fifth seed but took the No. 7 slot based on tiebreakers. In Saturday’s second round, Smyrna will face the winner of the first-round match between No. 10 Tatnall and No. 23 A.I. DuPont.

Field hockey

Cape Henlopen 9, Seaford 0: Annie Judge tallied three second-half goals as the Vikings improved to 12-2.

Anna Stancofski added a pair of goals for Cape, which led 3-0 at halftime.

Yeliz Kurt made 26 saves for the Blue Jays.

Boys’ soccer

Delmarva Christian 3, Lake Forest 0: The Royals netted two second-half goals to put away the victory over the Spartans.

Benjamin Little, Josiah Taylor and Jordan Flaherty all scored goals for Delmarva Christian.

College field hockey

UD to host CAA tourney: The Delaware field hockey team will vie for its fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association title with home-field advantage as the No. 9 Blue Hens host the CAA Championships at Rullo Stadium this coming weekend.

Delaware (17-2), which tied the school record for wins, went undefeated in conference play (6-0) for just the second time since 1991 to earn the top seed in the league standings.

The semifinals are on Friday with the top-seeded Hens (17-2, 6-0 CAA) taking on fourth-seeded Drexel (8-10, 3-3 CAA) at 3 p.m. Second-seeded William & Mary (9-9, 5-1 CAA) then squares off against third-seeded James Madison (12-6, 4-2 CAA) at approximately 6 p.m.

The title game is slated for 1 p.m. on Sunday, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament.

UD players honored: Blue Hen seniors Esmée Peet and Meghan Winesett were chosen Monday as two of 50 student-athletes selected for the Victory Sports Tours/NFHCA Division I Senior Game. The contest will be held on Nov. 19 at 2:30 p.m. at Old Dominion University.

Peet is fifth in program history with 110 career points on 44 goals (sixth all-time) and 22 assists (tied for fifth all-time) and has started all 85 games during her four-year career for Delaware. She is also a two-time All-American and three-time All-CAA first-team honoree.

Winesett, chosen as an alternate for the Senior Game, is a regional All-American and two-time All-CAA selection. She is tied for 13th in program history with 84 career points on 32 goals and 20 assists (tied for eighth all-time).