No big surprises Tuesday night in the Salem High School gym. Regular season champion Hidden Valley and runner-up Cave Spring both advanced in the River Ridge District volleyball tournament. They will meet for the third time this season in the final set for 7:00 Thursday night at Salem.
Cave Spring will be looking to shake things up after the Titans posted wins in both regular season matches, 3-2 in early October and 3-1 in the rematch last Thursday at Cave Spring.
In Tuesday night’s semifinal opener, Hidden Valley swept Blacksburg, 25-11; 25-14 ; 25-22. The Titan’s height at the net was the difference as Hidden Valley constantly set for the kill and kept the Bruin defense off balance throughout.
Blacksburg managed to close to within 22-18 in the third game before Lauren Thomas, Caroline Boone and Emma Sweet scored the final three Titan points by power shots that scattered the Blacksburg defense.
Thomas finished with 10 kills and Boone 7 to lead the Titan attack, while setter Hannah Podeschi provided 25 assists in the win.
“We looked good in the first two games,” Hidden Valley Head Coach Carla Poff said afterward. “We lost some momentum in the third, but overall we were consistent.”
In the night’s second match, Cave Spring swept Salem 25-17; 25-17; 25-19. The Knights pulled away midway through each of the three games to set the stage for Thursday night.
Erin Holsinger led the Knights with 12 kills, with Tessa Klimaitis adding 9. Libero Sarah Smith had 20 digs for Cave Spring and Olivia Sass set the table with 30 assists.
“We just need to keep playing better and find the right combinations,” Cave Spring Head Coach Tamalyn Tanis pointed out. “We’d like to win Thursday, but the outcome has no bearing. We already know we play at Carroll County next Tuesday in the first round of the regionals. Things get bigger then.”BILL TURNER game story/photos
