The season volleyball opener for the Cave Spring Knights in the Northside gym saw the Knights faced with a long uphill climb to dig itself out of a serious hole in game one of the best-of-five games match.
Once the Knights got over the hump, it was like a downhill bobsled run the rest of the night as Cave Spring swept the Vikings 25-23; 25-9; 25-15.
The match put a firm stamp on the likelihood that the Lady Knights and their power game will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season.
For Northside, which is looking to regroup after the loss of standout hitter Aleah Keaton to a knee injury, it was the second time in as many games that the Vikings continued to look for the magical lineup. Northside fell to defending Group 3A state champions Hidden Valley in their opener last Tuesday.
Cave Spring blew out to 7-1 lead in the opening game, and after a Viking timeout to quell the nerves, Northside put on its sharpest display of the night by going on an impressive 17-4 run to put the Knights in a 18-11 hole.
Cave Spring methodically chipped away, tying things at 23 before the Knights finished off the comeback with a Piper Roe kill for the 24th point and a Viking net violation for the winner.
“When we got up 7-1 to start, we got over-confident,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted afterward. “We needed that (the big Northside comeback) to happen to set us straight. Last year we were younger and wouldn’t have responded. These girls have been waiting a long time for tonight. They were anxious to play and there was a lot of adrenaline.”
Knight’s junior Piper Roe, whose height dominates at the net, agreed.
“We just had to get in play mode in that first game,” Roe, who has verbally committed to play at Louisville, said after the match. “It was a little nerve racking, but we knew we could dig out of the hole. This team is a lot more mature than last year.”
The Vikings seemed stunned after letting the first game get away, and Cave Spring quickly put the hammer down.
Game two saw the Knights jump out to leads of 10-4 and 20-8 before pulling away at 25-9. It was much of the same in game three as the Cave Spring power game was hitting on all cylinders. The Knights scored the first eight points, led 19-8 and cruised to the 25-15 match clincher.
It was a balanced attack for Cave Spring. Charity Klimaitis led the way with 9 kills, while her twin sister Tessa, Roe and Shannon Holsinger each added 7. Meagan Harrison set the table for the Knights with 29 assists, adding 4 aces from the service line.
– Bill Turner
