Knights Volleyball Dominates With 3-0 Sweep On Senior Night

Cave Spring senior Sydney McTigue serves in the second set Tuesday night as the Knights swept Christiansburg 3-0 to remain undefeated on the season.
Cave Spring senior Sydney McTigue serves in the second set Tuesday night as the Knights swept Christiansburg 3-0 to remain undefeated on the season.

Tuesday night at the Cave Spring gym, Senior Night provided plenty of emotion for a trio of Knight volleyball standouts.

The Christiansburg Blue Demons were the unfortunate victims of the Cave Spring showcase night.

In a ceremony prior to the match, defensive setter Sydney McTigue, along with front line power hitters Tessa and Charity Klimaitis, were escorted by their parents to join Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis and assistant Mark Tanis.

Once the match began, those three and the rest of the Cave Spring lineup put on another dominating effort as the Knights swept the Blue Demons 25-9; 25-10; 25-14. Cave Spring remained undefeated in regular season best-3-of-5 game matches.

“It wasn’t perfect tonight, but it was a good win,” Tanis noted after the match. “A lot of emotions out there and there’s so much to do for senior night, distractions are common.”

Tanis couldn’t have said it better after the opening game began like an Abbott and Costello ” Who’s on First ?” routine.

Cave Spring’s Alayna Foutz, the talented junior who served 24 straight points in a match last week, began by serving up two straight against the Demons. By the time Christiansburg served for the first time, they still hadn’t found the hardwood on the Knight’s side, yet the Demons led 1-0 after the Knights called a self-imposed penalty on themselves for opening with the wrong server. Christiansburg was awarded a point and the Knights lost both of theirs for the snafu that had the crowd scratching their heads.

Once order was restored, it was all Cave Spring.

The Knights led 11-5 in set one before going on runs of 8-4 and 6-0 for the 25-9 win.

Game two saw Cave Spring jump out to a 5-1 lead on the serve of Meagan Harrison, and a 17-6 lead off the service gems of McTigue. The Knights finished with a 8-4 run, including scattering serves by Charity Klimaitis that the Demons simply couldn’t handle.

The third game was knotted at 9 before Cave Spring went on a 16-5 blitz that saw Tanis empty the bench and each senior take an encore.

“We did our best to play with them,” first-year Christiansburg head coach Kellie Brumbaugh said after the match. “With Cave Spring’s caliber of play, it’s hard to keep up with them. I’m telling my girls ‘ you can do this (play at this level) if you’re committed. ‘ It’s a long term process to get to this level, not a one-year thing.”

Ironically, Brumbaugh was a starter for the 2006 Grafton High School team that Tanis’ Cave Spring squad defeated in five sets for the state championship that season.

“It’s hard to believe,” a smiling McTigue said of playing her final regular season home game. “How far in the past that was. I was a freshman here when Cave Spring won its last state championship. That was a different group with different talents, but as a team this group is close. I think we can go a long way.”

McTigue provided 10 digs and three aces Tuesday night, while Tessa Klimaitis pelted Christiansburg with 8 kills and 5 blocks, with twin sister Charity adding 7 kills, 3 blocks and 5 aces.

All eyes now point to Thursday when the Knights travel to rival and defending state champion Hidden Valley for the regular season finale.

“We’ll have a good practice and a game plan to win,” Tanis said.

– Bill Turner

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