Cave Spring Can’t Tame Lions In State Volleyball Final

Cave Spring front-liners Charity Klimaitis (#11) and Piper Roe (#1) block a shot from Warhill hitter Cori Clifton ( #14) Saturday afternoon as the Lions topped the Knights 3-1 in the Group 3A state volleyball final in Richmond.
Cave Spring front-liners Charity Klimaitis (#11) and Piper Roe (#1) block a shot from Warhill hitter Cori Clifton ( #14) Saturday afternoon as the Lions topped the Knights 3-1 in the Group 3A state volleyball final in Richmond.

Cave Spring found itself in an unfamiliar position Saturday afternoon against the Warhill Lions volleyball team.

They pushed the Lions into the cage, but couldn’t get the door closed.
Taking the first set 25-20, the Knights watched their opponents from Williamsburg rally with authority to pull out the 3-1 win for the Group 3A state title at the Virginia Commonwealth University Siegel Center in Richmond.
The final was 20-25; 25-13; 25-19; 25-18, denying Cave Spring and head coach Tamalyn Tanis their sixth state volleyball championship.
It came down to Warhill’s tournament experience, power at the net that produced 47 kills as a team, and a run midway through the second set that totally changed the momentum of the match.
Cave Spring, despite the opening set win, never seemed comfortable for most of the afternoon.
Warhill, with 6’3″ senior Alex Koon blasting 20 kills and 5-10 junior Nicole Mulligan launching 10, put the Knights in unfamiliar territory as an opponent who could send the leather back across the net in the fashion that Cave Spring dominated with most of the season.
Cave Spring 6-2 junior Piper Roe, who led the Knights with 11 kills and 7 blocks, acknowledged the challenge.
“We haven’t faced girls that big before, so it was different to adjust to,” Roe noted during the interview session after the match.
The experience of playing on the big stage at VCU also became a huge factor as the Lions settled in.
“The stage is new,” Tanis pointed out. “We haven’t been here in a couple years. As hard as you practice for that and as hard as you focus on keeping it simple in the execution of your game, it’s still an adjustment.”
“Even though we won the first game, we didn’t play Cave Spring volleyball,” Tanis added. “We couldn’t get the offense going. It never felt right. When you get tight, you get slow. They ( Warhill ) executed and a lot was because they went through it last year.”
Warhill lost in the 2013 state final in five sets to Hidden Valley on this same court.
“This was a lot better than last year,” Warhill head coach Greg Koon (father of Alex) noted. “This time we knew what it would be like. Still, we started out rough – it’s the nerves. We knew a little about Cave Spring, and we knew we had to make Piper work to kill the ball.”
Things looked promising for the Knights in the opening set.
After things were tied at 12, Cave Spring used a Roe block and splintering kill to ignite a 5-1 run that had the Knights up 17-13. Warhill never got closer than two points the rest of the way. Leading 23-20, the Knights clinched the set with a Roe kill and a double-hit by the Lions’ front.
After scoring the first three points of the second set, Warhill nursed a slim lead to the midway point of the set. After a Lion net violation reduced their advantage to 13-12, Warhill scored off Cave Spring”s serve for a 14-12 lead and the turning point of  the match unfolded.
Mulligan went to the service line and, using an acrobatic form that involved a 25-foot-high toss, promptly put down seven straight points that clearly had the Knights rattled. Leading 21-12, the Lions closed with a 4-1 run that evened the sets at 1. Mulligan finished with a game-high 5 aces, leading a Lion service onslaught that totaled 14 total aces. Cave Spring only produced 2 aces for the entire match.
The third set had the Knights up 12-10 and 15-14 before the Lions rallied with a 10-5 surge to go up 2-1.
In the fourth set, Warhill pulled away from a 7-6 lead with a 7-2 spurt that put the Lions ahead 14-8. Cave Spring would get no closer than two points the rest of the way before Lion Colby Norris scored the match clincher.
“I think we got really tense because we’re used to winning all the time,” Charity Klimaitis noted. “We got really tight toward the end.”
On the Cave Spring side, Charity Klimaitis, Cait Flippin and Tessa Klimaitis followed Roe’s 11 kill effort with 7, 6 and 5 kills, respectfully. Charity Klimaitis led they Knights with 14 digs, while junior Alayna Foutz brought up 12 from the hardwood. Meagan Harrison put up a match-high 32 assists for Cave Spring.
Cave Spring finished the season 27-3.
– Bill Turner

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