by Bill Turner
Cave Spring hardly worked up a sweat Tuesday night as the Knights methodically dispatched Bassett 3-0 in the Region IV volleyball quarterfinal at the Cave Spring gym. The entire match lasted less than an hour.
A good thing, according to Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis. “Everyone on our team is sick,” Tanis noted afterward. “The girls are congested. I just wanted to get this one over and send everyone home to get some rest.”
Cave Spring moves on to face River Ridge foe Blacksburg Thursday night at Tunstall High School. Blacksburg advanced with a 3-0 win over Richlands Tuesday. Cave Spring defeated the Bruins twice in the regular season by matching 3-0 scores.
In the other Region IV bracket, Hidden Valley defeated Carroll County 3-0 and will take on Patrick County Thursday at Tunstall. Should Cave Spring and Hidden Valley win Thursday, it will set up the fifth meeting between the Roanoke County schools in the regional final expected to be played at Salem High School on Saturday.
Cave Spring totally dominated Bassett in all phases of the match Tuesday. The Bengals had no answer for the Knight’s power game as reflected in the 25-10; 25-7; 25-13 sweep. What few points Bassett could muster came mostly on Cave Spring unforced errors. “I’ll take the unforced errors,” Tanis said. “We were getting good kills, and I wanted to keep the players moving.”
Morgan Shannon led the Knight attack with 14 kills and 11 digs, while Kelsey Sine added 9 kills and 3 blocks. Shannon Craighead set the Cave Spring offense with 31 assists and scattered the Bassett back line with 8 service aces.
