Hidden Valley has had its share of volleyball battles with their county rivals, the Cave Spring Knights.Tuesday night in the Hidden Valley gym, the Titans found themselves down one game to zero against another group of Knights from Harrisonburg.
Hidden Valley restored order in the final three games, winning the state quarterfinal 3-1 to advance to Friday night’s semifinal against Jamestown at 8:30 in the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
The Titans found themselves in a dogfight in the opening game. Hidden Valley led 17-13 before Turner Ashby roared back with an 8-3 run for a 21-20 advantage. The Knights had game-point at hand, 24-22, but the Titans tied things at 24, and then went up 25-24 on a Caroline Boone crosscourt kill. It would be the last Hidden Valley score as Turner Ashby went on a 3-0 run for the 27-25 shocker.
“I think it was nerves,” Hidden Valley head coach Carla Poff said afterward. “We started seeing balls go down, and Turner Ashby was playing some great defense. They were scrappy.”
“We got off to a great start,” Turner Ashby head coach Gina Troyer noted. “Everyone counted us out, but we played great defense in game one.”
“They were a lot better on defense than we thought,” Titan senior Jenny Clark noted. “It was frustrating; they kept scoring on the dinks. We regrouped and got back into our power game. This was a reality check and helps us mentally.”
The Hidden Valley power game ruled the rest of the way. The Titans broke away from a 13-10 lead in the second game to win 25-17.
The Titans led 7-6 in the third, before rolling with a 10-1 run that led to a 25-13 victory.
Hidden Valley jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the fourth-game clincher, then went on a decisive 16-6 burst for the 25-9 win.
“There was a lot of power on Hidden Valley’s part,” Troyer added. “They were taller than us at every position.”
“We changed defenses and got back to our game,” Poff pointed out. “This is just the start of some tough games.”
Caroline Boone led Hidden Valley with 16 kills, with Lauren Thomas adding 13 and Jenny Clark 10. Hannah Podeschi stayed busy on the front line, putting up 47 assists in the win.
BILL TURNER match story/photo