Hidden Valley opened its 2013 River Ridge District volleyball campaign Tuesday night with a convincing 3-game sweep (25-19; 25-15; 27-25) over the Blacksburg Bruins at the Titan gym. The Titans improved to 3-0 overall on the season.
Coming off the 2012 season in which Hidden Valley came up one win short of a Group AA state championship, head coach Carla Poff’s squad looks to have reloaded. Despite losing standouts Caroline Boone and Jenny Clark to graduation, Poff returns a talented core of experienced players along with a new mix of sophomores and freshmen to fill the Titan lineup.
“It’s hard replacing those two,” Poff noted of Boone and Clark Tuesday night. “We have a sophomore in Georgia Farthing playing in a key position. There’s going to be a big age mix this year. We have a way to go, but we’ll be a contender. We play in a showcase tournament two weekends from now at Western Albemarle. They have some top teams coming, so we’ll learn a lot.”
Some strengths remain the same for Hidden Valley. Seniors Madison Morris and Brooke Mitchell can dominate a match at the net, with seniors Hanna Podeschi and libero Skylar Kendrick equally efficient among the starting six.
“We’ll be fine,” Podeschi said after the Titan win Tuesday. “We have a bunch who can go a long way.”
The Titans took down Blacksburg in methodical fashion Tuesday. The Titans broke open a 9-9 tie in game one with a 9-4 run that led to the 25-19 win that was finished off by a Morris kill. Game two saw the Titans roll out to leads of 9-3 and 18-8 before trading points down the stretch for the 25-15 victory. Substituting liberally in game three, Hidden Valley led 23-20 before Blacksburg rallied to ties things at 24, leading to a final 2-point surge that clinched the sweep for the Titans.
Morris led the front line attack for Hidden Valley with 12 kills, while Brooke Mitchell added 10. Kendrick brought up 13 digs and Farthing 9 for the Titans, while Podeschi set the table with 14 assists.
-Bill Turner
