Late arrivals to the Cave Spring gym Tuesday night quickly found a volleyball match half-completed.
The Knights wasted little time in dispatching the visitors from Christiansburg 25-7; 25-13; 25-9 for the sweep of the River Ridge District matchup.
“Christiansburg is in an off-year,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis pointed out afterward. “They have some good athletes on that team that are still young.”
Unfortunately for the Blue Demons, Cave Spring had its game in high gear from the outset. Game one, which lasted 11 minutes, saw the Knights jump out to a 13-3 lead on a variety of kills and aces before cruising to the 25-7 win.
Christiansburg stayed close in game two and was only down 14-12 when Cave Spring went on an 11-1 surge for the 25-13 victory. Things were tied at 3 in the third game before the Knights scored ten straight points off the serve of junior Sidney McTigue for the decisive 13-3 advantage. The Knights led 19-5 at one point in pulling away for the clincher.
Cave Spring, the holder of five VHSL state championships since 2002, was dominant at the net all evening, a signature style of their head coach.
“We’re getting better,” a clearly pleased Tanis pointed out. “The execution of our hitters was great on all levels tonight. Piper (Roe) and Tessa (Klimaitis) played their best game of the year.”
Charity Klimaitis led the Cave Spring front-line barrage with 9 kills while sister Tessa fired 8 kills past the Blue Demon defense. Roe added 8 kills and 6 blocks, with Olivia Sass providing 20 assists for the Knights.
– Bill Turner
