It’s become the standard for a Hidden Valley-Cave Spring volleyball matchup.
Stellar technique, play above the net and a pair of student sections that keep the action energized the entire match.
Nothing was lost Tuesday night at the Cave Spring gym as Hidden Valley fought off 3 game-points in the fourth game to take the two team’s first showdown of the season 25-23; 24-26; 25-18; 26-24.
“This match was very intense,” Hidden Valley head coach Carla Poff said afterward. “Every game could have gone either way. I was very proud of our tenacity. Even when we were down in game four, my girls never thought we would lose. We put ourselves in these situations every day in practice to know how to win.”
Game one set the pace with the score tight throughout and the teams tied at 20, 21, 22 and 23. Hidden Valley scored the final two points off the net play of senior Madison Morris to pull out the 25-23 win. Cave Spring tied things up in game two although a huge lead midway through the game totally slipped away. Up 19-9, Hidden Valley went on a 15-5 run to knot things at 24 before the Knights regrouped to get the final two points, the last off the serve of sophomore Alayna Foutz.
Hidden Valley pulled away from a 11-11 tie in game three, going on 9-4 and 5-3 runs to secure the 25-18 win. With their backs to the wall, Cave Spring looked ready to send the match to a 15-point fifth-game tiebreaker when they pulled away from 21-21 tie in game four to take a 24-21 lead. But, the Titans managed to claim the clincher by reeling off five straight points.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted of the game-four Hidden Valley comeback. “We’re a young team and have squandered leads before. We made a lot of errors tonight, especially our service breaking down. We gave this away-it was Christmas in October.”
The net play by Hidden Valley dominated the statistics. Morris and fellow-senior Hanna Podeschi each had 14 kills, while junior Sarah Mitchell added 11. Freshman Drew Freeland came up with a team-high 21 assists, with Podeschi adding 19 assists to go along with 6 digs.
Piper Roe led Cave Spring with 8 kills and 8 blocks, while sophomore Fallon Delp helped neutralize the Titan power with 20 digs. Olivia Sass put up 30 assists for the Knights and fired 5 service aces.
“This one stings,” Sass said afterward. “We’ll learn from it and get better.”
The two teams meet again on Halloween night in the Hidden Valley gym for round-two.
– Bill Turner
