You never want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Christiansburg Blue Demons volleyball team found itself just in that position Monday night in the Cave Spring gym, taking on the upstart Knights in a first round Conference 32 playoff matchup.
Cave Spring, fresh off a loss to rival Hidden Valley in their River Ridge regular season finale on Halloween night, took no prisoners from the opening serve in this one, sweeping the outmanned Blue Demons 3-0 in less than 60 minutes.
“We looked much better tonight, ” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted after the match. “We put people in different positions tonight and it paid off. These girls were exhausted last week. We’re getting our legs back and it showed.”
Cave Spring was in the unfamiliar position of facing two elimination games in two nights in the new Conference 32 format.
“It’s a new season,” Tanis added. “Two wins gets us into the regional tournament. Now, we’re 1-0. We play Tuesday night at Patrick County to move on.”
The Knights will be looking to repeat the performance they put on against Christiansburg. Cave Spring jumped out to a 8-2 lead in game one, eventually leading 19-7 before coasting to the 25-12 win. The Knights were up 16-7 in the second game and went on a kill surge to claim the 25-11 victory. Cave Spring never let off the pedal in game three, running out to a quick 12-1 advantage. Riding a service run by senior Lauren Sigmon, the Knights led 17-2 before going to match point ahead 24-3 . The Blue Demons scored a pair of points before the Knights finished the 25-5 clincher.
When asked about the obvious turnaround after the Hidden Valley loss, sophomore Piper Roe offered an explanation.
“We worked hard as a team and came out refreshed, ” Roe pointed out. “Everyone had more confidence tonight. We’ve never seen Patrick County, so we don’t know what to expect. We just need to play our game.”
Roe led the power game at the net for Cave Spring with 8 kills. Charity Klimaitis split the Blue Demon defense with 7 kills while Cait Flippen added six. Kallie Wilkes served 5 aces for the Knights and Olivia Sass put up 25 assists.
UPDATE: The Knight continued their winning ways with a victory over Patrick County Tuesday night 22-25, 25-16, 25-17, 15-15. They will next face familiar foe Hidden Valley for the Conference 32 championship Thursday night, time TBD. They are hoping to break the 3 game loosing streak to Hidden Valley and vie for the title.
– Bill Turner
