Cave Spring Punches State Volleyball Ticket With 3-1 Thriller Over Botetourt

Cave Spring senior Tessa Klimaitis gets the jump on one her dominating serves Tuesday night as the Knights outlasted a tough Lord Botetourt team 3-1. Cave Spring's win assured them of a state semifinal berth next week.
Cave Spring senior Tessa Klimaitis gets the jump on one her dominating serves Tuesday night as the Knights outlasted a tough Lord Botetourt team 3-1. Cave Spring’s win assured them of a state semifinal berth next week.

Tuesday night in the Staunton River gym, Lord Botetourt brought the fight.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, Cave Spring had a little too much might.
Battling point-for-point most of the evening, Cave Spring managed to outlast Botetourt 3-1 in the Region 3A West semifinal that ensured they Knights of a state berth next week, while unfortunately ending the season for the Cavs.
Lord Botetourt finished the campaign 23-3, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Knights.
Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis said the match had the makings of a regional final. Lord Botetourt head coach Julie Conner agreed.
It was nip-and-tuck all night in a matcthat could have easily gone either way.
After splitting the first two sets, Cave Spring came back from a huge  deficit in the pivotal third to get control.
“The third game was huge,” Tanis noted. “But, they didn’t go away. They didn’t roll over and die.”
After seeing Cave Spring pull away from a 14-14 tie to win the opening set 25-19, Botetourt rebounded in the second.
The Cavaliers led by as many as 7 points midway though, before the Knights closed to 21-20 with a 9-3 run. The Cavs, however, finished with a 4-1 surge for the 25-21 win that tied the sets at one each.
Botetourt used that momentum to jump out to leads of 9-2 and 15-10 in the third  before the Knights rallied. Cave Spring went on a 10-4 run fueled by kills by senior twin sisters Tessa and Charity Klimaitis, junior Shannon Holsinger and a block by net ruler Tessa.
Things were tied at 21 when Tessa went to the service line and sent the Knights up 23-21. Botetourt rallied to tie the match at 25 before Charity Klimaitis sent a bullet down the right line and Botetourt followed with a long return to give Cave Spring the 27-25 victory.
Set four was a highlight reel from the outset, with both teams refusing to budge and spectacular shots wowing the huge crowd. The set was tied at 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 before Botetourt made the first major move with a 4-0 run that had the Cavs leading 19-15. Cave Spring responded with a Cait Flippen kill and service  ace by Fallon Delp. Botetourt followed with two straight returns that went awry, tying the set at 19. Botetourt came back with a 3-0 run to go up 22-19 and still led 23-21 when Charity Klimaitis plastered a kill and Meagan Harrison followed with a service ace to knots things at 23.
Botetourt junior Emily Spickard sent the Cavaliers to set-point  when she smashed a kill past the Knights, but Cave Spring stood strong during the night’s best volley, finishing on a 3-0 run for the match clincher.
With both teams on target with their power all night, digs were the difference.
Tanis gave praise to senior Sydney McTigue as the game changer for Cave Spring.
“There were balls that we thought were down, and Sydney got a hand on them and got them up and kept the play alive,” Tanis noted. “She covers a lot of court.”
McTigue was modest in her assessment. “You just say nothing can hit the floor. Give Alayna (Foutz) and Fallon (Delp) a lot of credit; they were a big part of it.”
When asked, McTigue chuckled about her diving digs, ” Yea, I’ve got some bruises.”
Conner was very proud of her girls’ effort.
“We played good defense and I thought we played very aggressively,” Conner commented. “We’ve got to play good defense against a team like Cave Spring and be very aggressive with our points.”
Tanis was equally complimentary of the Cavs.
“Botetourt is scrappy,” Tanis pointed out. “They frustrated us. It seemed like we’d have a hole there and they would cover up so quickly. We’d swing hard and they were there, we’d change it up and tip and they were there.”
Not to be lost was the Cave Spring power assault that was also key. Charity Klimaitis had a match-high 14 kills, with junior Piper Roe adding 13 and Holsinger 12. Tessa Klimaitis knocked down 7 blocks with Holsinger adding 5 smack backs.
“It wasn’t that we were worried in the third set, but there was more pressure,” Charity Klimaitis said. “Give Lord Botetourt credit, they played great. Now, we’ll see where this win takes us. Winning is always a goal.”
Botetourt was led by Greysen Newberry’s 12 kills, 7 blocks and 12 digs. Junior Elnet Veldman launched 11 kills and brought up 6 digs, while senior playmaker McKinley Saunders put down 10 kills.
Conner wrapped it up best. “Against Cave Spring, anything can happen. And, it did.”
– Bill Turner
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