Lord Botetourt left the door ajar.
Cave Spring blew it right off the hinges.
Taking the first two sets in impressive fashion, Lord Botetourt watched the Knights rally for the final three, as Cave Spring survived 18-25; 23-25; 25-17; 25-20; 15-9 in the non-district thriller Thursday night at the Cave Spring gym.
“What a battle !,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis said of the 202 point marathon. “In the first two sets we were so complacent and I wasn’t happy with our focus. Lord Botetourt is a very talented team. We’re down 2-0 and it’s a do or die situation.”
Botetourt looked invincable in the opening set, breaking away from a 12-11 advantage to go on 9-3 run for a 21-14 lead. The Cavs were then more than willing to trade points down the stretch for the easy win.
Set two saw Botetourt roll out to a quick 10-4 lead before Cave Spring spent the rest of the set playing catchup. The Cavs led 24-20 when Cave Spring scored three straight points to close to within one, but Botetourt scored the clincher and the Cavs were one set from securing the match.
“We had ’em where we wanted them,” Botetourt head coach Julie Conner said afterward. “In the first two sets we were passing the ball well and giving our hitters options. Then, Cave Spring picked up their tempo and started using their speed.”
The third set was tied at 10 when the Knights went on a 7-1 surge. Although Lord Botetourt closed to within 17-15, the Knights again rallied for an 8-2 run that kept Cave Spring alive.
The Cavs were in great shape in the fourth set, leading 15-13, when the Knights again went on one of their patented runs to go up 22-18. Cave Spring traded points for the 5-point win, sending the match to a fifth-set, 15-point tiebreaker.
The raucous Cave Spring gym watched as the two teams traded points to the 6-6 mark. That’s when Cave Spring senior Piper Roe took over the match with her serve, scoring 5 straight points, 2 on aces, to put the Knights up 11-6. Botetourt could get no closer than 3 points the rest of the way and the Knights closed on a 3-0 run.
“We were so lazy and so slow in the first two sets……no intensity,” Roe, who has committed to play at Louisville next year, noted. “It was do or die. We weren’t worried, but needed to bring our A-game. On the fifth-set serves, it was crunch time for me. I just turned on the switch.”
“Piper made some bad decisions early,” Tanis noted. “Then she settled down, got us some momentum and we fed off that.”
“We’ll take a lot away from this,” Conner added. “We’ll know how to handle pressure next time.”
Senior Greysen Newberry led Lord Botetourt with 15 kills and 12 digs, while sophomore Lara Veldman added 11 kills. Senior Emily Hall brought up 19 digs for the Cavs, with senior Emily Spickard setting the table for Botetourt with 36 assists.
On the Cave Spring side, Roe led the way with 22 kills and 6 blocks, with senior Shannon Holsinger adding 20 kills and 4 blocks. Senior Alayna Foutz posted 19 digs, while senior Meagan Harrison put up 49 assists for the Knights.
Bill Turner