Injuries played key roles Thursday night in the Cave Spring gym.
Visiting Salem came to Southwest County missing three starters, Cave Spring started without standout outside hitter Shannon Holsinger and Knight Piper Roe left for the better part of the first set after taking an accidental hand to the nose by a teammate.
When all was said and done, Cave Spring came away with the 25-17; 25-22; 25-17 sweep of the Spartans in the River Ridge volleyball matchup.
“When Piper had to leave in the first set, our kids stepped up,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted after the win. “Our serve-receive was better tonight and that was positive.”
Holsinger was on crutches after suffering a knee injury in Cave Spring’s loss Tuesday night to Blacksburg in five sets.
When Roe headed to the bench, Cave Spring was put to the test, missing its top two hitters. Other Knight teammates were determined to not let Salem spoil senior night for eight Cave Spring seniors who were honored before the match.
“Our team stayed calm,” senior Cait Flippen said afterward. “We played well. We had little lulls, but were able to put it back together.”
After Roe left for an icepack in the first set, Salem rallied to take an 11-10 lead. But, Cave Spring restored order to tie things at 15. With the score still knotted at 17, the Knights went on an 8-0 blitz finished off when sophomore Erin Harrison served up the set-clincher.
Salem opened the second set with a 8-5 advantage before the Knights went on a 12-3 run to go up 17-11. Cave Spring got to 24-19, but the Spartans fended off three straight set points before Knight senior Lauren Slough closed the deal with a perfectly placed push shot at the net.
Cave Spring rushed out to a 12-5 lead in the third set before Salem closed to within 14-12. Out of a timeout, the Knights scored four straight points and cruised to the 25-17 match-clincher.
“We had our moments,” Salem head coach Russ Danstrom said after the loss. “We had three starters down with injuries, and that makes it tough against a team like Cave Spring.”
Senior Alayna Foutz led the Cave Spring attack with 11 kills and 14 digs. Roe had 10 kills and 3 blocks, with Slough stepping up with 8 kills and 3 blocks. Senior Meagan Harrison kept the Knight attack in order, putting up 31 assists.
Salem was led by Emma Studtmann’s 6 kills and 5 blocks, with Janse Blakeney adding 5 kills and 9 digs. Senior setter Emily Steffan posted 17 assists for the Spartans.
Bill Turner