Volleyball is a game of momentum.
Thursday night in the Hidden Valley gym, Cave Spring finally got Ole Mo working in their favor.
Rebounding from a first-set shellacking from the Titans, Cave Spring rallied for the 3-1 win in the Conference 32 final , 13-25; 25-23; 25-21; 25-21.
It was a sweet recovery for the Knights, who had suffered a pair of 5-set regular season losses to their Southwest County rivals.
Things got off to a rough start for Cave Spring in the opening set, as the Titans were hitting on all cylinders.
“I told them in the huddle after the first set we can’t play any worse,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis said afterward. “Then I told them to not make that a false statement.”
Whether it was lackadaisical play by the Knights, or superb shotmaking from serves to kills to pushes by the talented Titans, Hidden Valley raced out to leads of 9-2 and 21-11 to coast to the opening set win.
The second set was close throughout, and was tied at 23 when Cave Spring junior Morgan Starnes planted a kill past the Hidden Valley defense that was followed by the decisive 25th point that tied the match 1-1.
“I think we just relaxed and settled down,” Tanis noted. “Hidden Valley has some good servers and it was important that we didn’t panic that early. The whole team stepped up.”
The third set was tied at 20 when Titan senior hitter Georgia Farthing launched a kill that put Hidden Valley up 21-20. But, a double hit by the Titans and a Starnes block paved the way for 5 straight Cave Spring points that secured the set win.
Cave Spring was nursing a 19-18 lead in the fourth set when Starnes scored two straight points to send the Knights up 21-18. The teams traded points to 24-20 when Cave Spring looked to have the match clincher on a return by the Titans that was signaled long.
But, Knight senior Alayna Foutz immediately went to the head referee to say she had tipped the ball. That kept the door open for Hidden Valley before the Knights scored the winner on the next volley.
“That was an integrity call and an honesty call,” Foutz said. “That’s our motto at Cave Spring.”
“Tonight, we had nothing to lose,” Cave Spring senior Piper Roe noted. “After that first set, we finally got it going.”
“It’s hard to beat a good team three times,” Hidden Valley head coach Carla Ponn pointed out. “Down the stretch, they played better. The second set hurt our momentum, and they were all close points.”
Roe led the Cave Spring attack with 20 kills and 6 blocks, with the upstart Starnes sending down 9 kills and 3 blocks. Foutz had 6 kills and 16 digs, while setter Meagan Harrison was on target with 42 assists.
On the Hidden Valley side, Farthing had 14 kills, with senior Bre Lockhart adding 12 and junior Taylor Gray slamming down 10. Junior Drew Freeland sent up 41 assists for the Titans.
Bill Turner
