by Bill Turner
Cave Spring and Hidden Valley each won state volleyball quarterfinal matches Tuesday night to advance to the VHSL Group AA tournament Friday night at the Siegel Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Cave Spring (27-3) will take on defending state champion Loudoun County (27-1) at 6:30 p.m., with Hidden Valley (23-6) going against Jamestown (26-4) in the following match at 8:30. The winners of those two matches face off at 5:00 p.m. Saturday on the same court for the state title.
At Cave Spring Tuesday night, the Knights had little trouble taking down a clearly outmatched E.C. Glass team 25-12; 25-5; 25-21. The Cave Spring game was clicking, with the Knights’ play at the net providing most of the damage.
“This was good,” Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted after the match. “We came out strong and were focused tonight.”
The Knights used their power game to rattle the Hilltopper defense all evening. Alyssa McKinley and Morgan Shannon each pounded out nine kills, while junior Erin Holsinger added eight. For Davidson-bound Shannon, the all-time career-leader in kills at Cave Spring, it improved her kill total to exactly 1,400 for the 4-year starter.
Senior co-captain Shannon Craighead set the Cave Spring attack all night with 27 assists and Holsinger frustrated Glass with 7 blocks. Holsinger is 1 block short of taking the single-season record at Cave Spring in that category.
In Rustburg, Hidden Valley defeated the Red Devils by a similar 3-0 score, taking the games 27-25; 25-12; 25-22. The Titans were led by Caroline Boone’s 15 kills, while JMU-bound Sarah Patterson provided 28 assists for the Hidden Valley front line.
Should both the Knights and Titans win Friday, it will provide a unique situation with two schools, only 2 miles apart, vying for the coveted state championship.
