Thursday night’s Halloween volleyball showdown between stalwarts Cave Spring and Hidden Valley had all the makings of a classic trick-or-treat event.
Hidden Valley fans wearing bright blue wigs, the opposing coach dressed as a super-heroine, a recognized cross dresser and four bananas being chased around the court by, what else, a gorilla from the opposing student section.
Little doubt the rivalry was intense, but the sportsmanship between the two Southwest County schools was at its best.
When everything was said and done, it was Hidden Valley that walked away with the 3-0 treat and Cave Spring left to wonder how they fell victim to all the Titan tricks in the Hidden Valley gym.
“We don’t do in games what we work on in practice,” costume-clad Cave Spring head coach Tamalyn Tanis noted with a degree of frustration. “You’ve got to serve the ball in the court and we didn’t do it. For some reason we keep getting sidetracked. Charity and Tessa Klimaitis played great but we couldn’t get them the ball.”
Hidden Valley had won the previous meeting three weeks ago by a 3-1 score and neither team had lost a match since. That left the pair of raucous student sections and fans ready for a smashmouth rematch.
Game one had the Titan power game in full stride out of the gate as Hidden Valley jumped out to 16-10 lead. Cave Spring responded with a 10-2 run to get the 20-18 advantage, and holding serve to have the upper hand. Hidden Valley scored their 19th point off an unforced Knight error and freshman Drew Freeland backed to the service line for Hidden Valley. Freeland promptly served up 6 straight points to rally the Titans to the 25-21 win.
Freeland’s play gave Hidden Valley the momentum and the Titans rolled in game two with superb net play on its way to the 25-12 romp. The Knights regrouped to take a 10-7 lead in game three, but Hidden Valley knotted things at 15 before Freeland struck again.Titan senior Madison Morris planted a kill for a 17-15 Hidden Valley lead, then Freeland served a string of points that put Hidden Valley up 23-17. After trading points, Hidden Valley went deep to get the match clincher.
“Drew plays like an upper classman,” Hidden Valley head coach Carla Poff noted afterward of her freshman. “She’s very smart and very athletic.”
Poff also credited the mental toughness of her team. “We practice these situations and how to come back when we’re behind. We’ve got great seniors and Madison Morris is a go-to player that can turn the tide.”
“We played well as a team,” Titan senior Hanna Podeschi said. “We want to play our best every game. Our fans helped us out a lot tonight.”
“I just wanted to do the best for the team,” Freeland said when asked about her clutch play. “When this team plays like we’re capable, there’s a lot of potential.”
Morris led the Titan power game with 13 kills, while Podeschi combined 8 kills with 10 assists and 4 aces. Senior libero Skylar Kendrick anchored the Titan back line with 9 digs.
Charity Klimaitis led Cave Spring with 7 kills, while twin sister Tessa provided 4 blocks at the net. Olivia Sass had 18 assists with Meagan Harrison serving 3 aces for the Knights.
Both teams advance to next week’s conference tournament action. Cave Spring plays at home Monday against an opponent to be named. Hidden Valley hosts a Conference 32 match on Tuesday.
“We got to win 2 games next week to keep our season going,” Tanis said matter-of-factly.
Poff agreed on the Hidden Valley season. “In the new format, one loss and your season is over.”
– Bill Turner
