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Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Heading into Tuesday's first-round playoff loss to Tunstall, Christiansburg High School senior Emily Davis lead the volleyball team in digs (253) and kills (167), while serving as the team captain.

Was it what you expected -- was it liked you dream -- or did it make history?

Chances are everyone has great memories of the final chapter of their childhood. But for one Christiansburg High School senior, her final year of adolescence could not have begun more perfectly.

Emily Davis just finished her final season as an outside hitter on the Blue Demon volleyball team.

Heading into Tuesday's first-round playoff loss to Tunstall, she lead the team in digs (253) and kills (167), while serving as the team captain.

Sounds innocent enough, but what makes this story different is the final point of the third-place game of the River Ridge District tournament a week ago.

This is when Davis became the first team captain in Christiansburg volleyball history to help lead her team to the regional tournament.

"Talk about how you want a senior year to start?" said Davis, a second team all-district selection.

"The football team is in the playoffs, the other fall teams had success, and now the volleyball team makes the region, talk about a dream senior year. It still amazes me that we are the first team in the school history to make it this far."

It is a concept that still hasn't quite registered on the multisport athlete.

"It feels different today [Tuesday] when I was packing my kneepads getting ready for the [playoff] match," Davis said. "It almost feels like the regular season but then you realize teams like Blacksburg, Pulaski County and Salem are getting ready for basketball, when usually at this time I'm getting ready for basketball."

It has been a long four seasons for Davis to get to this point in Christiansburg history.

Blue Demon volleyball doesn't have the tradition of several teams in the area and it showed not only in matches but practice as well.

Davis, who played on the junior varsity team her first two seasons in the blue and gold, felt the atmosphere was just a place to hang out with your friends.

"It was kind of a social thing," Davis said about the early atmosphere. "Girls used it as a reason to get out of the house and talk and if they scored a certain amount of points they were like yeah we did this.

"I guess they got use to it over the years, because when they messed up a point, they just laughed about it. Now, honestly it feels great to have a goal and want to win. People may doubt us but obviously we don't stink. If we can beat a Blacksburg and make the region and even advance there, we can grow and build into a program."

Head coach Brian Smith has brought the attitude change to the Demons in his fifth season and he knows how special this moment is for the team.

"It has been quite a ride for them," Smith said.

"When I got here it didn't feel like the girls felt they could be successful competitively wise, it was just a fun activity. When I took over they were on like a 35-game losing streak and that takes a lot of years to accomplish. The girls feel now they can be successful and they really believe in themselves."

Adversity was still present even this season.

Blacksburg, a team with load of volleyball success in their history and chief rival for the Demons, stood between them and their goals of finishing in the top three of the district this season.

A five-game thriller in the first match of the season went the Bruins way in Blacksburg. The second match was at home and a chance to turn things around, but the cross-county rival Bruins sent a message that they were still superior, winning in three games.

In years past, the Demons may have accepted the message -- but not this season as the district tournament proved.

Christiansburg advanced by beating the Bruins during the third-place match in four games, including dominating the last two to advance to its first regional tournament.

Davis recalled the moment she felt her team had the match.

"I remember looking at the faces of Blacksburg as our score reached the 20s in the final game," Davis said. "I watched them go from confident looking to a look of disappointment that they weren't going to overcome us.

"In the final regular season game, I think we all knew we didn't play well, we have had one goal all season and that was to be the top three and make the region, and in that last Blacksburg game we played one of our best games of the season."

Despite the early playoff loss this week, Davis still has a memory she can tell for years to come.

She also can imagine them playing volleyball for a powerhouse Christiansburg and pulling out scrapbooks to show how she was vital in influencing the turnaround in Demon land.

"They probably wouldn't believe me," Davis said. "To be the first team to make the region, it doesn't seem right, doesn't seem like it could be us. You don't think you are that good but getting out there and seeing how you can and are capable of playing, it is an amazing thing to see."