Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Titans march into semis
varsity.roanoke.com
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HILLSVILLE -- Grit and determination kept Carroll County reasonably close in its Region IV volleyball quarterfinal match against Hidden Valley.
Size and ability kept the Titans in front.
Facing a determined but outmanned opponent, Hidden Valley pulled away from the Cavaliers in the latter stages of all three games and swept the Southwest District champions 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 in the Region IV quarterfinals Tuesday night.
"We just wanted to continue playing well as a team," Hidden Valley coach Carla Poff said after her River Ridge District runner-up squad improved to 20-3.
"We've had some illness and some injuries, and we were without our setter, but Alexandra Martin stepped in and did a great job at setter for us tonight."
Martin's 24 assists preceded an impressive array of powerful hits and well-timed tips for the Titans, who return to their home floor for Thursday's semifinals against Tunstall, who defeated Christiansburg on Tuesday.
Carroll County saw its season end at 21-2.
"I thought we played fantastic," said Cavaliers coach Cindy Edwards, whose team is 44-3 in the last two seasons, with two of those losses coming in the regionals to River Ridge teams.
"We attacked the ball, we hustled, but the bottom line is they were taller than us. Everybody is taller than us."
Carroll County was in position to force a fourth game, leading 16-14 in the third, before a 7-0 Titan run ended any Cavalier hopes of lengthening the match.
"Four hits into the net," Edwards explained.
"We didn't get the sets we needed, and that was because we didn't get the ball to our setter. Then they blocked us a few times."
The Cavaliers were able to pull to a 21-18 score on Dionna Reece's ace, but Samantha Ringer's smash for the Titans gave the serve to teammate Samantha Klostermann, who promptly fired an ace to sustain what turned into a 4-0 run to the finish.
"We didn't really know what to expect from them, so we just played them one game at a time," said Klostermann, one of two seniors in Hidden Valley's starting rotation.
"We just wanted to be aggressive and hit the ball hard so we could play on our home floor in the second round."
Klostermann helped ensure that by putting down 13 kills to go with nine digs.
The win moved the Titans a step closer to what they hope will be a fourth meeting with Cave Spring, the team that has accounted for all three blemishes on Hidden Valley's record.
"We know we can beat them," Klostermann said, "we just really wanted another chance."
The two teams were tied eight times in the first game until Elizabeth Burke's well-placed tip sparked a 6-1 Titan run for a 14-11 lead, and Sarah Church capped the opening set with a block followed by a kill. Maleah Neely's spike had Carroll down just 10-7 in the second, but three straight scoring plays at the net by Burke gave the Titans some breathing room.
"I don't think we played badly; they just played better," said Neely, who had six kills and 17 assists.
"We didn't put the ball down consistently and they did."
Reece led the Cavaliers with 10 kills and Honesty Rogers came up with 11 digs. Ringer had 12 kills and Kimberly McDow dug 15 balls for the Titans.
