Cosby springs past Springers

In volleyball, as in any sport, confidence is a good thing. However, too much confidence bears unintended consequences when teams overlook another team, particularly in the playoffs.

The Cosby boys’ varsity volleyball squad nearly succumbed to their confidence in the Central Region Tournament semifinal Wednesday night against Highland Springs, but the team rebounded from a 25-23 loss in the first game to win three straight in a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-16, 25-18, 26-24).

“They were a lot better than we expected,” senior Stephen Cunningham admitted. “I think we kind of underrated them a little bit. We didn’t expect them to come out as strong as they did, but they’ve got some excellent hitters so we had to rebound, we knew that, and just play our hardest. That’s what we did.”

“As much as we talk about stuff with teenagers, they’re going to think what they’re going to think,” Cosby head coach Frank Jenkins said. “As a team, we talked about [Highland Springs’] athleticism, we talked about the fact that they were going to be A-plus coached, and they were going to be prepared, and all their players were going to be where they’re supposed to be, and they’ve got guys that can put the ball away and finish. We were going to have to bring our A-game to win tonight.”

The teams traded leads in the first game. Senior Quentin Moore finally gave the Springers their final push with a block to make it 24-23 Highland Springs, and sophomore James Whitaker put the game away on a blocked jump ball that fell just over the net on Cosby’s side.

The Titans took advantage of some miscommunication on Highland Springs’ back line in the second game and pulled out to an 8-5 lead. They extended the lead to five at 14-9 when Cunningham recorded a dig to save the ball from going out of bounds. The Springers’ front line hesitated on the return just long enough for the ball to fall to space.

Cosby never trailed again until the fourth set when Highland Springs led by as much as six points in the early going. Cosby chipped away at the lead but Highland Springs went on a four-point scoring binge to maintain a 23-20 lead.

Senior Cameron Vaile stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun in the form of two consecutive blocks for the Titans, pulling the team within one.

Behind 24-22, Cosby got a big kill from Cunningham, who spiked an assist from Daniel Helderman. The Titans pulled even at 24 and forced a Springers’ timeout.

A soft touch from Cunningham gave the Titans the lead and the senior put Cosby in the Central Region final with a hit to Highland Springs’ back line that went unreturned.

“We needed to pass a little better, and so we did that, and make a little better decisions with our hitting, but really, we just played hard, and that’s all it took,” Cunningham said.

Cosby spread the wealth offensively. Cunningham recorded 15 kills and one block, Ben Morrison had 11 kills and two blocks; Brent Zackon recorded 23 assists; Vaile had five kills and three blocks; and Helderman added six kills, 15 assists and two aces. Highland Springs was led by George Green with 13 kills and seven digs and George Moore with 42 assists and six blocks.

Cosby will meet Clover Hill for the sixth time this season in the Central Region final. That game was postponed due to inclement weather to Friday night at 5:30 p.m. at Cosby High School.