Road-weary Tabb girls beaten in final

SALEM — It was a match without a turning point, where momentum never truly switched sides and Lord Botetourt was never threatened. The defending champion Cavaliers won the Class 3 state girls volleyball crown 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 over Tabb at Salem Civic Center and never had to muster a rally along the way.

Tabb took an early lead in the first set but gave away four straight points on hitting errors, allowing the Cavs (34-1) to take a lead they would never relinquish. When the Tigers cut the margin to one point, Scottie Cook had back-toback kills to take the serve and make a new cushion.

"We had some jitters coming in, but once we settled in, we were OK," Botetourt coach Julie Conner said. "I thought we could do things better. We needed to serve-receive better to get more swings."

The match lacked the raw emotion of a celebration after every point that sometimes characterizes volleyball.

Miette Veldman led Lord Botetourt with 20 kills, including five from more than 10 feet from the net while playing on the back row. She said level-headed consistency is a strength of the Cavaliers.

"We want to win and we're excited, but we have the consistency where we all do our jobs. When we win a point, we go on to the next one," Veldman said.

The nerves felt by this team came early in the season, she said, because the Cavs were champions last year.

"At first it was nervewracking because of all the expectations everyone had, but we took it game by game. We came out winning it again," Veldman said.

Veldman's defense was as strong as her hitting, as she recorded 15 digs and three blocks. Her last block ended the match.

Conner said the success of 2017 carried over to this season. The Cavs lost only one match in a two-year span, and it was an abbreviated match that was part of a five-match weekend tournament in September.

"We came into last season with high expectations," Conner said. We were extremely motivated. That carried into this season. When the girls play with the chemistry we have, they all want the same thing and good things happen."

Tabb coach Margaret Kowalski said her Tigers (14-10) have been the road warriors in the last three weeks, with them hosting only one home match in that time.

"I don't think they were the better team. I don't think we played as hard," Kowalski said. "If it was the other way around, we would have had them just as bad.

“We traveled over 1,000 miles the last three weeks. All we did was travel. It caught up with us. Every match we played was an hour away or four hours away. Today we came six hours," she said.

Tabb senior Gabby Gardner said her team found late-season success with chemistry.

"At the end of the season, we all came together and we really all played as a team, playing for each other. It was really amazing. Everyone on the team pushes through as hard as they can," she said.

Gardner led the Tigers with nine kills and nine digs. Region 3A Player of the Year Brianna Macias had six kills. Ally Clark had 21 assists, 10 digs and five aces.