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Carroll County crashes Abingdon volleyball's senior night

By Allen Gregory
Published: October 28, 2009

ABINGDON, Va. – It was senior night at Abingdon High School, but a familiar guest crashed the party.

The Carroll County Cavaliers continued their dominance of Southwest District volleyball Tuesday with a 25-15, 26-24, 25-14 win over the Falcons.

Carroll County (12-0, 18-1) recently won the SWD regular-season title for the 13th time in the past 14 years. The lone loss came against Floyd County.

Veteran Cavalier coach Cindy Edwards has been delighted with the maturation of her new-look team, which starts just one senior. Edwards relied on SWD and Region IV Player of the Year Kim Caudill en route to the 2008 Region IV semifinals. Caudill is now playing at Emory & Henry,

"Losing Kim was huge, but I thought the potential was there for this group of players to step up and have their turn," said Edwards, who has just two seniors on her roster. "Most of these kids started at sophomores, and they have worked hard on their games."

Several Carroll County players hone their skills in the off-season with a Radford-based club team.

Maleah Neely led CC Tuesday with 10 kills and 15 assists, while Lindsey Poe (nine kills), Lauren Roper (nine kills), Sarah Singleton (eight kills) and Autumn Fink (10 service points) also played well.

It was a bittersweet night for AHS coach Sarah Beth Mathesius and the senior trio of Sabrina Viers, Julie Stepp and Brittany Totonchian. Viers and Stepp are both two year starters, while Totonchian is a transfer.

"We’re really going to miss our seniors, but we played well tonight and I’m proud of the effort," Mathesius said. "This is a good time of the season to peak. I feel like we’re ready for the next part in the season."

The SWD tournament opens Monday at satellite sites, with the final two rounds set for Carroll County Wednesday and Thursday.

Viers, who collected four kills and 10 digs Tuesday, is eager for tournament time.

"That was a pretty emotional match," Viers said. "We’ve made so much progress since the start of the season," Viers said. "We’re like a whole new team. If we play like this, we can compete against anybody. "

Viers is the sister of current Tennessee High volleyball assistant Natasha Viers, who established several Abingdon volleyball records.

The other leaders for AHS Tuesday were Taylor Leland (seven kills, seven digs), Stepp (16 digs), Katelyn Pruitt (seven assists) and Katelyn Stewart (4 kills).

"I’ve learned everything from my sister, and she still gives me lessons," Viers said.