Well you can get rid of it by cooking a fresh ROM and just excluding it in the kitchen ... If I knew more about the kitchen I would look for the .RGU and InitFlashFiles.txt to find out how to remove HTC Volume Control without having to cook a new ROM ... I just downloaded the kitchen two days ago tho ... still learning
Maybe someone with a bit more experience could tell me where to look ... I would be glad to reflash the stock sprint ROM to try and find a way to remove the volume control without cooking and post the method here ...