WOMEN'S BASKETBALL INJURIES HAVE KEPT TRAINER AS BUSY AS COACH

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992                   TAG: 9202130084
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-11   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL INJURIES HAVE KEPT TRAINER AS BUSY AS COACH
A couple of years ago, Virginia Tech's football team suffered a spate of knee injuries to key players.
It seems that Tech's women's basketball team has the same affliction this year. Hokies coach Carol Alfano said that Tech began the year with enough talent on hand to succeed, but that was before:

Starting guard-forward Dayna Sonovick tore knee ligaments Jan. 27 at Louisville, ending her season.

Starting guard Sue Logsdon missed seven games with an irritation of a band of tissue in her knee.
Starting forward Tisa Brown was slowed by what may be torn knee cartilage.

Starting guard Phyllis Tonkin suffered a serious knee injury Feb. 1 at Tulane - the team's first game after losing Sonovick.
"It just scared everybody, scared everybody bad," Alfano said. "After it happened, it took them about four or five minutes to let it go."
Through games of Feb. 10, Tech was 7-12 overall and 1-6 in the Metro Conference. The Hokies also played three games without freshman guard Lisa Leftwich, who missed preseason practice with a stress fracture in her right leg. You might say trainer Julie Felix has been busier than Coach Alfano.
"We tease her about being our MVP," Alfano said.
Logsdon has returned, and she helped Tech beat Dayton on Feb. 10. Brown, Alfano said, has high pain tolerance and can play with her injury. The outlook is dimmer for Tonkin, the Metro Conference's assists leader. Alfano said Tonkin underwent a magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday. "We will be lucky if she comes back for the Metro tournament," the coach said.
"I've coached for 20 years and never had a player blow out their knee during a game," Alfano said. "I've never had this happen to so many starters in a row."
Alfano does have something to appreciate, however.
"Thank God the freshman class is as good as it is," she said.
First-year players Christi Osborne and Jenny Root are second and third, respectively, in scoring on the team. Root is shooting 53.6 percent from the field, second on the team. Angela Donnell, another freshman, is shooting a team-high 55 percent from the field and averages a team-best 5.6 rebounds.
Alfano, however, isn't taking much for granted.
"Let's just keep our fingers crossed," she said.

Virginia Tech freshman wrestler David Wimmer had a not-too-bad outing last weekend. At a four-team meet in Baltimore, hosted by Morgan State, Wimmer went 4-0. One win was a forfeit.
Wimmer is from Grundy High School, a wrestling power that has won five straight Group A state championships.
On Jan. 31, the Hokie wrestlers beat VMI to give coach Jerry Cheynet his 200th career victory as a wrestling coach. Cheynet got 42 wins while coaching at Lake Superior State (Mich.) College. Tech has won two more matches since the VMI outing, giving Cheynet 202 total victories and 160 at Tech.
\ UPCOMING IN BLACKSBURG: Women's basketball - vs. Louisville, 7 p.m. Feb. 24. Wrestling - vs. American, 2 p.m. Feb. 22; Indoor track - Metro Invitational, Feb. 15; Virginia Tech Invitational, Feb. 22. Men's tennis - vs. Wake Forest, 2 p.m. Feb. 22; vs. UNC Charlotte, 1 p.m. Feb. 23. Women's tennis - vs. Radford, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 21; vs. Rice, 1:30 p.m. Feb. 23.

Scott Blanchard is a Roanoke Times & World-News sportswriter.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB