Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 5, 1993 TAG: 9311050134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The last time these teams met, PH prevailed in five games. The young Eagles, who had upset second-seeded and three-time defending champion Cave Spring on Wednesday, held an 11-8 lead after scoring four points in a row.
With tournament matches a best two-of-three, the Eagles were in good shape. Then the Patriots, regular season champions, reversed form and scored the next seven points to win 15-11, 15-4.
"The momentum of volleyball," said PH coach Penny Williams trying to explain the reversal.
"We have a real young team and made a lot of mental errors. They also caught us in a bad rotation," said Franklin County coach Nancy Castillo.
In the first game, PH (14-2) scored the final four points on Shannon Peery's serve. In the second game, it was 3-2 when PH's two All-Roanoke Valley District players took over. First, Pam Witten served three points and then Erin McCulley collected four on her serve to put the Eagles down 10-2.
It was obvious that the Patriots' play at the net was decisive.
"They had a couple of service-receiver errors and they stopped communicating," said Williams. "We were able to pass-control the ball better on the back row and that allowed the front row to be more aggressive."
Both teams will be in the Group AAA Northwestern Region tournament starting Wednesday night. Franklin County (11-6) will be on the road to play the Cardinal District champion while Patrick Henry will be at home against the district's runner-up.
The semifinals and finals are at Albemarle on Saturday. After that, there will be a Group AAA state tournament for the first time in Virginia High School League history.
"It feels really good [to play for a state championship] considering we're going to be there," said McCulley.
Wait, isn't there a matter of playing the region? "I'm very confident," replied McCulley.
"We're happy there's a state and I think we can do well," said Williams.
by CNB