Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030339
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Galko and Terri Craig are more than just teammates for Northside; the juniors believe their friendship helps their teamwork.
"We do a lot of things together, and we've been that way since ninth grade," said Craig, who has a 97-percent average as a setter for the Vikings.
In the summer, the two go to volleyball camps and play together in doubles tournaments.
"We had always kind of known each other," said Galko, a middle hitter. "But when we started playing volleyball together, we started doing more things. A hitter and a setter should always appreciate each other."
Galko has a 91-percent spiking average, in large part because of the balls Craig sets for her.
Still, they have their differences. Galko has varied interests, while Craig is totally into sports.
That's not to say Galko isn't sports-minded. She ran cross country in the fall, finishing 15th in the Metro meet. She'll run track in the spring, when she hopes she won't be bothered by the shin splints that ruined her sophomore season.
When Galko isn't competing in sports, she's busy doing other things, such as working at Camp Virginia Jaycee for the mentally retarded. Galko is a member of the Honor Society at Northside and, as a charitable deed, that group feeds a family and collects money for them to buy clothes and toys for their children.
If that's not enough, Galko also works for her father at his Quick Copy shop.
Still, volleyball is her favorite activity.
"I hope to play it in college," Galko said. "When we moved from Ohio, I went out for the [junior high] team in seventh grade, and I've been playing it ever since."
Cross country helps Galko in volleyball.
"I feel as if I never get tired playing volleyball, because cross country keeps me in shape year-round," she said.
In the summer, Galko and Craig are volleyball fanatics at the Jefferson gym, where they play in team tournaments. They are partners in doubles tournaments in Salem for the Roanoke Valley Volleyball Association.
"Sometimes we'll play more in one day than it seems we do in a high school season," Galko said. "It's helped my game a lot. I think it's made me 100 percent better."
Craig also is devoted to basketball, though she has played on a school team for only two years in either sport. "Before that, I played rec league, but I never thought I was good enough to play either sport [on the varsity level]," she said.
She likes to watch volleyball on television, and her father, Clarence, will sit at home and watch tapes of his daughter's games while making suggestions for improvement.
Craig admits to being different from the five other children in her family, all older.
"I had one sister who played softball, but the others were singers," Craig said. "I have no talent for singing."
Donna Henderson, Northside's coach, has been the beneficiary of the pair's friendship. Galko and Craig have helped the Vikings go 5-3 in the Blue Ridge District and 6-6 overall.
"We're fortunate in getting our girls to play year-round," Henderson said. "Cathy is a good player, but without Terri setting the ball for her, she couldn't do what she does."
by CNB