Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410220003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Highlanders started slow. They appeared dead in the water.
Then they came roaring back. Looked unbeatable.
That's the way it went in last Saturday's first round of the Radford Invitational at the Dedmon Center. The Highlanders made a Lazarus-like comeback to beat Western Carolina in five sets.
The Highlanders were down two games to one to the Catamounts and they trailed in the fourth game by scores of 8-0 and 11-1. Bleak was the outlook. Radford appeared doomed to fall to 0-12. Teams usually don't overcome scores such as those.
Student-workers from the university's sports information office surveyed the situation and called their roommates. "Pop the tops on some cold ones, boys, and switch on some college football, I'm comin' home early."
But Radford came back to win the fourth game 15-12 then took the fifth set by the same score to win the match.
It was the first victory in three years for Pierce, the veteran volleyball coach who won 274 matches at Virginia Tech before stepping down in 1991.
It looked like it might be another three years before Pierce would get a win. The Highlanders were 0-11 before beating Western Carolina.
"It was a big monkey off my back," said Pierce, a Radford native.
Radford lost to VCU in the RU Invitational finals, even though the Highlanders served for the match at one point.
The tournament may serve as a harbinger for Radford's very young, very inexperienced volleyball team. The Highlanders lost seven players and a head coach from last year's NCAA tournament squad, but a fine recruiting class and a proven coach in Pierce mean that many bright days are ahead.
"We're taking a long-view perspective," said Pierce, who took over at Radford when Jannell Dobbins retired after two decades of coaching. Pierce's first duty, other than recruiting, was to put together a tough early-season schedule featuring five teams that played in the NCAA tournament last year.
Pierce thinks the schedule will prepare the team for defense of its Big South Conference championship.
"Maybe when we get to our conference schedule, we'll look across the net and say, 'Hey, these people aren't Tennessee,'" said Pierce.
Pierce knows how to put together teams from scratch. His coaching career began in 1977 when Virginia Tech made volleyball a varsity sport. He was the Hokies' head coach until 1991, when the school decided to make the volleyball job a full-time position.
Pierce stepped down to continue his career as a physical education teacher at McHarg Elementary in Radford, but he worked as the top assistant on Stephanie Hawbecker's staff at Tech until last year.
During his time at Tech, Pierce also coached at Radford High School, where he guided the Bobcats to the Group AA state championship.
This year's squad is almost as young as some of those high school teams Pierce coached. The only seniors are Freddi Jones and Deidre Davis.
The team has taken its lumps, but the schedule gets easier the rest of the way.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride," said Pierce. "The cars haven't stopped, yet."
BIG STICKS: No Radford team will play a tougher schedule this year than the two-week stretch of matches the field hockey team played last month. During a span from Sept. 10-28, the Highlanders played five nationally ranked field hockey teams, including four in the top 10.
Radford lost 3-0 to No. 1-ranked North Carolina on Sept. 21, a match that saw goalkeeper Lindsay Watson registered 23 saves.
The Highlanders also played then-No. 2-ranked Old Dominion on Sept. 10, current-No.2-ranked James Madison on Wednesday, No. 8 Virginia Sept. 14 and No. 21 American Sept. 17.
TOUGH TO SWALLOW: The women's soccer team suffered two heartbreaking defeats last weekend, including one match decided on a goal scored at the final horn.
Radford and Delaware were tied 1-1 with time running out in regulation when the Blue Hens' Kate Townsley launched a shot over the head of Highlander goalkeeper Holly Patterson, who made a spectacular leaping catch.
Unfortunately, Patterson's momentum carried her - and the ball - past the goal line as she fell. The horn sounded. Radford lost 2-1.
That match came just 24 hours after the Highlanders lost a 2-1 stunner to Old Dominion. Late in that match, midfielder Kelly Moran blasted a shot that hit the crossbar and ricocheted to forward Michelle Vickery. Her shot sailed over a wide-open goal.
nMoran, a freshman from Burke, quickly secured a place in Radford lore after breaking the hand of a back-up goalie with one of her kicks in practice.
UPCOMING IN RADFORD:Field hockey - today, Towson State, 2 p.m.; Tuesday, Appalachian State, 4 p.m.; Men's soccer - Sunday, Robert Morris, 1 p.m.; Wednesday, Marshall, 4 p.m.; Women's soccer - Wednesday, UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m.; Volleyball - Sunday, Virginia Tech, 2 p.m.; Women's tennis - Today, Elon, 2 p.m.; Wednesday, Washington and Lee, 3 p.m.; Men's and women's cross country - Today, RU Invitational.
Ralph Berrier Jr. is a Roanoke Times & World-News sportswriter.
by CNB