Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 10, 1994 TAG: 9411100096
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Franklin County advanced to the semifinal round of the Northwest Region tournament by disposing of George Washington-Danville 15-3, 15-11 in 32 minutes.
Franklin County (22-0), the RVD champion, will play a semifinal match Saturday against host C.D. Hylton in Woodbridge. The Northwest Region final will follow Saturday at Hylton.
Patrick Henry (11-5), the RVD runner-up, also will be at Hylton - to take on Woodbridge - after upsetting the Western District's No.1 team, Albemarle, 15-3, 8-15, 15-12 in Charlottesville.
Franklin County's quarterfinal match started at 7:01 p.m. and was over in time for its fans to go home and watch the Perry Mason movie on television at 8.
Setter Tanya Jones was a big reason for Franklin County's easy victory. She accounted for 14 of her team's 30 points with her serves, including six aces.
Jones helped the home team take a 7-0 lead in the first game, with all the points coming on her serve. The senior started the game with an ace and ended it with an ace in accounting for eight points in the 15-minute game.
``That was classic Tanya Jones,'' said Nancy Castillo, Franklin County's coach.
But she wasn't finished yet. GW only trailed 9-8 late in a second game that featured five ties and five lead changes.
Jones would end any upset hopes the visitors had when her serves led to five points - two on aces - to stretch her team's lead to 14-8. It took Franklin County two additional minutes to win the second game after a net violation, before winning the match when GW could not return the serve of back-row player Nikki Tweedle.
Wednesday night's match was Franklin County's third victory over GW this season. The RVD champions have won eight of nine games in the three matches.
``The serve ... we've had trouble with that all year long,'' said Linda Burns, GW's coach.
Franklin County's ace server said she hasn't been serving as well this year as she did last year until Wednesday.
``I'm doing better now that we're in the regionals,'' Jones said. ``We wanted to get our serves down because we knew they were going to start slow after the long trip [from Danville].''
Castillo said the match was ``Franklin County volleyball right there,`` and she received no argument from GW, making its first regional appearance in nine years.
``They're the strongest team we've faced all year,'' Burns said. ``If they stay together and keep that serve going, they've got a good chance [to win the regional and state titles],'' Burns said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.