ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 15, 1996 TAG: 9604150135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THE PATRICK HENRY senior earned Player of the Year honors while helping make coach Marty Swan's song sweet in his first year at the helm.
For Allison Suggs, it was a big day.
First, the Patrick Henry volleyball star found out she had been named Timesland Player of the Year.
Then she got the OK to be a walk-on next year without trying out for Virginia Tech's volleyball team. It wasn't a scholarship offer, but it was still nice to hear Tech coach Stephanie Hawbecker tell Suggs that she was wanted and needed.
Suggs heads the All-Timesland volleyball team that features two other Patrick Henry players and Marty Swan, who is the coach of the year. Fellow seniors Becca Hogan and Gene Kent, who helped Suggs lead PH to the runner-up spot in the Group AAA tournament, are the other Patriots on the first team.
The rest of the All-Timesland team includes George Wythe junior Kim Corvin, Salem sophomore Sarah Palmer, Blacksburg senior April Rogers and William Byrd senior Cathy Smith. The only repeat selection is Smith, while Corvin and Rogers were second-teamers in 1995. Bethany Hill, a Carroll County junior, is a repeat second-team choice.
Suggs was told at the beginning of the year ``it would be more difficult'' for her to play at Virginia Tech, despite the fact she was going there.
``I think they basically [changed their mind] because I made the all-Shenandoah team after a two-day [junior olympic] tournament there this spring,'' said Suggs.
Hawbecker says it was a continual evaluation of Suggs. ``We were watching her all year deciding whether she could be a walk-on and try out or then be a recruited walk-on who wouldn't have to try out,'' Hawbecker said.
``The main thing about Allison is that she could be a backup setter. We like her attitude. She's one of those players who will run through a wall to get a ball. We're impressed with how hard she plays.''
``I had talked to them because Tech was my first choice academically,'' said Suggs. ``I had to find out if I could be on the team. It was amazing because it's been my dream since I was a sophomore to play for them.''
It was the perfect end to a great volleyball season in which Patrick Henry, playing in the fall, was far and away the best volleyball team in Timesland. The problem for PH was playing under new coach Marty Swan, who was hand-picked by many parents to go through the interview process and land the job when long-time coach Penny Williams moved to Cave Spring.
``We had a lot of goals coming into the season,'' said Suggs. ``I didn't know how we'd react to the coach. Just getting to the state was more than I hoped for.''
Swan never played volleyball until he arrived at Tech and started on the game in intramurals. He quickly became knowledgeable about the game and landed the PH job.
Still, his life's work will be in engineering with volleyball as a sideline. He has an interview in Pittsburgh for a materials engineering job after he graduates next month. No matter, his coaching career is finished unless he lands a part-time position wherever he goes as an engineer.
``It was a busy year, but it was a dream season,'' said Swan, whose team lost only to Albemarle in an opening tournament, Cave Spring and Mills Godwin in the state final.
``I think I may be spoiled the rest of my coaching career having such a phenomenal team my first year,'' said Swan. ``My parents were kind of leery with me taking the job because of [the] time involved.
``I knew this was a good team, but we didn't know it was of the caliber that we could go as far as we did. Some of the parents mentioned that if we ever went to the state, this team would do it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. Coach Marty Swan and Timesland playerby CNBof the year Allison Suggs were quite a combination for Patrick
Henry's volleyball team this season. The Patriots were runners-up in
the Group AAA tournament. Graphic: Chart.