ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM THE ROANOKE TIMES
Kim Corvin found her athletic calling when she tried volleyball as an eighth-grader.
When Kim Corvin entered the eighth grade, she wanted to try something different.
Despite standing 5-foot-10, Corvin didn't like basketball, so she tried volleyball. Four years later, she is Timesland's outstanding player.
This season, Corvin was a big key in George Wythe's run to the Group A championship. Many coaches, when asked to pick Timesland's best, cited Corvin's dominance as a middle hitter.
Now 6-1, Corvin is a terror around the net. She also excels in track and field, and won the state shot put championship as a junior.
``She should have won the discus, too, and she can win it if she gets the quirks worked out,'' said Wythe's Lillie Moore, who coaches Corvin in volleyball and track.
Moore is Timesland's Coach of the Year after winning her third state volleyball title in 22 years directing a program she established at Wythe. Tonya Cregger, Corvin's teammate and a setter, is the third Maroon to earn Timesland honors.
Cave Spring, the Roanoke Valley District champion, was represented by juniors Lindsay Cannon and Jenny Lemker on the first team. With another 11th-grader, Kim Morris, on the second team, coach Penny Williams' Knights seem set for another big year in the fall.
The All-Timesland team also includes Salem's Sarah Palmer, who joins Corvin as a repeat selection, Bassett's Mandy Willis and William Byrd's Brandy Allen.
``I played one year of junior varsity and the rest of the time I was on the varsity,'' Corvin said of her introduction to volleyball. ``I played basketball when I was little, but volleyball was something I hadn't done.
``I'm surprised at my success, but it's not all me. I had a great team. We're all successful.''
Corvin played a complimentary role on Wythe's state championship team as a freshman, but was the star this year as the Maroons steamrolled 26 consecutive opponents and lost only one game, in the opener to Northwood.
As a sophomore, Corvin's team didn't get past the regional tournament and last year the Maroons lost in the state tournament.
``We wanted to show everyone we could come back and win it again,'' said Corvin, who will continue her volleyball career at Bluefield College.
``I love volleyball and I wouldn't give it up for anything,'' Corvin said. ``I remember trying out for the middle school team. I played two or three games my eighth-grade year because there were a lot of freshmen and sophomores on the team.''
She didn't mind sitting out, and by the next year she had improved enough to start playing for the varsity.
With her height, Corvin gets questions about why she doesn't play basketball. ``I'm just not into basketball. I don't like the sport. I like volleyball more than track,'' she explained.
Moore has won Timesland coaching honors in track and in volleyball. She also has a state track championship among her credentials.
``Record-wise, this was my best team,'' Moore said. ``But I don't ever pick one over the other. This team just did it all the way, and we had a super bunch of kids.
``I knew they had the ability. They worked hard. They were heartbroken when they lost to Stuarts Draft in the semifinals last year. They told me then that they'd be back to win it when we left there.''
It wasn't easy, though
``It was a struggle keeping them playing each game without looking toward the end,'' Moore said. ``They never veered away [from their goal]. Northwood won that one game from us because of various distractions.''
Palmer helped lead Salem to the Blue Ridge District title, before the Spartans fell in a Region III semifinal to eventual Group AA champion Jefferson Forest.
Byrd, with Allen, made the state tournament and was runner-up to Salem in the district and Jefferson Forest in the region.
Bassett, behind Willis, won the Piedmont District and made the Region IV tournament.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. The members of theby CNB1996-97 All-Timesland volleyball team are: (standing left to right)
Tonya Cregger, George Wythe; Lindsay Cannon, Cave Spring; Kim
Corvin, George Wythe; coach of the year Lillie Moore, George Wythe;
Brandy Allen, William Byrd; and Mandy Willis, Bassett; (kneeling
left to right) Sarah Palmer, Salem; and Jenny Lemker, Cave Spring.
Graphic: Chart: All-Timesland volleyball.