THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410070243
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 31 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
What do volleyball and fishing have in common? A lot to first-year head coach Bennie O'Neal, who had the Manteo Lady Redskins volleyball team jump out to an 18-game winning streak this season.
O'Neal, formerly a coach at Wanchese Christian, is also a commercial fisherman. What he has caught, along with his players, is a bunch of wins, including a four-game sweep of Edenton Holmes last Tuesday.
The Lady Redskins have only had one challenge this season. Manteo visited Northeastern Conference rival Currituck County, which was also undefeated, and proceeded to burst the Lady Knights' bubble with four straight wins. Some of the games were close, but powerhouse play by hitters Heather Daniels and Samantha Buchanan and setter Leah Midgette allowed the Lady Redskins to stay undefeated.
``They were definitely our toughest competition all year,'' O'Neal said. ``The first game we were down. But they kept their chin up and played strong.''
The 16-14 win in the first game gave the Lady Redskins the confidence to finish up with 15-9, 15-10, and 17-15 victories.
O'Neal also had success at Wanchese Christian. As a matter of fact, one of his teams beat Manteo one year. Midgette and Daniels, who O'Neal describes as a powerhouse, played for him at Wanchese. O'Neal still doesn't take most of the credit for the 1994 squad.
``This was a good transition for me, but the program was already built and playing well when I got here,'' he said.
Manteo will play Wednesday in the Northeastern Conference tournament at Currituck. From there it is on to the state 2A playoffs where O'Neal said his team must serve better. ``I'm not sure of the competition at that level,'' O'Neal said. ``If we start serving well, we'll do well because we're an offensive team.''
Strong serve or not, nobody has been able to catch the Lady Redskins yet. by CNB