THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 9, 1994 TAG: 9411090490
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
First Colonial's boys volleyball players know where to turn when it's time to go for the kill.
``When we need to get the ball down, we set Brett,'' First Colonial coach Mark Lottinville said.
The bigger the game, the more the Patriots look to senior Brett Coates, and this strategy played a big role in First Colonial's strong run to the Beach District championship game last week.
The Patriots began the week in a tie with Kempsville for third place with a game to go. They played the Chiefs in the season-finale, and Coates had nine kills as First Colonial upended Kempsville in two close games to break the tie.
Four days later, Coates had 16 kills as the Patriots knocked off Tallwood in the Beach District semifinals. And Saturday, in what Coates called his best game of the season, he recorded 23 kills as the Patriots fell in a three-game thriller to Kempsville in the tournament final.
``He usually gets 12-13 kills in a match,'' Lottinville said of the 5-foot-8 Coates. ``The guys were getting him the ball a lot, and Brett really stepped it up.''
Coates also had 30 digs during the three games, put 21 of 22 serves in play and made just four errors in 86 total hits.
It was more than enough to earn Coates The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star boys athlete of the week award.
The only thing missing, Coates said, was a victory in the title game.
``Getting there was the biggest thrill of my volleyball career,'' he said. ``The coaches said there were about 500 people there. It was a tremendous letdown to lose it. The guys wanted it so bad.''
Despite the loss, however, Coates appears on track to accomplish every goal he wrote down on the slip of paper Lottinville passed around prior to the season.
Coates' first goal was to be named team captain. Lottinville named him to the post shortly thereafter. His next goal was to repeat as the team's most valuable player. No announcement's been made yet, but Lottinville said Coates is the team's best passer and server, as well as its most effective finisher.
In other words, a pretty fair description of a team MVP.
Coates also set out to make first-team all-district. If any Patriots makes it, Coates figures to be the guy.
But Coates' final goal was to simply reach the district tournament final.
Next time, he might want to set that final goal a tad higher. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Brett Coates
by CNB