THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300110
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: All Beach District Volleyball
SOURCE: BY LEE TOLLIVER, BEACON SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
ONLY IN ITS SECOND year of competition, Beach District boys volleyball has proven to be one of the most exciting sports going.
And in that short time, the level of competition has improved by leaps and bounds.
Give credit to players like those on this year's All-Beach team as voted by the league's coaches.
The first team features powerful hitters and blockers. And the away-from-the-net play isn't bad either.
While Cox dominated for the bulk of the season, competition between the next four teams was fierce. And defending regular season and tournament champion Tallwood managed to upset Cox at the end of the year. With much of the life drawn out of the two from that final matchup, Salem and Kempsville moved in for the kill and captured the two tournament championship spots - with Kempsville capturing the championship.
Leading the Falcons regular season championship campaign was Forrest Carr - voted by the coaches as this year's most valuable player.
Joining him on the first team are teammate Mike Dierstein, Brett Coates of First Colonial, Brian Bersticker of Kempsville, Gary Moore of Princess Anne, Mao Duch of Bayside and Jacob Griffon of Tallwood.
Second team members are Cox senior Gerard Brunick, Green Run junior Bobby Glos, Salem senior Anthony Williams, Kempsville senior Jeremy Castellano, Princess Anne senior Bob DeBusk and First Colonial senior Steve Brown.
After what he considered a disappointing inaugural season, Carr exploded this year - showing his offensive prowess with a league-leading 280 kills in 41 games. He had season highs in three-game matches against Bayside - netting 25 kills in each match. Twice this season, he had 24-kill matches and had 20-plus matches six times. The only team that gave him any trouble - surprisingly - was Ocean Lakes. Carr had season lows of four and three kills against the Dolphins.
Carr's experience comes from several years of experience in Junior Olympic, AAU and Tidewater Volleyball Association play.
Carr's teammate Dierstein provided the Falcons with the best one-two punch in the league. Dierstein finished the season with 194 kills and had season highs of 18 twice against Bayside. He had double-figure matches 11 times and demonstrated much of the same hitting power as Carr.
But from their outside hitting positions, the two seniors had few blocks - only nine each.
Among the first-teamers, Bayside senior Duch finished third in total kills with 212. He was also a pretty good defensive player with 47 blocks and 52 digs. On the back line, he served up 23 aces.
Moore is the first team's blocking specialist - finishing with 121 to go with 168 kills. The senior had a season high 28 kills.
Coates, a senior, had a team-leading 153 kills and was also the Patriots most consistent passer and server.
Bersticker was this year's biggest surprise. The 6-foot-6 sophomore hitter entered the season with no organized volleyball experience, but he quickly became one of the most dominating net players in the league. After a slow start, he finished with 151 kills and 50 blocks.
Jacob attempted to help Tallwood repeat as district champions with a team-leading 100 kills. The junior was the Lions most consistent passer and server. He also had 30 blocks. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by Charlie Meads
[Members of the All-Beach District volleyball team.]
[Information box]
First team
Name\school\year
Second Team
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[for complete text, see microfilm]
by CNB