THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 17, 1994 TAG: 9412170400
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
In a perfect world, credit would be given where credit is due.
Too often in college athletics, that isn't the case, especially when it comes down to the polls. Politics, name recognition, and past glories often are a team's measuring stick, not its won-loss record.
Case in point: the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs.
Despite a 5-0 start, the school's best under current head coach Wendy Larry, Old Dominion has but one vote in the Associated Press Top 25 poll as selected by sports writers nationwide.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that two teams the Lady Monarchs have defeated - Duke and Texas - continue to receive more points in the poll.
``I can't explain it, and I can't use a lot of energy to try and figure it out,'' said Larry. The Lady Monarchs are 40th in the AP rankings, with Texas at 29 and Duke at 32. ``We need to take care of business on the hardwood and focus on where we stand in the last poll of the year.''
Old Dominion receives more respect in the coaches' poll, where its ranks 27th.
Still, the slight by the writers frustrates Larry. Especially considering that the Lady Monarchs defeated Texas on the road, only the 24th time the Lady Longhorns have lost in their own building. The loss dropped Texas to 1-4.
The frustration is not confined to the coaching staff, either.
``We don't get the respect we deserve, and of course we'd like to,'' said junior guard Shonda Deberry. ``I think with more out-of-conference wins, people will see that we're capable of competing with anyone.''
Old Dominion will get the chance to prove its mettle over the holiday season. On Monday, the Lady Monarchs take on Southern Illinois in the opening round of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
With a win, Old Dominion likely would face Texas Tech, now No. 11 in the AP poll, on Tuesday.
Then the Lady Monarchs hop over to Coral Gables, Fla. for the University of Miami tournament and an opening-round matchup with Auburn, currently ranked No. 25, three days after Christmas.
A decent showing against ranked opponents will boost Old Dominion's national reputation and its spirits.
But according to Larry, although being ranked is nice for the coaches and players, where it really matters is in recruiting.
``There's a lot of high school juniors who go by the poll to make their college choices and line up visits,'' she said. ``If you're not in them, you don't have a chance to get in on a kid.''
Larry and the rest of the Lady Monarchs know that the only way to influence the polls is to keep playing well. But coming into the season, few would have predicted that the team would be this good so early in the year.
Injuries to Angie Liston and Jill Berg cut into the number of players, and Old Dominion had to adjust to the addition of two foreign players - forward Clarisse Machanguana and point guard Ticha Penicheiro. Although their playing ability was never in doubt, the biggest question was how Machanguana and Penicheiro would react to living in a different country.
``We put them with Shonda and Esther (Benjamin) because we thought they would be a good environment to adjust in,'' said Larry. ``I had no idea it would end up being an apartment with four starters.''
The Lady Monarchs have won at least 20 games and made the NCAA tournament for the last three years. While it's too early to say if Old Dominion will return to the glory days of the late 1970s - when the school won two national championships with coach Marianne Stanley and players like Nancy Lieberman, Inge Nissen, and Anne Donovan - this season's start is a step in the right direction.
``When I took over (in 1987), the team had been down from it's championship in `85,'' said Larry. ``I knew I had big shoes to fill." ILLUSTRATION: Coach Wendy Larry: "I can't explain it."
by CNB