THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090544
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Basketball practice begins Monday at Salem but star player Misty Colebank and several of her teammates will not be there.
Instead they will be tuning up for next week's state volleyball tournament. Salem won the Eastern Region title Wednesday night at Tallwood with a 15-10, 15-10 victory over Indian River.
Salem, registering its ninth straight victory and boosting its overall record to 20-3, will be facing the Central Region champion in the state semifinals, scheduled next Friday at Tallwood.
This year the Eastern Region was awarded two state berths since the Northern Region does not have teams. Indian River gained the other spot with its Tuesday victory over Kempsville and will play the Northwest Region champion.
Salem's victory over Indian River was easier than coach Owen Dixon expected. ``Truthfully, I was scared to death about this match,'' he said. ``When we beat (previously unbeaten) Western Branch in the semifinal, I was afraid our players would come out flat against Indian River. And I know Indian River has a very good team.
``But we played like champions.''
In the opening game, Salem ran off the first three points behind the serving of Jacquelyn Costa and never looked back. Indian River rallied from a 13-5 deficit to pull within three, sparked by solid efforts from Amy Peterson and Elizabeth Morgan, but the Sun Devils closed out the win behind serving points from Colebank and Costa.
In the second game Salem vaulted to a 9-2 lead but Indian River trimmed the deficit to 12-10. Colebank and Costa again served up winners as Jenny Harmon, who contributed six kills and two blocked shots, dominated at the net. by CNB