THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603190122
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Fifteen seasons. Eleven championships. Four runner-up finishes.
At Norfolk Academy, winning Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools volleyball championships is more than just a tradition. It's a way of life.
In 15 years of play, the Bulldogs have a 316-42 record. In eight seasons under current head coach Susan Fleenor, they are 155-24 and won their third consecutive regular season and fourth straight tournament title this year.
In a world where history repeats itself, the past and the present blur for the Bulldogs. Tradition becomes more than just a word as the Bulldogs overcome ever-growing odds to continue to rule TCIS volleyball.
From Fleenor's first team to this year's champions, the likes of Adrian Pruden, Marian Nowroozi, Jeni Myers, Oana Tomescu, Amanda Lee, Hilary Martin and Kendra Robins have brought guts and glory to the Academy court.
``Overall, the individual players have been incredible,'' Fleenor said of the key to constant success. ``They're a great bunch of girls. Since volleyball is in the winter and only competes with swimming, which is a different kind of athlete, we get the cream of the crop.''
Girls flock to volleyball tryouts at Academy each season. The Bulldogs have four teams, including a seventh-grade squad. Fleenor hosts a four-day tryout period, looking for the determination that will feed another championship season.
``I tell them, especially the little guys, we look at how much they improve over the four days and how well they listen to the advice we give them and basically their overall improving,'' Fleenor said. ``The listening is everything.''
Players who heed Fleenor's advice find themselves suited up for daily practices where Fleenor begins the task of turning raw energy into volleyball power.
``Professionally as a teacher of grades 1 through 6, I see the development of skills during the day where we work on basic hitting, throwing, catching,'' Fleenor said. ``At 3, I get to be more in-depth with the girls. They are so keenly aware of the intellectual aspects of the game because that is the way their brains have been working all day.''
This high-powered brain work enables Fleenor's players to graduate to academic, rather than athletic, scholarships. Some, however, pursue college volleyball dreams. For example, Martin now plays for Washington & Lee and is the conference Player of the Year.
Fleenor and some of her players went to see Martin play at Christopher Newport University earlier this season.
``I took some girls to see her play; they're still in awe,'' Fleenor said. ``Part of me wishes more played in college, but they have so many varied interests.''
But their focus remains intact. This year, Academy entered the season with only five returning players. They lost to Greenbrier early in the year, ending a 49-game win streak. The Bulldogs also lost to Norfolk Collegiate in pre-conference play but rebounded to become unstoppable down the stretch.
Fleenor admits that entering the season with a young team, combined with the preseason expectations that Academy would again somehow find the magic, was a bit intimidating.
``Yes, especially since we lost six seniors and everybody just thinks Academy's going to do it again,'' she said. ``In the preseason I was trying to tell everybody I had lost more than anyone.''
But no one listened and doubters of the program were scarce. Academy is losing five players for next year while Collegiate loses only two and Greenbrier Christian returns TCIS top player Katie Sherwood.
Fleenor chooses not to dwell on past or present glory, but rather how her players matured and what it has been and is like to coach teenage girls.
``From a coaching aspect, I do it because I enjoy it and I hope to do it as long as they will have me because of the unique personalities of the girls,'' Fleenor said. ``The competition is great, but they learn so much about each other, and about working together and learning to be friends off the court. That is what sports is all about.'' by CNB