THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 24, 1996 TAG: 9609240499
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 41 lines
For Kellam's Rachel Dionisio and Kiley Plummer, success at No. 3 doubles is all about keeping things simple.
Plummer likes picking off what she can at the net, so she comes in. Dionisio prefers hitting forehands and backhands, so she stays back. And when Coach Sharon Anderson ends her pre-match talk with the line, ``Have fun,'' basic Dionisio-Plummer logic tells them a sure-fire way to maximize fun.
``We need to try and win,'' Dionisio said.
This direct, unfettered approach has helped Dionisio and Plummer overcome a lack of experience - they'd never played together before this season and neither started a year ago - to develop into consummate pressure performers. On consecutive days last week, the Knights won four of eight matches before leaving Dionisio and Plummer on the court to decide the team winner. Both times, Dionisio and Plummer came through.
Actually, Dionisio, a junior, and Plummer, a senior, credited ignorance for some of their coolness under fire in Friday's match against Princess Anne.
``We didn't know our match decided things until we got off the court,'' Plummer said.
Thursday against Green Run, though, the pair knew exactly what the stakes were. All other matches were finished with Dionisio and Plummer preparing to play a third set. Thirty or so players, parents and fans would be riveted on the duo's next moves.
``Very stressful, kind of,'' Plummer said.
But instead of becoming overwhelmed by circumstances, the Knights tandem sorted out the pertinent facts - won the first set 6-2, lost the second set 6-4 - and boiled the situation down to its essence.
``We need to play like we did in the first set,'' Dionisio said.
The Knights promptly ripped off the first five games before cruising to a 6-1 victory.
Effective. Efficient. And oh, so simple. ILLUSTRATION: [Photo] by CNB