THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610120318
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 64 lines
The theory that small schools are at a disadvantage when it comes to high school sports is just a myth for two Albemarle area volleyball teams this season. With the regular season drawing to a close, Camden County remains undefeated and Albemarle School has knocked off opponents almost nobody thought it could beat.
Camden's Lady Bruins have been a volleyball powerhouse for the last three years. The team has reached the final four of the 1A state playoffs the past two years and is poised to do it again.
Camden clinched the Albemarle Conference championship Thursday with a three-matches-to-one win over Northampton East. Teams must win three games to win a match. The Lady Bruins, 16-0, play Northampton West in a double-header Monday, but the games are a formality. Camden is the top seed from the Albemarle Conference in the 1A playoffs and will face the number four team from the Tobacco Belt Conference on Oct. 22.
``I felt good about last year's team,'' said Camden head coach Dianne Overton. ``But this team is stronger. They play better together and they're more consistent. They seem to know what each other is doing all the time and are not making silly mistakes. They know who's supposed to have the ball.''
A school with approximately 335 students, Camden often has beaten larger schools, including 4A Northeastern twice, 2A Manteo twice, 2A Edenton-Holmes twice and 2A Currituck once. The domination has been so strong that the Lady Bruins have lost just four games all season - one each to Currituck, Williamston, Northampton East and a surprising loss to Albemarle School. But they have not lost a match.
When the Albemarle School's Lady Colts opened the season, the private school in Elizabeth City had just 28 students at the high school level. So when Albemarle beat Perquimans County last week, one of the largest schools in the Albemarle Conference, it was a major victory.
Then Albemarle knocked off Tarheel Independent Conference opponents Pungo Academy and Lawrence Academy on Wednesday to clinch third place in the conference. The spirit on the Lady Colts home court was as strong as anywhere in the Albemarle region.
``I'm trying to teach them to play from the heart and dig a little deeper,'' said volunteer head coach Patsy Cooper. ``My main goal is to teach them to be one. When they do that everything falls into place. They give me all they've got.''
In both cases, the two teams have been led by a core of girls who have played together for a number of years.
Camden starts seniors Mindy Meiggs and Kelly Ward and juniors Brittina Griffin, Stacey Thornton and Connie Spellman. Sophomores Ashley Winslow and Laura Forehand also see action.
``That group of juniors played a lot as freshmen,'' Overton said.
Albemarle also fields a group that has been together for awhile. Holly Knight of Hertford, who has been the most valuable player of the Tarheel Independent Conference the past two years, Jessica Blystone of Elizabeth City, Heather Reeves of South Mills, Heather Martin of Elizabeth City and Rose and Amy Bateman of Elizabeth City are the starters.
These players were on last year's Colts team that went undefeated in the conference. To reach the state playoffs this year, Albemarle will have to win their conference tournament on Tuesday at Lawrence Academy in Merry Hill.
The Lady Colts program received high marks from Currituck's Overton, who thinks the team is up to the challenge.
``They've been playing together for a long while and they've really, really improved. I was kind of surprised when we played them,'' she said. ``They hustled more than anybody we've played, including ourselves.'' by CNB