THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290494
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 41 lines
They are the best of friends, Kevin Jones and Andy Jaeckle, and from the beginning of the season each understood his role on the First Colonial volleyball team. Jones was cast as the Patriots' star; Jaeckle its heart and soul.
Both players have played their parts to perfection. Some observers call Jones the best player in the state, and the routinely states his case with some eye-popping stats which puntuate the daily roundups.
Left unmentioned in those reports, though, is Jaeckle's deadly efficiency as First Colonial's second offensive option - five kills in six swings against Princess Anne, 6-for-8 against Kellam - all carried off with painful tendinits in his right knee and a back that's been bothering him for more than a year.
``It rough going into a game on painkillers,'' said Jaeckle, who is still hobbled by a fractured vertabrae sustained early last season. ``But I can't stop now. First Colonial will be lacking something if I'm not there, and we might not do as well.
``And I don't want to let myself down, either.''
Jones' brilliance and Jaeckle's grit, combined with the talents of guys like Dave Hills, Cam Land, Brian Kollar, Adam Burke and Jason Jacobson, resulted in the first undefeated regular season in the brief history of Beach District boys volleyball.
``Actually, going undefeated was a goal before the season started,'' Jaeckle said. ``We knew we had a lot of potential.''
Jaeckle takes particular pride in the team's success since he personally recruited some of team's members and got the group involved in a high school summer league. And he scoffs at those who suggest the Patriots title is solely the result of Jones transferring in from Tallwood.
``Hey, we would have had a very good team here anyway,'' Jaeckle said. ``Getting Kevin was just a nice surprise.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Andy Jaeckle] by CNB