
DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 1997             TAG: 9703260435

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: NORFOLK  

DATELINE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER       LENGTH:   76 lines

AMONG STUDENTS, THERE'S STILL ROOM ON LADY MONARCHS' BANDWAGON

No need to push, shove or jockey for space. Looks like there's still plenty of room on the Lady Monarchs' bandwagon at Old Dominion University.

Some 300 supporters greeted their basketball heroes at a pep rally Tuesday, the day after the Lady Monarchs outlasted Florida to advance to the NCAA's Final Four for the first time in 12 years. But many Old Dominion students, notoriously apathetic about their sports teams under normal circumstances, remain blase despite the Lady Monarchs' berth in the most glamorous event in women's college sports.

``A couple of friends of mine from another university came down because they figured ODU would be all crazy because the girls won,'' said Dara Cattani of Ridgewood, N.J. ``But there was no celebration. People just haven't gotten that excited.''

Cheers emanated from the university's Webb Center Monday night, where some 80 students watched the nationally televised ODU-Florida game. The following day, however, there were no banners or any other acknowledgments of the team's feat in the building, and star forward Mery Andrade walked through a crowded cafeteria without receiving so much as a high-five.

``I think what they did is great, but they're not getting as much enthusiasm as I think they should,'' said Sayeh Nikfar of Springfield.

Some said that while they were proud of the team and happy about the exposure the team's success gives the school, they just couldn't work up the passion they'd have if the men's basketball team had launched a similar tournament run.

``Shoot, if the men did this, people would be getting wild and stupid, shaving their heads, painting their faces,'' said Christopher G. Smith of Lunenburg County. ``Since our boys lost (in the first round to New Mexico), the women are all we have to root for. It's still a big deal, but nobody's getting crazy about it.''

Tuesday's pep-rally crowd of 300 came from a student enrollment of more than 17,000. The record for student attendance at a Lady Monarchs game, set this year, is 853.

Since the Lady Monarchs didn't qualify for the Final Four until Monday night, school officials had less than a day to spread the word about the pep rally. The flyers distributed throughout the campus apparently weren't very effective.

``What pep rally?'' Virginia Beach's Alex Lin asked some two hours before the event.

Jason Miller, a senior from Fairview, N.J., and one of the students who watched the game at the Webb Center, believes a large-screen TV installed at the field house for Friday's semifinal against Stanford could attract a large number of students.

``The way it is now, you've got people watching the games in little groups or by themselves,'' he said. ``It's hard to get everyone to come together and rally around the whole thing.

``And the bars are packed on Friday nights. Maybe if they had some specials, like if someone hits a 3-pointer, shots are a quarter. Stuff like that. That might get everyone into it. I don't think the games by themselves are enough.''

Smith said that while a Final Four appearance might not have captured the students' fancy, he felt certain a national championship would get folks' attention.

``ODU is looking for one big blowout party to bring the spring in,'' Smith said. ``If we win it all, this place will go off the hook.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

HOOPIN' IT UP AT ODU

ODU junior Amy Kern, executive vice president of the student senate,

cheers Tuesday for the women's basketball team, which won the

Mideast Regional Monday to go to the Final Four.

Photo

IAN MARTIN/ The Virginian-Pilot

Lady Monarchs coach Wendy Larry talks to the crowd of about 300

people who showed support for the team's reaching the Final Four

during a pep rally Tuesday. The team next plays Friday night. A win

there would send them to the championship game.