DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9711020324

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BRIAN J. FRENCH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   55 lines

TALLWOOD, COX WIN BEACH VOLLEYBALL TITLES

Arlene Pineda wanted back in.

Nursing an injured right leg as she was removed late in the third set of the Beach District finals Saturday night for front-line blocker Kori Brobst, the Tallwood senior pleaded with Lions coach Angela Hubner to put her in again to serve. She got her way.

On her first play back, Pineda unleashed the match-winning serve as second-seeded Tallwood stunned undefeated Salem 15-11, 8-15, 15-3 in front of a raucous home crowd to win the school's first girls team district tournament in any sport.

``I was serving the ball well all day,'' said Pineda, who finished with five aces and 30 assists. ``I knew I could put it away.''

It was also the first win for the No. 2 Lions over Salem - the area's top-ranked team all season - in school history.

``This is the best feeling I've ever had,'' Sarah Neaves said in the midst of her team's post-match celebration. ``We been waiting to beat Salem for four years.''

After the teams split the first two sets, the Lions rattled off 12 of the first 13 points in a one-sided third set.

The key, said the players and coach, was a sense of self-confidence after the Sun Devils tied the match.

``We wanted to finish them off right there,'' Amy White said. ``We wanted to get it over with quick.''

Neaves had 20 kills and 15 digs, and White added nine kills and five digs to pace a strong front-line effort that was able to match Salem's Jenny Harmon move for move near the net and on mid-court attacks.

In the boys match earlier in the evening, second-seeded Cox pulled an upset of its own, knocking off top-seeded First Colonial 15-10, 15-10.

The Falcons won the first set after a bitter tug-of-war between the teams for most of the series. Cox then jumped to a 9-3 lead early in the second set and held on.

Josh Zuidema said preparing for the Patriots' power game was critical.

``We worked on the blocking game a lot,'' Zuidema said. ``We put a lot of emphasis on blocking. Anything they didn't hit out of bounds, we blocked.''

It was the first win for the Falcons over First Colonial in three tries this year. The Patriots, also on top of the area rankings all season, lost only one match heading into the postseason.

``I told the kids before the match that if they beat First Colonial, they'd win the state tournament,'' Cox coach Bruce Stewart said. ``They're an excellent team.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot

Salem's Trish Callen, left, goes for a dig against Tallwood as

teammate Megan Johnson backs her up during the Lions' 15-11, 8-15,

15-3 win Saturday.

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