Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: (804) 443-3357
Fax: (804) 443-6781
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St. Margaret's Volleyball Team Wins L.I.S. Tournament Championship, Remains Undefeated
St. Margaret's School (SMS) hosted the 1988-99 League of Independent Schools (L.I.S.) Volleyball tournament championships on November 3rd, 4th, and 6th. The bleachers were packed for the Friday night championship match, pitting SMS vs. Collegiate. The spirits of all who attended the championship game were lifted by a beautiful acappella rendition of The Star Spangled Banner sung by Senior Glee Club Member, Amber Ellis. SMS overpowered Collegiate, winning by a 3 game - 0 margin, including a 15 - 0 shutout in the second game. SMS Senior Co-Captain, Cynthia Walker, provided the tournament exclamation point in the championship match with a blistering spike on the "game winning" final shot of the tournament. The tournament victory clinched a perfect 15 - 0 conference season performance for the Scotties.
St. Margaret's 1998-99 varsity volleyball team, from left to right: back row (grade in parenthesis):
Manager / Scorekeeper Whitney Bowen (12), Roz Rogers (12), Head Coach Bill Walker, Carolyn Stephenson (11), Cameron Sgroi (11), Cynthia Walker (12), Sara Pirtle (11), Melissa Mancuso (11), Cathy Ryan (10),
front row: Cecy Junco (8), Celeste Ross (11), Kim Register (11), and Shannon Davis (9).
The L.I.S. is comprised of eight schools: Blessed Sacrament-Huguenot, Covenant, Collegiate, St. Anne's at Belfield (STAB), St. Catherine's, SMS, St. Vincent's de Paul, and Trinity. Each season the coaches of the eight conference teams select an All-Star Team. SMS's Cynthia Walker is a 1998-99 selectee. SMS Athletic Director, Sue Saunders, acknowledged her pride in Cynthia's selection. However, she was quick to point out that there were a lot of deserving girls on the SMS championship team and that she was disappointed that SMS was not represented by more girls on the All-Star Team.
Head Coach, Bill Walker, began his coaching career at SMS in 1995. It was that year that his daughter, Cynthia, became the first eighth grade starter on an SMS varsity athletic team. Coach Walker's 1995-96 "rookie squad" went undefeated that season, winning both the L.I.S. regular season and tournament championships. This feat earned the team two banners, which are proudly displayed hanging from the rafters of St. Margaret's gym on Water Lane. Coach Walker reminisces that "We had a strong team that year, we just ran out of gas at state." The 1998-99 season is coach Walker's fourth at SMS. Perhaps this is the year the team will go all the way!
Senior and Co-Captain Cynthia "DiCaprio" Walker will attend the University of Florida next year on a volleyball scholarship. Walker's agility, athleticism, and hard play make her an exciting player to watch. Her trademark shot, a thundering overhand spike, is a true offensive weapon. She is the backbone of a talented SMS squad; her offensive skills make her the "go-to" recipient of many set-up plays.
The Scotties, a fun team to watch, have perfected their pre-game warm-up routine into an art. Without fail prior to every home game, Senior/Co-Captain Roz Rogers places the team's mix tape into the gym stereo system and, soon, the small gymnasium on Water Lane commences to rock. The rap/hip-hop tunes of the Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Lauryn Hill, Ma$e, Redman, Eric Sermon, and A Tribe Called Quest, to name a few of their favorites, blast loudly, signaling that game time is at hand. The girls literally "bounce in unison" as they commence their warm-up drills. Coach Walker interposes no objection to this ambience; his feeling is that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Not even "Coach himself" stands still when the Beastie Boys' upbeat "Intergalactic" is played. The music is up-tempo and very hip. "Yo, we're fun like that," says SMS Junior Celeste Ross when asked to comment on the team's routine. A zany group of girls, to say the least!
The 1998-99 Scotties are a very talented and well-balanced team, capable of a strong performance in this week's State Tournament. The Scotties boast a remarkable 44 - 1 individual game record for the season. (Note: Volleyball matches are scored on a best-of-five game series, whereby the first team to win three games is the victor) Coming off an undefeated regular season and winning the conference tournament championship, the Scotties are poised to continue their winning ways in the State playoffs.
SMS will host the first round of the State Tournament on Tuesday, November 10, 1998, hoping to set a new school record for the most wins in a season with each successive victory.
