Contact: Jenni Brockman After a marathon two and one-half hour 15-10, 12-15, 15-8, 14-16, 12-15 loss to league foe Collegiate in the 1999 League of Independent Schools volleyball tournament championship, top-seed St. Margaret’s ( 7-1 L.I.S. Conference, 17-3 overall) never thought it would happen again. It did. With equal drama, excitement and big plays, the No. 7 ranked Scotties faced a scrappy No. 10 Bishop Ireton team in the first round of the 1999 Virginia Independent Schools volleyball tournament on Tuesday, November 9, in Tappahannock. St. Margaret’s, unsure whether to believe they were deadlocked in a second consecutive two-hour match in less than one week, played "A-game" volleyball and reversed its fortunes. SMS defeated Bishop Ireton, winning the best-of-five contest 11-15, 15-7, 15-8, 13-15, 15-3. With 14 kills, senior Liz Bruno, of New Orleans, La., helped lead the SMS charge. Junior Cathy Ryan and sophomore Adrienne Bruno had 3 kills each to help lift SMS offensively. Senior setter Kym Register, of Carborro, NC, put the ball in the air for her teammates to swat across the net, which also helped. "It was a test of nerves, a great collective effort." grinned head coach Bill Walker, of Warsaw. "A lot of pressure. I think we answered it. We stepped up in the final game, but they didn’t roll over on us by any means." SMS faced Fredericksburg Academy in Friday’s second-round V.I.S. state tournament match. SMS started out strong, but Fredericksburg Academy won 3-0. The Scotties posted an outstanding 47-4 individual game record for the 1999 season. Undefeated in conference play for the second straight season, St. Margaret’s has established itself as the preeminent team in the L.I.S. conference.
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After Loss, No. 7 St. Margaret’s Rallies
Liz Bruno (l.) and Cathy Ryan stand with their coach, Bill Walker. Bruno and Ryan were named 1999 L.I.S. Division II All-Stars.
