Generation gap

HARRISONBURG — It’s been quite a while since Riverheads has won a district championship in volleyball. Call it an extended 24-year ‘Coffey’ break.

The last time that the Gladiators captured a district championship was the winter of 1984-85.

The game has seen a lot of changes since then, with rally scoring, best-of-five matches (instead of two-out-three) and the use of the libero position to name a few.

But this year’s championship and the last one for the Red Pride seem very familiar, although a generation apart.

The 1984-85 team included twin sisters Gina and Tina Cox, who were sophomores.

The 2009 team includes sophomore Katie Coffey, Gina’s daughter.

Early on, Katie became a volleyball fanatic.

“I used to have league games in Waynesboro when Katie was little so I had to take her with me,” Gina said.

From her Mom, Katie learned the game and made the Riverheads’ varsity team last season as a freshman.

Now, like her Mom, Katie is enjoying the pleasure of playing on a district champion.

The teams too, shared a similar style of play. Both had gone through their regular season in the district as undefeated and went on to win the district tournament as well.

The 1984-85 team went on to win the regional championship as well, finishing with a 15-2 record. At the time, there was no state tournament in place for volleyball, so the Gladiators made it as far as they could go.

Their only two losses that season were to Fort Defiance and Rockbridge County.

“Our team that season was hard-nosed and refused to lose,” said Steve Kyle, who coached the 1984-85 squad. “I never had to sweep the floor after practice, because they left everything they had out there.”

Another similarity was the chemistry among team members.

“We had the same kind of camaraderie as this team,” Gina Coffey said.

Katie despite being listed as 5-foot-5, has an impressive vertical leap and hits the ball with authority. She was named to the Shenandoah District All-District team, announced at the conclusion of Thursday’s match against Stonewall Jackson.

Appropriately, Katie ended the district tournament championship with a well-placed dink on match point.

To continue her mother’s legacy in volleyball, the 2009 team will start regional play Tuesday night in Greenville against Madison County. Down the road, a possible matchup with powerful Strasburg looms as a bridge to another regional championship.

But for now, Katie and the rest of the Gladiators are basking in their district title.

“It’s great that we’re the first team in 24 years to do this,” Katie said.