The coaches at the TCIS Girls Volleyball Tournament got it exactly right a couple weeks ago.

In pro basketball, the popular analogy is still John Stockton and Karl Malone; did Malone’s scoring make Stockton one of the all-time great point guards, or did Stockton’s assists make life easy for Malone?

In volleyball, a great duo is even more difficult to separate, and Nansemond-Suffolk’s Kristen Nuckles and Minka Foster were named co-MVPs at the conclusion of NSA’s TCIS Tournament championship, the first such title in school history.

As with any team that finishes second in the state and with a 27-3 record, there was a lot more to the Lady Saints than two players.

But whether it was in game one of a non-conference match or facing a Walsingham match point, or four, in the TCIS final, Nuckles’ setting and Foster’s hitting was the steadiest offense for NSA.

In the boys season, King’s Fork had their inaugural season and Nansemond-Suffolk reached their best TCIS finish in program history.

Lakeland though came from nowhere to challenge for a district playoff spot and turn their rivalry with Nansemond River around with a season sweep.

The same chicken/egg question could be asked of the Cavaliers’ Cory Worley and Dominique Morgan.

In some matches, Dirrell Foreman, Chad Cross or Nolan Robertson were Worley’s favorite targets.

The one constant for Lakeland all year though, win or lose, was their intensity and hustle.

Buddy Wirt exemplified that hustle the most.

There were plenty of points during which three or four Cavaliers laid out for a dig or nearly went into the stands, the bench or the scorer’s table for a save, so while it was a full team effort, Wirt was one of those three or four every time.

As a player who averaged probably a couple assists and no kills per match, Wirt was named first team All-District, showing that Lakeland’s opponents knew what he meant to his team.

All-Suffolk News-Herald Boys Volleyball Team

Buddy Wirt – Lakeland (Player of the Year)

Cory Worley – Lakeland

Dominique Morgan – Lakeland

Chad Cross – Lakeland

Mark Brown – Nansemond River

Daniel Archibald – Nansemond River

Matt Hamlet – Nansemond-Suffolk

Ryan Beale – Nansemond-Suffolk

Bennett Bynum – Nansemond-Suffolk

All-Suffolk News-Herald Girls Volleyball Team

Kristen Nuckles – Nansemond-Suffolk (Co-player of the Year)

Minka Foster – Nansemond-Suffolk (Co-player of the Year)

Michelle Boucher – Nansemond-Suffolk

Jade Bishop – Nansemond-Suffolk

Keosha Riddick – King’s Fork

Margaret Farris – King’s Fork

Stephanie Norfleet – Lakeland

Brittany Pulliam – Nansemond River

Shannon Andy – Nansemond River