Aug. 30: Jacksonville @ Ashley (from Wilmington Star News)

Ashley 3 - Jacksonville 1
Overall 2-1, Conference 1-0

Scores
25-23 (A) , 25-14 (A) , 21-25 (J) , 25-19 (A)

Statistics
Jordan Sutton 14 assists
Amanda White 5 kills
Kelsey Hopper 13 kills, 4 blocks
Jessica McGill 6 assists, 4 kills
Sarah Harriss 8 kills, 6 blocks
Kristin Seaman 3 kills, 2 digs.

Coach Humphrey's Take: August 28, 2007 (from www.ashleyathletics.com)

Lady Eagles Fall to South Brunswick

Last night the volleyball team traveled to South Brunswick.

The JV team won their first match of the season, 25-7 and 25-17. In the second match the girls were down 1-12!!! They showed mental toughness, maturity and patience by coming back and winning 25-7. It was a very exciting comeback and a fun game to coach.

The Varsity team had their hands full with a very solid South Brunswick team. We played a solid match with few errors but fell 20-25, 22-25, and 17-25. Despite the loss, I was still proud of the team’s efforts.

We play tomorrow at home with our 1st conference game against Jacksonville.

Aug. 28: Ashley @ South Brunswick (from Wilmington Star News)

South Brunswick 3 - Ashley 0
Overall 1-1, Conference 0-0

Scores
25-20 (SB) , 25-22 (SB) , 25-17 (SB)

Statistics
Jordan Sutton: 11 assists
Kelsey Hopper: 7 kills, 4 blocks
Jessica McGill: 6 assists, 2 kills
Sarah Harriss: 8 blocks, 6 kills
Samantha Dowless: 4 digs

Aug. 25: Spike Fest at the Beach Volleyball Tournament

Ashley Screaming Eagles: top row: Whitney Adams, Coach Taylor, Amanda White. middle row: Kristin Seaman, Jordon Sutton, Travis "Scorekeeper" Kellum, Lauren Henderson, Katia Holliday, Kelsey Hopper, Sarah Harris, Caitlin Blazek, Stephanie Willets. bottom row: Jessica McGill, Samantha Dowless, Coach Humphrey, Abi Kellum.

The Spike Fest ended up being a real team bonding experience, as the girls, chaperonnes and Coach Humphrey left Friday afternoon to go to Swannsboro / Emerald Isle so to be bright and rested for the day long tournament at Swannsboro High/Middle School on August 25.

The Varsity played 5 matches in Swannsboro, starting the long day with a 9:10 am match against New Hanover HS.

It was a very exciting match, with Ashley coming back from an 8-1 deficit in the first game to come back and win 25-22 in the first game and take the second equally close game 25-23.

In the second match against Pamlico, the Eagles looked sharp winning 25-? and 25-?. With that win, Ashley assured itself of playing in the championship bracket in the afternoon games.

The third match determined the 1st and 2nd seeds from the "A" pool. Again, Ashley played tough, but eventually lost to Swannsboro, 25-? and 25-?.

With pool play completed, the top two teams from each pool began play. In the championship round, Ashley played Dixon and Laney, the top seeds from the "B" pool. The Eagles worked hard, but couldn't quite come through with wins in their 4th and 5th matches of the day.

However, it was another excellent scrimmage for the Eagles varsity, which saw them again playing better and better with each match they play.

"Dancing with the Eagles!"

Aug. 23: Ashley @ Heidi Trask

Eagles Serve Up New Season with 3-1 over Trask
(from Coach Humphrey, on Ashley's Sports website)

Last night was our 1st regular match against Heide Trask.

Junior Varsity
The JV's lost the match but they did win game 2.
Scores: 16-25 (T), 25-16 (A), & 16-25 (T)

Varsity
The Varsity took their match 3-1.
Scores: 25-12 (A), 25-9 (A), 17-25 (T), and 25-23 (A).

The girls played well games 1 & 2 but got rather content in game 3 and it cost them. Game 4 was on its way to being over quickly as we were leading 18-11.

We need to focus on finishing and not be a 5 match nail biting team.

Coach Humphrey's Take: August 25, 2007 (from www.ashleyathletics.com)

I hope everyone had a restful summer & that you are ready for Monday. Volleyball has been in high gear since August 11th.

We hosted our 3rd Summer Slam which was a great success due to the awesome parent volunteers, family, friends and anyone else we could bribe into helping us. This event would not be possible without these folks, especially The Hoppers, The Kellums, Coach Adams, and my husband Jack--poor thing, he bears the worst of it because he has to put up with me the most! I know I will forget to thank someone, but others that went out of their way for our team were Matt (our trainer), Russell Corbett, and Coach Roberts -- thanks for the coolers and ball pump! Several of you and your family came out to support us and that means a great deal to me and the girls.

The following weekend we traveled to Dixon for their Dig Fest to complete our 2nd scrimmage for the season.

We travel to Swansboro Saturday and to play in an all day tournament.

Dixon DigFest - Aug. 18 in Jacksonville, NC

Ashley's Varsity went to Dixon HS in Onslow County on Saturday, Aug 18 to scrimmage 4 teams in the Dixon DigFest.

Here is the schedule of teams played:

Pender - 9:35 am
LeJeune - 10:10 am
Swansboro - 12:10 am
South Brunswick - 1:30 pm

Volleyball update
Rachel George, Star News

Sorry for the delay on this, but technical problems have kept me from logging onto the blog this weekend. Nevertheless, I made my way up to Holly Ridge on Saturday to catch up with some of our area volleyball teams in their final scrimmage before games start this week.

Here's a roundup of where they are heading into the first week of the season.

Ashley:
The Screaming Eagles don't appear to have much height, but coach Kelly Humphrey says this is the tallest team she's ever had. Kelsey Hopper is the tallest player, at just a shade under 6-foot, but Humphrey thinks her team will be able to handle the height of other teams. She said the answer lies in communication, with her players working together to go around other teams' front lines. "I feel like I'm living in a land of giants," she said. "You've got to be tricky and just put it where they're not. ... You've got to hit around the block."

Dixon:
Height will also be a challenge for the Bulldogs, with 5-foot-11 middle hitter Leslie Thompson as their tallest player. Coach Fay Hall hopes her team's experience will be enough to make up for it, with seniors Erin Gray and Chelsea Dzurilla returning for their third year on varsity. The Bulldogs are shooting for the Coastal Plains Conference title; with three returning starters, they could be in good shape to get that. "One of the keys for us is how consistent we are with serving," Hall said.

Pender:
The Patriots are a shorter, quicker bunch this season. Last year, led by 6-foot-3 Britney Roper (who is now playing at East Carolina), the Patriots advanced to the state championship game, where they lost to powerhouse Hendersonville. The expectations are to get back this year, even with the loss of Roper and five other seniors. "(Height is) kind of hard to compensate for, but the team is quicker, which will help," coach Ray Horton said. "Last year was the most experienced I've ever started out with." Horton returns three starters - Lauren Lanier, Melissa Mott and Jannetta Robinson - who he said need to been consistent for Pender to accomplish its goals this season.

South Brunswick:
The Cougars might be the best prepared to challenge Pender for the Waccamaw Conference title, but coach Lee Shelton concedes that the Patriots are the conference's best team until someone beats them. "It's tough to break into their ryhthm," he said. "If there's a time to do it, it might as well be this year." The Cougars finished 18-5 last season and return three players taller than 5-foot-9. Shelton said the key to the team's success is dependant on finding the right combination of players on the court. "I've got seven or eight good volleyball players," he said, "but I've got to find that one good team we can put on the floor."

Trask:
Coach Karen Byrd lost five seniors, all of whom started at some point last year. Four seniors will start this season, but Byrd plans to fill the other two spots with a freshman and sophomore. She said her team will be successful if the players can improve on how they receive serves, something she said she's still trying to find a good formation for. "We usually maybe are slow getting out of the game, but we always finish strong," she said.

Posted August 20, 2007 11:46:02 AM
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Ashley HS Hosts Summer Slam (Wilmington Star)

Here is an article published in the VARSITY NOW Blog on www.wilmingtonstar.com (the Wilmington Star newspaper website). Published by Dan Spears, August 11, 2007 8:12:46 PM.

Summer Slam
While the high school football season was welcomed by thousands on Friday night at Legion Stadium at the BB&T Jamboree, local volleyball teams have started their scrimmage season as well.
The Summer Slam, a 12-team event held Saturday at Ashley High School and Murray Middle School, was the first live action for teams after their first week of practice.

Here's a quick look at the six local teams that were in the field:

South Brunswick
Last season's breakthrough 18-5 campaign has the Cougars' spirits soaring. One of the more experienced teams at the event, coach Lee Shelton's 10-player squad knows it has given itself a reputation - one it welcomes with a smile. "I can tell when we play hard," Shelton said. "And we've got to do that against everybody." "We set a standard last year," setter Meghan Goldstein said. Goldstein, as well as seniors Erica Sauls and Jackie Zeron, were all smiles after a competitive, fan-friendly matchup with Hoggard to open the afternoon session. The three talked about how volleyball has become a big thing at the school now and that a state championship goal has been set. "Everybody started coming to our games," last year, Zeron said. A crowd of nearly 300 saw the team's playoff ender vs. First Flight. Before that, "it was just our parents," Goldstein said. "If that."

Hoggard
Coach Ron Strickland's formula for scrimmaging isn't much different than for matchups in the regular season - try to get as many people into the match as possible. "It's a luxury of being pretty deep," Strickland said after the South Brunswick matchup and about 15 minutes of postgame analysis with his team. "From 1 to 13 or 14, we've got a pretty wide range of players." Hoggard is again expected to win the Mideastern Conference and challenge for a state championship. Strickland said everyone would love to finally win a crown, but that the pursuit affects his senior class in different ways, citing setter Kathleen Gates and hitter Trish Varno. "Kathleen - she wants it. You know it. But she doesn't show the urgency," Strickland said, explaining that her work with the Junior Olympic program has shown her a higher class of competition and, therefore, more ups and downs that require her to keep an even keel. With Varno, "it's a different set of things," he said, adding that with her college choice still not made and an older sister that earned plenty of respect in the program. "No one works harder than Trish, except for her sister, Kathlyn," Strickland said. "And that's not a knock on Trish."

Ashley
Coach Kelly Humphrey took on double duty as tournament host and coach. And without an assistant coach on her staff, the program's network of parents made her day a lot easier. "I can trust them with anything. They run the concession stand, the hospitality room," she said. "It's been a huge help." On the court, Humphrey is also seeing that trust fall into place. The Screaming Eagles have 10 upperclassmen returning and four talented freshmen with club experience joining the mix. "The young girls have played a lot of travel ball, and that makes a big difference," Humphrey said after the team's finale with Topsail. "I saw some young ones step up today and the seniors taking on the leadership role. We still have to things to work on, but it's the beginning of the season." With that many faces coming into and off of the court, Humphrey said the team had a good day. She just couldn't remember any specifics of it. "I'm looking for the chemistry that works on the court," Humphrey said. "Now it's sit down and look at the tapes, because you know how this day is, everything goes by so fast."

Trask
Front row is not a problem for the Titans, but filling out the back row is currently a work in progress after losing all but one defender to graduation. Coach Karen Byrd has brought up a pair of sophomores and a freshman to fill the void. "We're gonna be scrappy for a while - until we get that experience under our belt," she said after the team's fifth match of the day against Dixon. "I think this is great as a coach. I get to see things I can't see in practice. We're talking about movement, and things we want to work on in coverage, and 'Do I have someone in the right spot?' For me it's a benefit to see the girls in action." The Titans were eliminated in the third round of the 1A playoffs by state finalist Pender last year, and they had several matches against bigger schools Saturday, including Chapel Hill, Jack Britt and Ashley. Still, Byrd said her girls things are getting better. "Our motto is play hard, play smart and play together. And we're doing that," she said. "Everything falls where it should be if you do that."

Topsail
The Pirates could have easily hung their heads. They lost five seniors from last season's surprise Coastal Plains Conference title team. They were the shortest team in the field by far. And their schedule had them playing five 4A schools - including Hoggard, 2003 state champion Chapel Hill and a Lee County squad that towered over them at the net. "They know we're playing the 4A schools," coach Hill Pearsall said. "And even if we're playing a 1A that big, we have to beat them defensively." The Pirates have brought up two freshmen and two sophomores, so learning tendencies will be the most important thing early in the season heading into conference play. "How's the setter going to react? What am I going to do in these situations? That's gonna be the biggest obstacle," Pearsall said. "Chemistry, that's the word. It doesn't happen overnight, and we have to do it in one season." Dixon Seniors Erin Gray and Chelsea Dzurilla are already showing they were named captains for a reason. Coach Faye Hall said the two did their jobs well as the team tries find the right complementary parts. "It was a learning day, to see where they can play," Hall said after the team's final scrimmage with Chapel Hill. "We've got a lot of possibilities." The Bulldogs are looking to return to the top of the Coastal Plains heap again this year and improve on an opening-round loss in the 1A state tournament. "We're just like anybody else - go for that conference title," Hall said. "We've just got to take each match one by one to be able to compete."

Coming up: Next Saturday, Dixon holds its East Coast Dig Fest, starting at 9 a.m. Local teams Ashley, New Hanover, Pender, South Brunswick and Trask join the home-standing Bulldogs in the eight-team field. A full schedule will run here and in the 'Star-News' later this week. -- Dan Spears, Assistant Sports Editor

From Tim King: News and Observer High Schools Editor

In 1998, Tim Stevens was a Staff Writer for the News and Observer. He is currently the High Schools Sports Editor. This makes for some interesting reading.....

Tim Stevens
What athletes deserve

Isn't it a shame that people don't get what they deserve?

One irate mother called to say her son deserved to have his picture in the newspaper and an article written about him. He works hard, his mother said, and he has accomplished a lot. The coach doesn't give him enough recognition, and he deserves more attention.

Another parent said the paper wasn't supplying enough "ink" to help her child obtain a scholarship. The lack of a college scholarship was the coach's fault to a degree, but the paper had a responsibility to promote her child because "he deserves it," she said.

Then there was the group of parents who called because their team hadn't received enough attention. They deserved more. The team had been quite successful, had won many accolades. But the newspaper had ruined the experience. Instead of being elated, the team was depressed because it deserved more attention and praise than it received.

What do athletes really deserve?

A GREAT COACH:

• Someone who treats each player with respect and expects respect.
• A coach who sees athletics as an extension of the classroom and teaches in that arena.
• A person who coaches to help kids rather than one who coaches to notch victories on his belt.
• Someone who builds players' self-esteem.
• A coach who exhibits high moral standards.
• A coach who realizes that controlling his or her own emotions is one of the most important jobs.
• Someone who realizes that life isn't fair, you don't get lucky often and that officials are honorable people trying to do a difficult job.
• A coach who realizes that even an average official is better than having the kids "call their own."
• A coach who tries to make participating fun.
• A coach who realizes all parents are irrational when it comes to their child, and that this is good because parents should care a lot.
  

GREAT PARENTS:

• Parents who don't criticize their athlete's teammates or coaches.
• Parents who realize the benefits from participating in athletics aren't limited to the starters.
• Parents who don't expect their child to earn an athletics scholarship, because scholarships always should be a surprise.
• Parents who offer as much encouragement for their child in academics as in athletics.
• Parents who don't judge their child's worth by athletics.
• Parents who can appreciate their child's accomplishments without comparing them to the achievements of others.
• Parents who try to attend events.
• Parents who realize that in the long run, not even a state title compares favorably with the values that are taught in athletics.
• Parents who don't try to live vicariously through their children.
  

GREAT ADMINISTRATORS:

• Principals who provide adequate equipment for students to participate safely.
• Administrators who aren't distraught that the sports team creates more excitement than the school's academic achievements.
• Principals who see athletics as an extension of the classroom.
• Administrators who judge the worth of coaches not by wins on the field, but by victories with children.
  

Isn't it a shame that people don't always get what they deserve?

(I (Tim Stevens) wrote this column, which appeared in The N&O on March 22, 1998. At the start of another season, it is good to reflect on what high school football players and other athletes deserve.)
High schools editor Tim Stevens can be reached at (919) 829-8910 or mailto:tim.stevens@newsobserver.com