The Swamp Fox volleyball team is looking to make some noise in the Class AAAA ranks this season.
Ashley Ridge preformed well in Class AA the past two years and seems to have picked up where it left off last season, when it finished with a 16-6 record after advancing to the second round of the playoffs. With seven varsity lettermen returning this year, including six starters, Swamp Fox coach Chi-Chi Hurley believes her team is ready for the jump.
“Things will be a little different this year and we will face stronger competition,” Hurley said. “We won’t face any weak teams but I think if we can be more aggressive we should be able to hold our own. Playing 4-A teams like Summerville will be tough but I think we can be very competitive.”
In the preseason, Ashley Ridge notched scrimmage victories over Pelion and Waccamaw, the team that eliminated the Foxes from the playoffs last season.
“I think that’s a sign of good things to come,” Hurley said. “We are shuffling some of our starters around in an effort to produce more back-row attacks, but several members of this team have played together for a while now and they are showing more camaraderie than we’ve had in the past. They are doing a good job talking to each other and we have more hitters than we’ve had in the past.”
Seven seniors return to the team with a lot of experience – Megan Turpin, Kinsley Wade, Lauren Egbert, Michelle Green, Amanda Carey, Haleigh Cardoze and Ericka Millen. Junior Paige Deschaine also brings experience after playing with the varsity as a freshman but then sitting out her sophomore season.
Newcomers this year include Elaina Schaffer, Brittany Jurow, Alex Lesley, Shelby Mehaffey, Taylor Tierney, Erin Hongsermeier, Alexis Miller and Jessica Smart, who are all juniors.
Deschine and Carey will provide much of the Fox firepower from their outside hitter positions. As the team’s primary setters, Wade and Hongsermeir will be expected to feed them, and others, the ball. Hurley is also expecting big things from Turpin, Schaffer and Green this season.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com.

Ashley Ridge 2010
Volleyball Schedule
Date                Opponent                                  Place            Time
Sept. 2            Beaufort, Colleton County        Colleton Co.         5:30
Sept. 7            Berkeley                                 Berkeley             6:30
Sept. 8            Goose Creek, Stratford             Ashley Ridge       5:30
Sept. 9            Cane Bay                                Cane Bay            6:30
Sept. 14          Summerville, Sumter               Ashley Ridge        5:30
Sept. 16          West Ashley                            Ashley Ridge        6:00
Sept. 18          North Central Tournament        Camden               9:15
Sept. 21          James Island                           James Island        6:00
Sept. 30          Beaufort, Colleton County        Ashley Ridge         5:30
Oct. 5             Fort Dorchester, Wando            Wando                 5:30
Oct. 7             Berkeley                                  Ashley Ridge         6:30
Oct. 12            Fort Dorchester, Summerville   Summerville          5:30
Oct. 16            Bluffton Tournament               Bluffton                 TBA
Oct. 18            Cane Bay                                Ashley Ridge        6:30
Oct. 19            Bluffton, Battery Creek            Battery Creek       5:30