Sherwood Christian volleyball celebrates past, looks to future

ALBANY — Southwest Georgia is known for a lot of things — humidity, football, gnats, basketball, churches.

But volleyball? Not so much.

That’s why SCA head coach Lisa O’Connor and the girls at Sherwood Christian Academy are doing their part to create publicity for a sport they’ve known and loved for six years.

“When I first came here, they asked me what sports I could coach,” O’Connor said Thursday. “I said ‘Volleyball first, then others,’ and they said ‘Well, we don’t have a volleyball program.’ “

That, however, is no longer the case.

Fast-forward six years to Thursday. With the program officially established, O’Connor, Ashley Shiver — the first student to show interest in joining a team six years ago — and others took part in the school’s first Alumni Match, pitting the current varsity volleyball team against former players.

“Not long after (I was told we didn’t have a team), Ashley said to me in the hallway — kind of randomly — ‘When are we going to get a volleyball team?’ I said ‘I don’t know, but I really hope really soon.’ ” O’Connor said. “She was the first student that showed interest, and it was just shortly after that we started up a team and a program. So it’s kind of neat that … (she was) the first student interested, because she was also the first all-region team Albany player and the first one to go somewhere in college and play. She’s, like, my list of firsts.”

Shiver — a senior at the time — said she and the rest of that school’s initial team didn’t even know what to do at first, because they hadn’t really played or seen the sport in action.

“I remember our first practice,” Shiver recalled. “It was like ‘This is a volleyball, there are six people in the court.’ … All we knew was that there were the three main places to hit at. We didn’t really know anything.”

They may not have had much experience, but thanks to some keen coaching from O’Connor and solid team play, they went to state that first year and haven’t looked back.

“We’ve had six players that have gone on and play somewhere else, at least for a couple of years,” O’Connor said. “So we feel like it’s a pretty successful program.”

And Thursday, both past and present were on display.

“This is fun, this is something I’ve seen elsewhere,” said John Morrison, who became the SCA’s current head volleyball coach when O’Connor stepped aside two years ago. “Volleyball down here is almost nonexistent, so we’re just trying to build a little bit of excitement. When I first started talking to coach O’Connor (about the Alumni game), I thought if we could get at least six girls (to participate), we’d (be able to play the) game. It turned out really good — we had 11-12 girls come (back for it) — so it’s been really exciting.”

Shiver and the alumni team lost to the varsity, but the game was more about creating interest than which squad won.

“The goal is, and always has been, to increase volleyball (awareness) in this area,” said O’Connor, who started the team in 2005. “It’s not really around. Lee County is the only other team, locally, that has a high school (team), and of course Albany State (has a team). But we’re just trying to get people excited about the sport. Hopefully, by doing this, it will grow each year.”

The Lady Eagles can get started on that growth when they open their 2010 season Friday.

“We’re excited and we think we can compete in our region,” Morrison said. “We have the talent, we have the ability, we have the skill. If we can just put it together, I think we’ll be OK.”