Clarendon Hall volleyball coach happy with team’s effort

By Dennis Brunson

        hssr.com Associate Editor

        Summerton – After having a turnaround season in Shannon Corbett’s first year as the Clarendon Hall volleyball head coach, Year 2 hasn’t gone quite as well.

           The Saints were off to just a 2-13 start after going 14-8 last season and making the AA state tournament. That was Clarendon Hall’s first tournament appearance in at least five seasons and it went 2-2.

`          Even with the struggles this year, Corbett believes the program is moving in the right direction.

“With a year under my belt I am still trying to learn,” she said. “We have more girls coming out for volleyball at Clarendon Hall than we have had in a while. We were even able to start a B team this year, which is a great thing, getting more girls involved and continuing to build the program up.”

Corbett said inconsistency has been the biggest hindrance for the Saints.

“This year's team has been a roller coaster,” she said. “Our record is not great, but we played a lot of super-close games that we were just now able to close out. We would jump ahead of a team and then get caught making a few too many mistakes that would hurt us in the end.

“We have just been a little too inconsistent on some things. I know there are a few games we wish we could get back in the early part of the season that we let slip away from us.”

Clarendon Hall returned three starters from last season in senior Brooke Corbett, senior Ashlee Berry and senior Maggie Harrington. The other two returning players are seniors as well in Hanna Ridgeway and Dhara Patel.

“Those five played a lot for me last year, rotating in and out and even starting some games,” Coach Corbett said. “We had three girls move up from JV (junior varsity) and another girl that rejoined the team this year.”

The returning player is senior Skylar Dymond. The newcomers to the roster are sophomore Allison Truett, freshman Brynli Brewer and freshman AJ Clark.

“The strength of this team is they really do play well with each other, that they enjoy being on the court together,” Coach Corbett said. “We have really focused on making sure we are serving the ball well. That has kept us in a lot of games, not hurting ourselves by not getting the ball over the net.”

Coach Corbett spoke highly of the performance of three of her seniors.

“Ashlee Berry and Brooke Corbett have been a huge part of this team over the past two years,” she said. “They both give great effort on the court at all times. Hanna Ridgeway really worked hard at the beginning of the season, and I have seen a big difference in her serves this year.”

It remains to be seen if Clarendon Hall can work its way into the AAA state tournament, having moved up due to reclassification. The Saints are part of Region 1 along with Orangeburg Preparatory School, Thomas Sumter Academy and Calhoun Academy.

The state tournament is set for October 18-19 in Myrtle Beach.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Coach Corbett is already looking ahead to next year.

“I have six seniors on my team so next year's team will be a total new look for us,” Coach Corbett said.