Shay Ashford is going home.
The Columbus High School volleyball coach said Wednesday she has stepped down from that position to become assistant varsity and ninth-grade girls basketball at Tupelo High School.
Ashford played basketball at Tupelo High for coach Nanci Gray and helped the team, which won the Class 5A state title in 2001, earn a No. 1 ranking in the state for three consecutive years.
She spent the past two seasons as a physical education teacher and volleyball coach at Columbus High. She said has been offered a job as a PE teacher at Tupelo High, and that her hiring is subject to approval at the next school board meeting June 28.
Ashford said the hiring of a new head girls basketball coach also is subject to approval at that meeting. Stephanie Murphy left in March after five seasons at the school to become girls basketball coach at Brandon High.
“I am kind of torn between the two,” Ashford said. “I love doing volleyball at Columbus and I love my girls and how eager and excited they are to learn to play volleyball. I hope they get somebody (in as coach) who will keep them motivated and keep them going. But basketball is where I want to be.”
Ashford also was a standout volleyball player and track and field athlete at Tupelo High. In 2003, she received the state”s PopStar Award (top girls volleyball player), and was the state”s Gatorade volleyball Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons.
Ashford played basketball for one year at Itawamba Community College before moving on to the University of North Alabama. She played in 79 games in three seasons (37 starts) and finished her career with 682 points, 452 rebounds, 112 assists, 71 steals, and 57 blocked shots.
Ashford said she informed Columbus High Principal Craig Shannon last month she planned to leave the school. She said she didn”t know what direction Columbus High would go to fill her position or if anyone at the school was interested in taking her place.
This season, Ashford led a team with seven seniors to a three-win season. She said she didn”t make as much progress as she had hoped to in her two seasons, but she said she was pleased with the work her players put in to become better players.
“The girls are motivated, but I didn”t get really far,” Ashford said. “I got a couple of them to play club this year. That is a big milestone, but as far as winning games that didn”t do me any justice.”
Ashford said getting more players involved with Amateur Athletic Union teams and having them start to play the sport earlier are keys to getting the Columbus High volleyball program on track.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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