While most students are enjoying those last fleeting days of summer vacation, girls from across the county have been hard at work in hot gyms preparing for the upcoming volleyball season.

With a new conference alignment, North Surry and Surry Central join their two closest county rivals, Mount Airy and East Surry, in the newly-formed Northwest 1A/2A.

The new conferences will mean different things in different sports, with balances of power shifting in varying degrees.

But in the case of volleyball, what it most likely means is the Northwest 1A/2A 2009 volleyball title will run directly through North Surry.

The reason?

The Greyhounds return every player from a team that finished 23-8 and lost to former conference rival Starmount in the final eight of the NCHSAA 2A state tournament, certainly a strong formula for success.

Behind North Surry in preseason hype is East Surry, who walked through last season’s Northwest 1A conference schedule with a perfect 15-0 mark.

But the Cardinals lost a significant amount of senior leadership, including last season’s Northwest 1A conference player of the year in Lekita Shuff, and have lost junior standout Autumn Cole to injury for the first half of the season.

As for the Granite Bears and Golden Eagles, they will look to build on experience to raise their standing in the conference hierarchy after both suffering tough seasons a year ago.

North Surry

“No, we didn’t graduate anybody,” is a reply Greyhounds coach Shane Slate will utter more than once as the 2009 volleyball season moves along.

The Greyhounds, already a strong team a year ago, will undoubtedly be stronger this season, with the likes of Nicole Rumplasch, Courtney Campbell, Kara Hodges, Emily Culler, Raven Medina and Morgan Bunker returning to the court for a team that was two games away from a state title appearance.

Slate said he hopes his squad can ignore the hype and focus on winning games.

“We just want to be the best team we can be,” he said. “We obviously have had expectations set for us by other people, but we feel like we should play at a high level. I have been pleased with what I’ve seen, and I think we will be better than we were last year. I think it could be an exciting season if things pull together the way they are capable of.”

The Greyhounds’ first test of the season comes Aug. 31 when they host 4A Reagan, then turn around and take on new conference foe West Stokes on Sept. 1.

North will get another jab at Starmount, its arch nemesis from a year ago, on Sept. 19 when it makes the trip to Boonville to also face Mt. Tabor and West Davidson in a day-long tournament with the Rams returning the favor Sept. 26 with McMichael in tow.

Slate said he and the girls have focused on consistency during their early season workouts in an attempt to erase the sometimes spotty performance the Greyhounds experienced last season.

“Consistency and playing at a high level all the time, instead of being up and down,” Slate said of his points of emphasis this summer. “That was a big problem for us last year.”

Mount Airy

Last Saturday marked the Mount Airy Granite Bears’ first official volleyball practice and the official start of a new season.

After fighting through a tough schedule a year ago, coach Sarah Knott says her team is heading into 2009 with a positive outlook.

“I spoke with the girls and they are very optimistic,” she said. “They want a good season and are looking at having a good season. I just hope with all the upcoming excitement and the new conference that we can step up and compete well.”

The Granite Bears return four seniors in Meredith Beasley, Hannah Horton, Katie Joyce and Lauren Smith.

Smith and Joyce will be at the net for the Bears, with Beasley resuming her role as the main setter.

Junior Skylar Davis also returns for Knott’s squad joined by five of her fellow classmates who have yet to see varsity experience.

Knott said she hopes some of this season’s rising juniors will allow Smith, an inside hitter last season and one of the Bears’ most potent offensive weapons, to move to her more natural position of outside hitter in 2009.

In addition, Knott said this season she has a full roster, something the Bears struggled with a year ago.

“We have a 10-man roster, so I will have subs on the bench and that can give us a whole new look,” she said. “Last year, we didn’t have very many subs. We got down to an eight-man roster which made it tough at times trying to get girls breaks, so having numbers this year should help.”

Surry Central

After winning only four games last season, new Surry Central head coach Leah McKinney and the Golden Eagles hope to enter 2009 with a new attitude.

“We hope to have a good season,” she said. “No looking back. We are very excited with the conference changes and are just looking forward to it. If anything we hope to have a lot of fun and learn a lot from the season.”

McKinney was the Golden Eagles’ JV coach last year and helped former coach Tim Shelton with varsity coaching duties.

She said the transition has been easy so far for both her and the players.

“I think the players have gotten used to me, so it was an easy transition,” she said. “I already knew how coach Shelton ran practices, so it hasn’t been a huge issue.”

McKinney’s team returns five seniors and three key juniors this season.

The juniors are libero Alysha Shelton, who McKinney called a “very strong defensive play and passer,” Michaela Wall, who is in her third year of varsity play, and Jennifer Coe. All are expected to be three of the Golden Eagles’ top players in 2009.

The Golden Eagles’ offensive whiz will be senior outside hitter Brittany Tolbert, who McKinney said is Central’s “strongest hitter.”

After traversing through a four-win campaign, McKinney said the expectations for this season are high and realistic.

“Our goal for the season is just to have a winning season,” McKinney said. “We definitely want more wins than losses. We have a lot of optimism at this point. All the girls have very positive attitudes.”

East Surry

While East Surry may have lost three of its top players from a season ago, new coach Deborah Voigt shouldn’t have to worry about finding experience to fill those places.

The Cardinals have seven seniors returning, all of whom saw playing time last year, to go along with a touted freshman who will be looked at for big things early on.

Morgan Chilton, Tia Joyce, Kelsey Long, Elizabeth Marshall, Kayla Marshall and Hayley Shelton all played roles in the Cardinals’ success last season and all will return in 2009.

Long will resume her role as the Cardinals’ main setter, with outside hitter Joyce possibly moving to the middle in the absence of Autumn Cole.

Cole injured her knee during an AAU basketball tournament this summer and Voigt said she expects the scrappy junior to return at least halfway through the season.

With Cole missing, 6-2 freshman Keri Fulp will be the Cardinals’ strongest weapon in the middle. Voigt said Fulp has the talent to be a top player in the conference.

“She’s got some Junior Olympic volleyball experience, but she’s young and still learning,” she said. “We are just anxious to get Autumn back so they can push each other in practice and help Keri to develop, because I think she is going to be an outstanding player in all sports at East Surry.”

With North Surry joining the conference and Bishop McGuinness looking to reload, the Cardinals will definitely have more competition for a conference title than they did a year ago.Voigt said the focus this season will be on defense, with the Cardinals looking to balance their loss at the net with stronger play in the back.