Volleyball Player Of The Year: James Wood’s Ashley Hillyard

Posted: December 27, 2013
By KEVIN TRUDGEON

The Winchester Star Volleyball Player of the Year: James Wood’s Ashley Hillyard

WINCHESTER — The first time Jill Couturiaux decided to have Ashley Hillyard try a new position on the volleyball court, it was a shot in the dark.

Coaching the Potomac Elite 14-year-old travel team at the time, Couturiaux had watched her setters struggle to get the ball to their hitters on the outside and knew a change had to be made if the team was going to go anywhere.

After moving Hillyard to setter they advanced all the way to nationals in Atlanta.

The second time Couturiaux asked Hillyard to play a new position, it was out of necessity.

Heading into this season the James Wood volleyball team was going to be without reigning Northwestern District Player of the Year Katie Houser, who was sidelined with a foot injury, and her area-best 451 kills were going to be missed.

“We were struggling to put the ball away on the outside early on in the season and knew we needed to make a change,” said Couturiaux, who had already switched junior transfer Lindsey Painter from middle to outside but was still searching for more offensive firepower.

“And it came at practice one time, we’re taking some swings and Ashley was hitting it as hard as she could every single time. That’s Ashley, she doesn’t do anything less than 100 percent, she’s got one mode and that’s aggressive. And watching her at that practice, it was a no-brainer that we had to do something to get her swinging.”

That “something” was completely changing the offense to take advantage of Hillyard’s versatility, and once again she rose to the challenge.

Splitting time between setter and outside hitter, Hillyard, who totaled an area-best 534 assists and finished second amongst local players with 257 kills, helped the Colonels to a 26-6 overall record, an undefeated run through the district and a return to the state tournament for the second year in a row.

For her efforts, Hillyard is the 2013 Winchester Star Volleyball Player of the Year.

“I had 100-percent confidence that she would [be able to play both positions],” Couturiaux said. “Any role we need Ashley to fill she will fill it, and she’ll fill it well. She’s not just going to be a warm body out there, she’s going to go out and excel wherever you ask her to be.”

Not that there wasn’t a bit of an adjustment period for the 5-foot-8 James Wood junior.

A setter for almost her entire volleyball life, Hillyard had hit on occasion over the years but had never been asked to shoulder the hitting load. Yet with the Colonels moving from their traditional 5-1 offense (where there is one setter and five attackers) to a 6-2 (two setters and six attackers), Hillyard suddenly found herself as the focal point on the outside for half of the rotations.

“I’d always been a six-rotation player in club, or at least last year I was, but I only set, I didn’t play outside,” said Hillyard, who went from being a full-time setter in the 5-1 to spending three rotations at setter and three as an outside hitter, with her freshman sister Megan stepping in as setter, in the 6-2.

“I was definitely excited to get the chance to hit, but it was also nerve-wracking because being on the outside you get the majority of the balls, so you have to be consistent and you have to focus.”

Having toyed with the idea of changing offenses early on in the season, Couturiaux pulled the trigger following a 3-0 loss to Musselman (W.Va.) on Sept. 12 and never looked back.

Hillyard led the Colonels in kills (18) and assists (29) in the very next match, a 3-1 win over Woodgrove, and it was the kind of performance that James Wood fans would come to expect as the season went along.

She had 10 kills and 20 assists in a district-opening sweep of Sherando, combined for 22 kills and 43 assists in a season sweep of rival Handley and turned in 20 kills and 20 assists in a 3-1 win over fourth-seeded Courtland in the 4A North Region quarterfinals.

Admittedly unsure of when to tip and when to swing hard at times, Hillyard, who can touch 9-3, relied on her leaping ability and power more often than not on the outside and kept opponents guessing with her savvy as a setter.

“It couldn’t happen with just any kid who sets,” said Couturiaux about the difficulty of moving back and forth between outside hitter and setter throughout the course of a match. “It has to be someone who’s in tune with the game and aware of what’s going on.

“Ashley’s a setter, so she’s trained her brain to always pick up second ball. And we put her in the outside position where someone takes the first ball and she has to step back and be ready to attack. Not everyone could do that.”

It helps that Hillyard is the volleyball equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.

While her season totals in assists (nearly 100 more than the next closest setter in the area) and kills (second only to teammate Lindsey Painter) were impressive, she was also second in the area in aces (53), fourth in digs (271) and had 21 blocks for good measure.

“I just try to be as consistent as possible in everything that I do and stay focused and improve anytime I can,” Hillyard said. “I take pride in being able to pass and dig, along with hitting and setting. I want to be good at everything.”

So far, so good.

A year after reaching the state quarterfinals for the first time in over a decade, Hillyard helped lead the Colonels to the Group 4A state semifinals this season despite the loss of six seniors and the absence of Houser.

She was named the Northwestern District Player of the Year, was an All-4A North Region first team selection and recently gave a verbal commitment to Division-1 Radford University, where she’ll be reunited with former James Wood teammate Kelby Jackson.

But before that happens Hillyard still has one more year of playing for the Colonels, and she’s already excited about next season’s prospects.

“I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” Hillyard said. “We only graduate two seniors and we’ll have Katie coming back hopefully. And I’m so proud of all of our freshmen and I know this travel season they’re all going to continue to improve. Hopefully next year we’ll come out just as good, if not better.”

With Houser’s expected return and Painter coming back as well there should be no shortage of hitters along the front line, allowing Hillyard to focus all of her efforts on setting, the position she will play in college.

But she knows that Couturiaux won’t hesitate to move her around if need be – and she’s proven to be up to the task.

“When people ask me what position I play I tell them that I play wherever they put me,” Hillyard said. “I like being able to do everything.”

— Contact Kevin Trudgeon at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. on Twitter @WinStarSports1