By Owen Gotimer
LoCoSports Editor-in-Chief
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Ashburn (August 19, 2015) — Stone Bridge High School senior Ashlyn Dunlop has made a commitment to play volleyball at Hampton University starting in the 2016-2017 school year.
“I have been playing volleyball now for six years, and it’s a sport I’ve grown to love,” the 5-foot-9 Dunlop said. “I enjoy the competition, and I love the game. I’m really looking forward to playing at the next level.”
At the next level, Dunlop will join a Division I Pirates team which finished 21-11 including an 11-1 record and conference championship in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in 2014.
Hampton – under first year head coach Janay Yancey – opens up its 2015 slate on August 28 at 4:30 p.m. on the road against Fairleigh Dickinson University in the Liberty University Invitational.
“I think that my volleyball experience will help me be successful at Hampton,” said Dunlop who will player outside hitter or setter in college. “I have a very competitive nature, and I hate to lose. I think that my time at Stone Bridge has taught me to be a winner. Since being a freshman on varsity, I have competed in three consecutive state tournaments. I plan on being focused and motivated to help the Pirates in any way that I can.”
The Texas-native noted that Yancey and her staff were one of many reasons she chose to become a Pirate.
“I chose Hampton University because of its deep rooted traditions, and its great family atmosphere,” Dunlop said. “The campus is beautiful, and the coaches are great individuals.”
Before making the 200-mile trip south to Hampton, Dunlop hopes to help the Stone Bridge Bulldogs have another successful season in 2015.
“We are a young team but we have some very good players, if we are able to gel as a team I think the sky is the limit,” said Dunlop who plays club volleyball for NVVA ICE Elite 18s.
In their 2014 campaign, the Bulldogs went 23-4 including a win in the Conference 14 championship over eventual VHSL 5A state champion and Ashburn-rival Briar Woods High School before falling to Princess Anne High School in a state semifinal.
“We are not hoping to be a state semifinalist this year. Our goal this season is to bring Stone Bridge its first volleyball state championship,” Dunlop said. “We understand that it will not be an easy task, but we are up to the challenge. I would really love to end my career with a ring.”