Arroyo Grande's Emily Sonny and Ashlyn Herlihy are girls volleyball County Players of the Year

Ashlyn Herlihy admits she was skeptical when Emily Sonny walked into the Arroyo Grande High gym this past summer for her first practice with the girls volleyball team.

Like all transfers, there was an air of unknown surrounding the 5-foot-11 junior from Fullerton.

“You never really know with transfers,” said Herlihy, who was coming off a first team All- County season as a sophomore. “They say they’ve played volleyball, but you’re not really sure how they are.”

Then coach Ernie Santa Cruz had Sonny join Herlihy in a middle hitting drill, and it was love at first spike.

“I just remember she railed this ball seriously,” Herlihy recalled. “I was like ‘OK. You’re going to have fun here. We’re going to like this.’

“She swings to win.”

The two formed a dynamic duo in the middle that kept opposing teams scrambling and lifted the Eagles to their third straight undefeated PAC 8 championship.

Sonny, who came from La Habra Sonora, played an all-around game with strong defense, accurate passing and well-placed striking.

Herlihy brought the thunder and the energy, using her athletic 6-1 frame to pound balls into the hardwood while providing markedly improved digging from a new spot in the back row.

The complimentary styles led Arroyo Grande within a game of defeating the eventual CIF-Southern Section Division 2AA champions, and earned the pair split honors for The Tribune Girls Volleyball Player of the Year award.

“Emily is a very versatile player, so she was able to pick up a lot of our slack,” Santa Cruz said. “Ashlyn is the type of player that brings that energy, and every team needs a player like that.

“What they did went hand-in-hand.”

Contrasting styles, similar results

Herlihy slugged a county-best 460 kills — tops in Division 2AA — from her spot in the middle, recording a .446 hitting percentage while averaging nearly five kills per set.

Just as important for the Eagles was the exuberance with which she celebrated every one of them.

“After we won a set against them, Ashlyn just had a look in her eye and she took over the match,” San Luis Obispo coach Manny Carter said. “And then it was just kill after kill after kill.”

Added Santa Cruz: “When she hit it, everyone in the gym felt it.”

At the same time, Sonny did a little bit of everything — and did it all at a high level.

She led the county with 107 blocks, while also leading the Eagles in digs (362) and aces (62) and still netting 354 kills at a .386 hitting percentage.

“Sonny was a pretty darn good passer and defensive player — that was a big standout,” said Templeton coach Jodi Kelly, whose team beat PAC 8 second-place squads San Luis Obispo and Atascadero en route to an undefeated Los Padres League title, but couldn’t take a game off Arroyo Grande in a September match.

Arroyo Grande went 29-5 this year — a record that jumps to 20-1 in traditional best-of-five matches.

The Eagles won 78 of the 97 sets it played, with either Herlihy or Sonny leading in kills each time, and the other finishing second in the category all but once.

Herlihy finished either tied or as the outright leader in kills in 29 matches this season, while Sonny held the distinction on 10 occasions; they tied five times.

“Before (Sonny) came, our league knew who our top hitters were and where the ball was going,” Herlihy said. “With her, it added a lot of versatility with our team.”

Added Sonny, who led or tied for the team lead in blocks 23 times, while doing the same in digs 19 times and aces 15 times: “Ashlyn is my relief; and she’s just the best at everything. When I’m in the back row, she’s in the front row, so I can rely on her.”

In the playoffs, the two continued to shine.

Herlihy and Sonny both had 17 kills in a first-round sweep of Heritage Christian. The duo had a similar consistent outing in a five-set thriller over La Cañada, winning the second-round match while getting 23 kills from each of the two.

In the quarterfinals against South Torrance, Sonny had a match-high 21 kills, 19 digs and five blocks while Herlihy added 20 kills — the sixth time in the season she reached that benchmark — in the 19-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-12, 15-10 season-ending loss.

“It’s 1A and 1B,” said Mission Prep coach Chuck Fox when comparing the two. “Ash is the stronger of the two — the terminator. Emily is more rounded and brings a full game.

“In reality, when they went up against Torrance and teams like that, they needed both of them. If they missed one or the other, they wouldn’t have gone that far.”

Another year to grow

Sonny had team highs in kills (85) and blocks (30) as a sophomore last season at La Habra Sonora on a team that finished 9-15.

At the same time Sonny and her family were moving north to Arroyo Grande, Herlihy, who is being recruited by colleges on the West Coast for basketball, was spending one-on-one time with Santa Cruz learning how to play in the back row.

“It’s hard being a 6-1 middle blocker in the back row,” Herlihy said of the adjustment. “Just staying low and being active, and learning how to read the hitters (are key) — Kacee (Fox), our libero, really helped me with that.”

Herlihy’s added dimension, with Sonny’s arrival, meant Santa Cruz could have one dynamic hitter in the front middle at all times — this year and next year, too.

“I was really comfortable with everyone,” Sonny said of her new teammates. “Everyone told me I was so chill around them, and I was just like ‘Well yeah, because you guys are nice.’ Everyone welcomed me.”

Added the coach: “She’s a non-threatening person. She has no agenda; she just plays hard, and that’s how she got the respect of the team.”

The Eagles will graduate four players from this season’s squad, including setter Alaina Hogeboom, who had 943 assists on the year.

Their MaxPreps online roster had inadvertently listed Sonny as a senior for most of the year, but other area teams will have no such luck.

The twin towers will be back in full force next year, with a full offseason devoid of first impressions — regarding new people and positions — in between.

“Ash just brings that energy that fires everyone up,” Santa Cruz said, “and Emily can just make plays look so easy.

“When she came in, we instantly had that one-two punch. We could always attack.”

All-County Volleyball team

Players of the Year

Ashlyn Herlihy, Arroyo Grande, Jr.; Emily Sonny, Arroyo Grande, Jr.

First Team

Holland Boege, San Luis Obispo, Sr.; Sierra Emrick, Morro Bay, Sr.; Alaina Hogeboom, Arroyo Grande, Sr.; Josi Kelly, Templeton, Jr.; Lauren Ralston, Templeton, Jr.; Katherine Sedley, Atascadero, Sr.

Second Team

Merissa Brancart, San Luis Obispo, Jr.; Sabrina Degnan, Atascadero, Sr.; Kacee Fox, Arroyo Grande, Sr.; Jennifer Laird, Mission Prep, Soph.; Noelle Laird, Mission Prep, Jr.; Aliyah Morrison, North County Christian, Sr.; Lucy Portillo, Templeton, Sr.

Honorable Mention

Atascadero — Brooke Harbottle, Jr.; Kaylie Griffin, Jr.; Paso Robles — Kalyn Armstrong, Soph.; Kiara Gable, Soph.; Coastal Christian —Roni Garrison, Sr.; Coast Union — Sage Radecki, Sr.; Arroyo Grande — Samantha Oliver, Soph.; Jamie Walsh, Sr.; San Luis Obispo — Callie Hamari, Sr.; Nipomo — Gwen Menane, Jr.; Morro Bay — Isotta Sala, Sr.; Templeton — Elsa Stryzko, Sr.; Mission Prep — Eleri Perryman, Soph.

Past County Players of the year

1981 Sandy Schoettler Arroyo Grande

1982 Darci Carrigan Paso Robles

1983 Michielle Mandella Morro Bay

1984 Teri Dias Arroyo Grande

1985 Kathy Branham Atascadero

1986 Brandy Androvich Paso Robles

1987 Michala Jarmin Atascadero; Jenny Dodson Atascadero

1988 Cary Wendell Arroyo Grande

1989 Cary Wendell Arroyo Grande; Jenny Wilton San Luis Obispo

1990 Cary Wendell Arroyo Grande

1991 Cary Wendell Arroyo Grande

1992 Sarah Lowe Atascadero

1993 Kindra Shaffer Arroyo Grande

1994 Corrie Wilhelm San Luis Obispo

1995 Sarah Larson Paso Robles

1996 Heather Wintermeyer San Luis Obispo

1997 Kristen O’Halloran Arroyo Grande

1998 Kristen O’Halloran Arroyo Grande

1999 Amy Smith Atascadero

2000 Shannon Burmaster San Luis Obispo

2001 Kati Purchase Coast Union

2002 Chelsea Hayes Atascadero

2003 Lauren Hays Arroyo Grande

2004 Leigh Stephenson Nipomo

2005 Ashley Adams San Luis Obispo

2006 Ashley Adams San Luis Obispo

2007 Olivia Trudeau Arroyo Grande

2008 Olivia Trudeau Arroyo Grande

2009 Rachel Ventura Arroyo Grande

2010 Tess Rountree Paso Robles

2011 Maggie Eppright San Luis Obispo

2012 Millisa Morrow Arroyo Grande

2013 Autumn Russell Templeton

2014 Ashlyn Herlihy Arroyo Grande; Emily Sonny Arroyo Grande

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Arroyo Grande's Emily Sonny and Ashlyn Herlihy are girls volleyball County Players of the Year."