Ashley Hall's Darby nets volleyball honor

Prepvolleyball.com, a national Web site devoted to high school volleyball, released its All-American teams, and the Lowcountry is represented.

Ashley Hall's Litsa Darby and fellow South Carolina stars Hayley Hoover of Daniel and Kelli Schmidt of Lexington were named to the 2009 All-American Team.

Darby, a sophomore, led her team to the SCISA Class AAA state championship and was the SCISA Player of the Year in 2009. She was also the SCISA Miss Volleyball in 2009. She has been All-Lowcountry and all-state for two years.

Schmidt led Lexington to the Class AAAA stats championship and was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year and SCHSL Miss Volleyball in the state for 2009. Hayley Hoover, daughter of Clemson coach Jolene Hoover, led Daniel High to the Class AAA state championship. Schmidt has signed with the University of South Carolina, and Hoover has signed with Anderson University.

High honorable mention picks include Catey Warren (Ashley Hall), Caroline Cann (Landrum) and Stephanie Palmer (Dorman). Honorable mention selections include Katie Cummings (Bishop England) and Kara Morgan (Pickens).

Heffron commits

Bishop England's three-time first-team All-Lowcountry and all-state tennis standout, Randall Heffron, committed to play collegiately for Wofford.

Heffron, a 6-2, 180-pound senior, plays Nos. 1 singles and doubles for The Bishops tennis team, under coach Skip Reville.

He enters his final season as a Bishop having compiled a 59-6 record in high school play.

He is currently ranked No. 2 in South Carolina in USTA rankings and has been ranked as high as No. 30 in the South.

The Wofford Terriers, coached by Rod Ray, were 9-0 at home in 2008-09 and finished 7-3 in Southern conference play last year. The Terriers were the recipients of the Southern Conference Tournament Sportsmanship Award for the '08-09 season.

Cherry to Wingate

Wando standout first baseman Brad Cherry committed to play baseball for Wingate.

Cherry, who will be a three-year starter, batted .333 last spring to help the Warriors to a 28-4 record and the Region 7-AAAA championship.

He scored 15 runs and drove in 10.

He also had a solid sophomore season with a .326 average, collecting three doubles and 15 RBIs.

Cherry and Drew Cisco will be team captains this spring.

Never too early

National Signing Day 2011 is only 364 days away and the Web site MaxPreps.com already has a list of the top 10 recruiting classes for 2011.

Good news if you are a Clemson fan. The Tigers are No. 2 in the country thanks to a class that includes Woodland quarterback Robert Smith.

The 6-0, 185-pounder Smith suffered a left knee injury in the sixth game of the season and had surgery, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.

Smith threw for 1,386 yards and eight touchdowns and rushed for 376 yards and five TDs before the injury.

In his freshman and sophomore seasons, Smith combined for 4,900 passing yards and 50 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,700 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The jewel of the class is Mainland (Daytona Beach, Fla.) running back Marlin Lane.

LSU is No. 1, Clemson second, Florida State third, Stanford is fourth and Alabama fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 are Ohio State, Louisville, Neb-raska, Oklahoma and Florida.

Compiled by Philip M. Bowman