The Walton athletic program is expected to hire Roswell volleyball coach, Erika Ford, to lead the Raiders volleyball team as its next head coach.
Ford spent one season at Roswell High School as the Hornets’ head coach but is now making the move to Walton to replace legendary coach Suzanne Fitzgerald.
Ford will attempt to keep the tradition of winning volleyball at Walton in her first season as she aims to add a sixteenth state championship to the Raiders trophy case. Walton last won a volleyball state championship in 2021 and has previously won four state championships in a row, two separate times in its history. The Raiders were state champions from 2010-2013 and 2015-2019, as they have won six state titles in the last 10 years.
As the former Walton volleyball coach, Fitzgerald was the state’s all-time winningest volleyball coach. Fitzgerald’s role has varied from year-to-year as she has held titles such as head coach to co-head coach during her time with the Raiders.
Ford is a former University of Georgia basketball player but has been coaching volleyball for the last eight seasons, making stops at high schools such as Chattahoochee where she served as an assistant coach and with North Forsyth where she has been an assistant coach since 2020.
When she is not coaching high school volleyball, Ford is very active in the A5 Volleyball Club where she volunteers coaching the sport for her 16-U regional team.