District Awards | Volleyball
Hopkins County schools including Cumby, Miller Grove, North Hopkins, Sulphur Bluff and Como-Pickton were the recipient of 2019 District individual and team awards for volleyball this weekend.
Most Valuable Player and Player of the Year awards were given to five Hopkins County girls, which numbered all but two of the available slots given out by UIL.
Alexis Green, a Miller Grove senior, was named most valuable player overall. Green led the team’s offense to victory with 20 kills and was the top server with 13 aces in their regional playoff match against Sulphur Bluff. Green stood out as a leader on the team, according to head coach Ana Billingsley, and her “desire and love for the game had a huge impact on the girls,” Billingsley said.
Raylee Mathis, a North Hopkins junior, was named defensive player of the year. Mathis racked up an outstanding 78 kills and 17 blocks during four conference games against Miller Grove, PTAA and Fruitvale.
Katie Williams, a Miller Grove senior, was named setter of the year. Williams lead her team in assists, setting up 10 points for the offense in their regional playoff game alone. Williams was also recognized by her coach as a leader, and Billingsley believes the guidance Williams helped to demonstrate will serve as an example for the rest of her girls to step into leadership roles next year.
Rylee Krotky, a Cumby junior, was named libero of the year. Krotky had an attack percentage of 78% over the season and had 260 digs over 95 sets with an average of 8.1 digs per match.
Neely Hammond, a Cumby freshman, was named newcomer of the year. Hammond racked up 67 kills over the last seven games of the season.
First team members are as follows: Madison Joslin (senior, North Hopkins), Ashley Aguilar (senior, North Hopkins), Lanie Burnett (junior, Miller Grove), Lauren Bullard (junior, Miller Grove), Savannah Kurn (sophomore, Cumby) and Charlea Helmberger-Boles (junior, Sulphur Bluff).
Second team members are as follows: Jessica Garcia (senior, North Hopkins), Kortni Ferrell (junior, North Hopkins), Harli Watson (junior, Miller Grove), Heather Mc-Craw (freshman, Cumby), Ashlyn Hudson (freshman, Cumby) and Chloe Romero (junior, Como-Pickton).
Honorable mention included Jaylah Robertson and Kylee Saldana, both of Miller Grove; Abigal Whaley, Selene Leon and Makayla Buchanan of North Hopkins; Kylie and Chelsea Osborne of Como-Pickton; Kenlee Green, Mattison Buster and Lexi Busby of Como-Pickton; and Tatum White of Cumby.
Academic all district honorees included: Rylee Krotky, Savannah Kurn, Constance Smith, Dayli Sims, Ashlyn Hudson, Neely Hammond, Tatum White, Carly Talley, Harley McLarry, Heather Mc-Craw and Erin Morgan of Cumby; Miracle Ramon, Sadie Conner, Isabelle Wilburn, Madison Joslin, Ashley Aguilar, Abigal Whaley, Kortni Ferrell, Kandice Lewis, Jessica Garcia, Raylee Mathis, Makayla Buchanan, Selene Leon and Molly Wiser of North Hopkins; Chloe Romero, Kylie Osborne, Kenlee Green, Chelsey Osborne, Mattison Buster, Lexi Busby and Faith Watkins of Como-Pickton; and Katie Williams, Harli Watson, Alexis Green, Jaylah Robertson, Lainy Burnett and Lauren Bullard of Miller Grove.