Pine’s Clark, Ladner are 1st-team all-district players for 2019 season

Published 1:02 pm Friday, January 3, 2020

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Two Pine Lady Raiders are first-team all-district players in the 4-IV league.
Outside hitters Makia Clark and Leah Ladner made the top team for the Lady Raiders.
Two more Pine players are on the second team, including outside hitters Reese Polk and Kalli Tullier.
Pine also has two honorable-mention all-district players, in Kaitlyn Cochran and Kiyasha Clark.
Pine was the 29th-seeded team in the Division IV playoffs, but lost to fourth-seeded and state semifinalist Parkview Baptist, 25-7, 25-10, 25-10, in the bi-district round.
Pope John Paul II’s Kendall Battistella is the district’s Most Valuable Player.
Third-seeded Pope John Paul II is the state champion after winning the title match in four games, 25-27, 25-20, 25-12, 25-18, over top-seeded Lafayette Christian.
In addition to Clark and Ladner, the rest of the first-team players are Pope John Paul II teammates Ansley Tullis, Rachel Hartmann and Mallory Norton, Springfield’s Tabitha Lobell and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Presley Morse.
Springfield was the 25th-seeded team, but lost to eight-seeded and regional round team Academy of the Sacred Heart in the bi-district round, 25-7, 25-20, 25-9.
St. Thomas Aquinas was the 22nd-seeded in the postseason, but lost to No. 11 and regional round team Isidore Newman, 25-13, 25-13, 25-23.
In addition to Polk and Tullier, the rest of the second-team players are Pope John Paul II teammates Morgan Faciane and Kayla Benedic, Springfield’s Dali Hughes and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Claire Cyrus, Alexis Anderson and Caroline Eschete.