Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Haywood, Pirkl receive honorable-mention all-state


NEW ORLEANS — Claudia Haywood and Franziska Pirkl received more volleyball honors late Saturday when the Xavier University of Louisiana seniors earned honorable mention on the 2015 All-Louisiana team.
     
Haywood, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Memphis, Tenn., and a graduate of Cordova High School, also received a vote for Player of the Year and finished third in balloting for that award. She led the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference this year with a .292 hitting percentage. She was first-team All-GCAC her final two seasons, and she was GCAC Tournament MVP this year and in 2013. Haywood finished her career with a .287 hitting percentage, 756 kills and 207 blocks, all of which rank among the top four in XU history.
     
Pirkl, a 5-9 setter from Munich, Germany, and a graduate of Theodolinden Gymnasium, led the GCAC this year with 8.97 assists per set. She was first-team All-GCAC four times, the 2015 GCAC Setter of the Year and a two-time Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athlete. Her 3,293 career assists are an XU record. Pirkl also produced 227 kills, 116 aces, 754 digs and 103 blocks in her career — those latter three numbers rank in XU's top five.
     
For the third straight year, XU's Hannah Lawing was runner-up for Coach of the Year. Lawing received three votes, and Millicent Van Norden of the University of New Orleans received six. Receiving a vote for Libero of the Year and placing third was XU seniorDarian Harris.
     
A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel of sports publicists selected the All-Louisiana team, which consists of student-athletes from NCAA Division I and NAIA members.
     
Xavier's Gold Nuggets were 19-8 this year, and for the fifth consecutive season they won GCAC regular-season and tournament championships and qualified for the NAIA National Championship.

2015 All-Louisiana Women's Volleyball Team

FIRST TEAM
Malina Sanchez, senior, McNeese State
Tea Juric, junior, Tulane
Kelly Graham, senior, McNeese State
Landry Bullock, junior, Southeastern Louisiana
Glynna Johnson, senior, Northwestern State
Blessing Dunn, freshman, New Orleans
Libero: Diamond Williams, junior, Southern

SECOND TEAM
Kaci Eaton, junior, Nicholls State
Gina Tillis, sophomore, LSU
Sarah Ray, sophomore, Tulane
Taylor Zaeske, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Hope Pawlik, junior, Louisiana-Monroe
Celeste Ramirez, senior, New Orleans
Libero: Bridget Justis, junior, McNeese State

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Malina Sanchez, McNeese State
     Voting:  Sanchez 7, Juric 3, Claudia Haywood (Xavier) 1
LIBERO OF THE YEAR:  Diamond Williams, Southern
     Voting:  Williams 6, Justis 2, Darian Harris (Xavier) 1, Haley Smith (LSU) 1
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:  Keke Irby, New Orleans
     Voting:  Irby 8, Madi Odom (Southeastern Louisiana) 3
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:  Blessing Dunn, New Orleans
     Voting:  Dunn 8, Lisa Mordell (Tulane) 3
COACH OF THE YEAR:  Millicent Van Norden, New Orleans
     Voting:  Van Norden 6, Hannah Lawing (Xavier) 3, Patrick Hiltz (Louisiana-Monroe) 1, Jim Smoot (Southeastern Louisiana) 1

HONORABLE MENTION
Claudia Haywood, senior, Xavier; Amanda Kunz, senior, Northwestern State; Madi Odom, junior, Southeastern Louisiana; Marta Monne, sophomore, Louisiana Tech; Eva Allen, senior, Loyola; Keke Irby, junior, New Orleans; Franziska Pirkl, senior, Xavier


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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