LSU’s Bannister stands out among the rest on LSWA’s All-Louisiana Volleyball team, honored as Player of Year for third time

LSU’s volleyball team came away with the top award on this year’s Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s All-Louisiana team.

Senior Taylor Bannister was selected the LSWA’s Player of the Year, an honor she won for the third time in her record-setting career, while sophomore Karli Rose also earned a spot on the team with the setter earning second team acclaim.

Bannister, who is returning for a fifth year of eligibility in the fall, was selected to both the All-Southeastern Conference and AVCA All-South Region team. Rose, the LSWA’s Freshman of the Year in 2019, earned her designation on the All-Louisiana team.

Bannister registered 385 kills in 88 sets for a per-kill average of 4.37 per set, second highest in the SEC, to go along with her 5.11 points average per set – also second best in the league.

With LSU playing an unprecedented spring season, Bannister enjoyed quite a bit of success with back-to-back SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors against South Carolina and Georgia.

Against Georgia, Bannister recorded 30 kills, the second most in her career, with a .481 attacking percentage. In her team’s next match, she moved into second place on the school’s career kills list with 1,640.

Rose directed LSU’s offense with 10 double-doubles in assists and digs. She averaged 9.52 assists per set (1,800 overall) which ranked seventh in the SEC. She was selected the SEC’s Setter of the Week where she averaged 12.12 assists in a pair of matches with Arkansas, which included a season-high 54 assists and 13 digs in the second match.

Rose also had 53 kills and 24 blocks at the net.

2020-21 LSWA All-Louisiana Volleyball Teams

First Team

Pos.    Name                           Class           School                               

RS       Taylor Bannister         Sr.               LSU

S         Avery Breaux               Sr.               UL-Lafayette

OH      Lexie Douglas              Sr.               Tulane

OH      Kailin Newsome          Fr.               SLU

OH      Hali Wisnoskie            Sr.               UL-Lafayette

MH     Kayla Dinkins               Jr.               Tulane

L         Haley Hoang                So.               Northwestern State        

Second Team

Pos.    Name                                Class       School                               

S         Kailyn O’Neal                 Jr.           Loyola New Orleans

S         Karli Rose                     So.          LSU

OH      Kelsey Bennett               Jr.           UL-Lafayette

OH      Desire Neal                     Jr.           Dillard                   

OH      Regan Stiawalt                Jr.           McNeese

MB     Vivica Price-Spraggins    Sr.           Xavier

L         Sophia Ervanian               Fr.           Tulane       

PLAYER OF THE YEAR Taylor Bannister, LSU

LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Haley Hoang, Northwestern State

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Semira Blair, Xavier

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kailin Newsome, Southeastern Louisiana

CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR: Heather Mazeitis-Fontenot, Louisiana-Lafayette; Pat Kendrick, Xavier