The 2021 Catoosa-Walker County Volleyball Dream Teams
2021 Catoosa County Volleyball Player of the Year
Arguably the best volleyball player to ever suit up for Heritage, Francis caps her high school career today with her second straight Catoosa County Volleyball Player of the Year award.
Francis showed her potential as a freshman, dishing out 383 assists along with 39 aces, 81 digs, 16 kills and eight blocks. However, she was only scratching the surface.
The following season brought with it first team All-Region honors as she recorded 380 assists, 157 kills, 85 aces, 112 digs and 80 blocks. Then, as a junior, the county Player of the Year racked up 267 kills, 278 digs, 468 assists, 88 aces and 42 blocks to earn the Region 7-AAAA Player of the Year award and her first All-State first team selection, while helping lead Heritage to a region title and its first-ever Final Four appearance.
Then, this past season, Francis earned another AllRegion first team selection and a second consecutive All-State first team award as she put up 331 kills, 246 digs, 370 assists, 80 aces and 70 blocks. Heritage was ranked in the top three in Class AAAA all season long and made it to the second round of the playoffs.
2021 Karissa Tatum Walker County Volleyball Co-Player of the Year
Many outstanding volleyball players have worn a LaFayette uniform, but very few — if any — can match the four-year resume of LaFayette senior Colby Charland, who today’s shares the Karissa Tatum Walker County Volleyball Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season.
The two-time Player of the Year in Region 6-AAA, a four-time All-Region selection and the first three-time All-State first team player in Lady Ramblers’ history, Charland took over at setter on Day 1 of her freshman year and simply dominated.
She played on three straight region title teams and helped them to a 173-30 record over four seasons with one Final Four appearance, two trips to the Elite Eight and one appearance in the Sweet 16.
She is LaFayette’s career leader in assists (3,525) and digs (1,081) and also racked up 525 kills, 316 aces and 175 blocks with a serving percentage of 91.5 in 440 career sets.
Charland recently made her college choice official, signing with NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference stalwart Alabama-Huntsville after verbal pledging to the Chargers prior to her senior season at LaFayette.
2021 Karissa Tatum Walker County Volleyball Co-Player of the Year
Brooklyn Hudson arrived at Gordon Lee as part of a freshman class that many felt had the potential to be the best single class in the program’s 20-year history. Four years later, those sentiments proved to be true, and Hudson was one of the reasons why.
On a team loaded with talent, the outside hitter quickly became one of the go-to players for the Lady Trojans and put up some of the best single-season and career numbers of any player to ever play at Gordon Lee, or in Walker County for that matter.
Hudson was a three-time Region Player of the Year for a program that won four region titles with her on the roster. Three times she was named the Player of the Year in the region and three times she earned a spot on the AllState first team. Now, a twotime Karissa Tatum Walker County Volleyball Co-Player of the Year, Hudson and the Lady Trojans went 14634 with four Final Four appearances and two trips to the state finals.
She finished her Gordon Lee career with 1,411 kills, 842 digs, 204 aces, 174 blocks, a hitting percentage of .359 and well-deserved reputation as one of the best allaround players in the program’s history.