Lady Flyers Lawrence and Jackson Earn All-American Honors

Sandhills Community College volleyball players Keke Lawrence and L'Asia Jackson have earned All-American recognition for their performances during a 2022 season that helped their team win Region 10 regular-season and tournament titles, as well as a trip to the national tournament in Rochester, MN.

Lawrence, a middle hitter, is an NJCAA Division III first team selection and the second two-time Lady Flyer All-American. The 5-foot-11 Lumberton High School alum, and daughter of Vicki and Bruce Lawrence, earned second team honors as a freshman.

Jackson, a libero, is one of 12 players named to the VolleyballMag.com NJCAA Division III honor squad by a panel of coaches and experts. The 5-2 Pinecrest High School graduate is the daughter of Melinda Jackson and Patrick Ratliff.

"This is really exciting for our program and our region," Lady Flyers' Coach Alicia Riggan said. "Keke dominated with her blocking and hitting, and was just a force. Asia was smooth on the court, a great teammate and rarely got rattled."

Also a two-time Region 10 Player of the Year, opponents concentrated more on Lawrence, following her All-American freshman season, but she still managed to finish third in the nation in solo blocks and seventh in total blocks. Twice during postseason play, she matched her college career-high of 18 kills, finishing the season with a total of 336.

In a Mid-Atlantic District match against 2022 national runner-up Owens CC, Lawrence was credited with a match-high six solo blocks along with seven kills and eight digs.

Jackson was an All-Region 10 selection in each of her two seasons. She received NJCAA Division III Player of the Week recognition in October while helping her team sweep three conference matches.

She was fourth in Division III in digs with 655, while more than doubling her digs per/set from her freshman season. She was also fourth in the nation in service receptions with 770 and second on the team with 67 service aces.

Lawrence plans to continue her college volleyball career at NCAA Division II Elizabeth City State University after playing beach volleyball for the Lady Flyers in the spring. Jackson will graduate from Sandhills this month and play volleyball next year at another CIAA conference school, Shaw University in Raleigh.

Carley Modlin was the other two-time Lady Flyer All-American. Also a middle hitter, she was a Division II second team selection in the Covid impacted 2020-21 season and an honorable mention pick in 2019.

Miranda Love Thomas, who was inducted into the Sandhills Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013, was the first Lady Flyer volleyball All-American in 2010. Next was middle hitter Paige Garner in 2017, the only other Lady Flyer to be named to the first team. Setter Abby Wallace was an honorable mention selection in 2018.

C. Bergmann