All-metro selections are based on team success and individual performances throughout the 2025 season.
Large schools
Outstanding player
Ava Labat, Slidell
Slidell senior Ava Labat had already put together one impressive volleyball season that ended with a state championship. To do it a second time, the standout setter had to make some adjustments to her game.
First, she no longer had the same experienced outside hitters to whom she could deliver passes, forcing her to find ways to consistently get the ball to dependable middle blocker Ava Barduca, the team leader in kills, whenever she could.
Second, Labat had a coach who challenged her to become a better defender in the back row, creating a defense-first mentality that made the Loyola-New Orleans signee a stronger all-around player.
Completing those tasks over the course of the season gave Labat the results she desired — making her a two-time state champion on the way to also being selected as The Times-Picayune All-Metro Large Schools Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
Averaging more than 13 assists per set, Labat completed the season with 1,595 assists to go along with 281 digs, 60 kills, 72 blocks and 26 aces — an all-around stat line that illustrated her versatility.
What most impressed coach Danny Tullis was the way Labat delivered what he called “trouble balls” to Barduca in the middle.
“Finding ways to get trouble balls to our middles is tough,” said Tullis, who defined “trouble balls” as having to make a play from an uncomfortable spot on the floor.
Defensively, Labat held “more of a leadership role” in the back row, she said, constantly “telling my teammates what’s going to happen” between points so they would know what to expect.
“It was a great season,” Labat said. “People were doubting us in the beginning because we were losing so much. We were low-key the underdog.”
All-metro team
Ava Landry
Chapelle, Sr., libero
811 digs, 95 assists 58 aces
Victoria McCann
Chapelle, Jr., outside hitter
548 kills, 68 blocks
Molly Baker
Dominican, Sr., setter
1,215 assists, 106 kills, 43 aces
Mallie Mahoney
Dominican, Sr., outside hitter
411 kills, 62 aces, 552 digs
Rani Smith
Dominican, Sr., middle blocker
347 kills, 70 blocks
Ava Frerman
Fontainebleau, Sr., outside hitter
535 kills, 460 digs, 53 blocks, 38 aces
Lila Franovich
Mount Carmel, Jr., outside hitter
491 kills, 25 blocks, 112 digs
Mia Lopez
Mount Carmel, Sr., libero
594 digs, 22 aces
Emily Martin
Northshore, Sr., setter
1,028 assists, 458 digs, 214 kills, 77 blocks
Ava Barduca
Slidell, Sr., middle blocker
592 kills, 145 blocks, 30 aces, 130 digs
Ava Labat
Slidell, Sr., setter
1,595 assists, 281 digs, 60 kills, 72 blocks
Lillian Daviss
Academy of Our Lady, Sr., outside hitter
371 kills, 160 digs, 35 aces
Mia Casi
St. Scholastica, Sr., setter
465 assists, 390 digs, 322 kills, 57 blocks
Sophia Schliem
St. Scholastica, Sr., libero
470 digs, 152 assists, 57 aces
Honorable mention
Zhoey Johnson, AOL, So.; Avery Johnson, Ben Franklin, Sr.; Audrey Dubuc, Chapelle, Jr.; Kaelyn Sharp, Covington, Sr.; Aurore Tortorich, Dominican, Jr.; Maci Hollingsworth, Hahnville, Jr.; Brianna Litolff, Kenner Discovery, Jr.; Taylor Litolff, Kenner Discovery, So.; Alyssa Gaudet, Mandeville, Jr.; Ella Kate Spilling, Slidell, Sr.
Coach of the year
Danny Tullis, Slidell
The Tigers won a second consecutive state championship with Tullis at the helm after the coach previously won five state titles while at Pope John Paul II and one at Fontainebleau.
The Tigers were seeded third in the LSHAA Division I state playoffs and defeated No. 10 Chapelle in a semifinal before facing top-seeded Dominican in the state final. The closely contested state final ended with Slidell winning 25-23, 25-23, 27-25 in a sweep.
Tullis, who engineered a quick resurgence over three seasons at Slidell, will coach next season at Mandeville with daughter Ansley as an assistant coach at the school.
Small schools
Outstanding player: Jade Washington, Country Day
Country Day junior Jade Washington proved to be a perfect fit for whatever role she played for her volleyball team. Not only as a key front-row player with more than 400 kills, but also a stalwart back-row defender with more than 400 digs.
The six-rotation standout helped Country Day run its streak of state championships to 10, which factored in her selection as The Times-Picayune All-Metro Small Schools Player of the Year.
Washington earned the player-of-the-year selection after older sister Nia Washington received the same honor as a senior for Country Day in 2021.
Leila Washington, the middle sister among the three, earned a spot on the All-Metro team this season as a senior outside hitter.
“I love playing with my sister,” Jade Washington said. “We’re close in age, so we connect a lot on the court.”
All three sisters are influenced by their volleyball-playing mother, Kim Sentmore, a former O. Perry Walker standout who starred at Tulane in volleyball and track and field.
Country Day coach Julie Ibieta described Jade Washington as “our steady on the court” for how she affected every phase of the game, starting from her frequent role as the primary passer on serve-receives to everything else she can do on offense and defense.
“She led us in defense in a lot of the matches,” Ibieta said, adding that Washington also “carried our offense in terms of the number of swings she took.”
Washington ended the season as the outstanding player selection in the LHSAA Division V state final sweep of Central Catholic. Her 15 kills, two blocks and nine digs helped Country Day win the 19th state title in school history.
All-metro team
Layla Henderson
Country Day, Jr., middle blocker
418 kills, 64 blocks, 92 digs, 22 aces
Leila Washington
Country Day, Sr., outside hitter
238 kills, 38 aces, 305 digs
Jade Washington
Country Day, Jr., outside hitter
410 kills, 38 aces, 435 digs, 39 blocks
Bailey Bevolo
Hannan, Sr., middle blocker
502 kills, 73 blocks
Avery Lewis
Hannan, Sr., libero
585 digs, 81 aces
Josie Pathoumthong
Hannan, Jr., setter
1,237 assists, 383 digs, 110 kills
Ella Feehan
Haynes, Sr., libero
53 aces, 512 digs,
Marilyn Voitier
Haynes, Sr., middle blocker
620 kills, 58 aces, 28 blocks, 271 digs
Ina Smith
John Curtis, Sr., outside hitter
303 kills, 31 aces, 43 blocks, 277 digs
Makayla Morter
John Curtis, Jr., outside hitter
432 kills, 78 aces, 36 blocks, 319 digs
Caroline Beahm
Newman, Sr., outside/middle
428 kills, 73 aces, 44 blocks, 289 digs
LeiLani Reid
Newman, Jr., outside hitter
442 kills, 78 aces, 72 blocks, 312 digs
Khloe Duncan
Northlake Christian, Sr., outside hitter
446 kills, 297 digs, 45 aces, 22 blocks
Elizabeth Alford
Sacred Heart, Jr., middle blocker
323 kills, 62 blocks, 22 aces
Honorable mention
Liza Richards, Christ Episcopal, Sr.; Marleigh White, Country Day, Jr.; Lucille Loomis, Country Day, Fr.; Jesse Lambert, Newman, Sr.; Jailly Vance, Newman, Sr.; Abigail Willie, Northlake Christian, Sr.; Kylee Buford, McGehee, Jr.; Kady Benedic, Pope John Paul II, Sr.; Layla Price, Riverside, Fr.; Ellie Habetz, Sacred Heart, Sr.
Coach of the year
Colleen Loerzel, Newman
Newman won a state title for the sixth time with Loerzel as coach and for the 19th time in school history with a sweep of top-seeded Dunham in the LHSAA Division IV state final.
Newman lost to Dunham twice during the regular season but won with improved play on defense during a 28-26, 25-18, 25-20 victory in the state final.
Loerzel, a former college player at Iowa State and Purdue, began coaching at Newman in 2002. Other state titles with Loerzel as coach came in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2022.







