FAIRMONT — All summer long, Fairmont volleyball player Dajsha Fields and her teammates worked hard to improve themselves, with Fields preparing for her senior season.

The hard work paid off.

Fields has been selected as Robeson County’s Volleyball Player of the Year by The Robesonian, capping a season in which she led the Golden Tornadoes to the state playoffs.

“I’ve only played for three years, I didn’t play my freshman year,” Fields said. “So I’ve had to work extra hard and had to put extra time in the gym and really had to prove myself. I made varsity my sophomore year but didn’t really get any playing time, and then my junior year I was sort of the second player, and then my senior year I just wanted to give it my all, give what I can give.”

In 21 games this season, Field had 346 kills — by far the most in Robeson County — with 52 blocks, 146 digs and 27 aces.

Her breakout season stems from that hard work in the offseason.

“The entire summer, it was me and basically the whole team, we just went in the gym; we were there every morning and every afternoon,” Fields said. “We knew it was our senior year, the seven seniors that we have, and we knew we wanted to get as far as we could this season, because it was our senior season, and that just motivated us to do better.”

“If you saw Dajsha from as a junior to right now, you’d have seen a massive improvement in her, because she really just came into her own,” Fairmont coach Michael Baker said. “If you want a testament of work makes a difference, Dajsha is a prime example of that, because she worked on what she needed to do. I told her that she needed to jump higher, she needed to get her hands up higher, and she worked on all that. She’s probably about the most dominant player in the conference.”

Fields helped lead Fairmont to its first playoff appearance since 2017; the Golden Tornadoes finished third in the Southeastern Athletic Conference with an 8-4 record.

Baker named county’s Coach of the Year

After coaching Fairmont back to the volleyball state playoffs, Michael Baker is Robeson County’s Coach of the Year.

The longtime Golden Tornadoes’ coach, who has also coached basketball in the past and is the school’s athletic director, helped guide Fairmont’s improvement all the way to the postseason.

“It was my players,” Baker said. “I knew with the RPI ranking that we had to play a tough schedule if we wanted to make the playoffs. The girls worked really hard, and we beat everybody we were supposed to beat and didn’t get upset by anybody.”

Fairmont also finished third in the conference standings last year, but didn’t make the playoff field, which was smaller in the pandemic-affected season. This year’s team, however, showed marked improvement, not only making the postseason but doing so with a stronger unit.

“He’s not a hard coach, but he tells you what you need to know,” Fields said. “Nothing he ever tells you is wrong. When we’re in practice, what he’s telling us, it really helps us, not only on the volleyball court but off the volleyball court as well. He played basketball, he’s been coaching for a long time, so he’s got a different type of experience. And I think that’s why he’s a good coach.”

All-County Team

Listed below are members of The Robesonian’s All-County team, which is selected by The Robesonian’s sports staff with input from coaches.

* — indicates a previous All-County selection

Fairmont

Alexis Hinson* — A terrific complement to Fields’ Player of the Year season, the senior had 389 assists and 54 digs as the Golden Tornadoes’ setter.

Santana Anderson — The athletic senior led Fairmont’s defensive efforts, with 226 kills on the season.

St. Pauls

Halie Allen — A hard-hitting attacker, the senior had 114 kills, 23 aces and 59 digs for the Bulldogs.

Katherin Lowery — Playing like sister Savanna, the 2020 county Player of the Year, the younger Lowery had 177 assists, 97 digs, 32 aces and 66 kills in a solid all-around sophomore season.

Alexis Carter — Carter had 125 digs as a back-row player for the Bulldogs in her sophomore campaign.

Lumberton

Tyler Coker — The senior libero had a solid season anchoring the Pirates’ back line and serving as a team leader.

Peyton Brooks — Brooks was also a senior leader, and a key hitter at the net for the Pirates.

Alona Hanna — The sophomore hitter showed some power at the net that opponents will continue to take notice of the next two years.

Purnell Swett

Chloe Locklear — An all-around player, the senior led the Rams with 115 assists, 75 kills and 25 aces.

Bella Finelli — The junior led Robeson County with 364 digs, along with 31 aces.

Red Springs

Amyah Farrington* — The senior middle hitter had 21 kills and 21 blocks for the Red Devils.

Honorable Mentions

Honorable mention selections include: St. Pauls’ Cierra Jones and Jaiden Morrisey; Purnell Swett’s Farron Chavis and Georgia Locklear; and Red Springs’ Akiya McMillan.