Benton’s Davidson captures recent Times Athlete of the Week 5 poll

Benton’s Layla Davidson garnered enough votes recently to win the seventh annual Shreveport Times online poll for Athlete of the Week, sponsored by Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, the Shreveport-Bossier Sports Commission and Silmon and Cosse Orthodontics.A standout volleyball player for the Lady Tigers, Davidson made a strong run in winning the non-football poll for the 2024-25 school year. She joins past winners that include Benton’s Sam Ivins and Brody Hutchison, along with Caddo Magnet’s Elena Pizarro and Calvary’s Jackson Burney.Davidson received 41,540 votes (47.7%) of the 92,854 votes cast in the online poll to top second place Averie Brown, a Northwood cheerleader, who made a strong run with 30,437 votes (35%).Davidson will receive a backpack, a boxed lunch combo and some additional swag courtesy of Raising Cane’s and Cosse and Silmon.She has 132 kills, 38 aces (88%) and 71 blocks this season.MANY VB: Many’s Gunter captures recent Times Athlete of the Week 2 pollNORTH DESOTO: North DeSoto's Hayden Bell is a Shreveport Times Athlete of the Week.“Over the past year, Layla has shown incredible growth, not only as a middle blocker but as a teammate and leader,” said Benton coach Barbara Curry. “Her ability to be coachable is one of her greatest strengths she is able to adjust week-to-week based on our opponent. With a 3.9 GPA she demonstrates the same commitment to excellence in the classroom that she brings to the court. At 6-foot tall, she has a strong presence at the net, but it is her character, willingness, and commitment to her teammates that truly makes her special.”Davidson was chosen because of her performance the previous week or because her name was submitted by her coach. The Times poll is posted each week at shreveporttimes.com with a new slate of student-athletes in high school sports other than football.Also on the Week 5 Non-Football poll were Ava Dickey, Haughton volleyball; Ashton Pouncy, Captain Shreve volleyball; Kenzie Waggoner, Parkway volleyball; Tyler Bartels, Airline cross country; Thomas Coburn, Byrd cross country; Zoe Brown, Caddo Magnet cross country; Abagail Burt, Loyola cheer; Chariti Kirkendoll, Southwood cheer; Alison Key, NCHS volleyball and Tristan Casas, Bossier cross country.The Times online only poll runs through Friday evening. The poll includes northwest Louisiana athletes competing in volleyball, cross country, swimming, cheerleading, basketball, soccer, wrestling, powerlifting, indoor and outdoor track, baseball, softball, golf, tennis, bowling, gymnastics and fishing while those sports are in season.Jimmy Watson covers Louisiana sports for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jwatson@shreveporttimes.com and follow him on Twitter @JimmyWatson6.PREVIOUS WINNERSWeek 5: Layla Davidson, Benton volleyballWeek 4: N/AWeek 3: Ava Puckett, Ruston cheerWeek 2: Rylee Gunter, Many volleyballWeek 1: Sam Irvins, Benton cross countryThis article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Benton’s Davidson captures recent Times Athlete of the Week 5 poll