Farmersville alumna Bella Holland set the school record for most digs in a season with 507 and was named the District 13-4A utility player of the year in volleyball and the co-offensive player of the year in softball. Photo by David Wolman / C&S Media

By David Wolman

[email protected]

The student-athletes at Farmersville High School provided plenty of highlight-reel moments and solid leadership for the underclassmen on their respective teams during the 2024-25 school year.

All of their contributions helped to lead the Farmers to playoff appearances in baseball, boys basketball, boys soccer, football and volleyball.

The Farmersville Times is proud to introduce the second installment in a three-part series celebrating the top athletic moments, student-athletes, teams and performances from the past year. Categories for the inaugural C&S Media High School sports awards were selected by sports editor David Wolman, with winners published over three weeks.

Part I (July 10) included the Biggest Story, Breakthrough Moment, Newcomer of the Year and Best Team.

Part II (July 17) featured the Best Game, Best Finish, Biggest Upset and Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year.

The series will wrap up this week with Coach of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, Best Female Athlete and Best Male Athlete.

Here are the winners of the final installment of awards:

Coach of the Year: Jon Nordin, Baseball

Inexperience plagued the roster for the Farmersville baseball team, with only three returners having previous varsity experience.

That left Nordin scrambling, not only to fill the six open defensive positions but also get those players without varsity experience prepared for the speed and intensity of that level of high school baseball.

Admittedly, it took a little longer than what Nordin had hoped. Farmersville struggled to a 2-5 record to begin District 13-4A play and was in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2013. In need of a spark, Farmersville rallied behind the three players on the team with the most amount of varsity experience – former right fielder Jahir Vanegas, former pitcher/first baseman Mason Erwin and former shortstop/pitcher Paxon Graves – to right the ship.

Nordin had Farmersville firing on all cylinders during the second half of district play, as the Farmers went 6-2 during their final eight regular season games to advance to the postseason for the 11^th consecutive season. 

In the Farmers’ two-game sweep of Pittsburg in the bi-district round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs, Farmersville received significant contributions from their underclassmen. In Game 2, rising sophomore Sebastian Redwine was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting Farmersville to a 9-8 victory, advancing the Farmers to the second round of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Spring Hill won both games from Farmersville in the area round. 

Most Improved Athlete: Peighton Purser, Volleyball

Purser saw her role change during her sophomore season.

During the previous season, she was counted on to be a key cog in Farmersville’s offense while also providing a defensive presence in the front row. She made an immediate impact in her first season playing for Farmersville, logging 201 kills and 49 blocks. But with the Lady Farmers having lost their top offensive and defensive player, Rendi Fetty, who had 729 kills and 344 digs as a senior, to graduation, Farmersville head coach Arian May tasked Purser with stepping into the role that Fetty held.  

Purser made a seamless transition into her new role. Although she saw a reduction in the number of blocks, from 49 to 14, she more than doubled her kills to 404 and recorded 266 balls during her sophomore season. Her efforts helped lead the Lady Farmers to a 28-16 record and an 11^th consecutive playoff appearance.

Female Athlete of the Year: Bella Holland, Volleyball/Softball

Between playing softball and volleyball, coaching little league volleyball and softball teams, working out and fulfilling her duties as a member of the National Honor Society, Holland doesn’t have much downtime.

Last fall, Holland was the libero for the Farmersville volleyball team. To put herself in the best possible position to succeed on the court, she watched videos of players hitting the ball. It gave her a visual of the different types of hits that she would face.

All of the film sessions paid off as she set the school record for the most digs in a season with 507 and was named the District 13-4A libero of the year. 

Holland was just as valuable to the Lady Farmers’ softball team. Holland, a West Texas A&M signee in softball, was a vocal leader and she backed it up with her play on the field. During her final season donning a Lady Farmers’ uniform, Holland finished with a .434 batting average, 33 hits, 16 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 15 RBI and 29 runs plated. Holland was named the District 13-4A co-offensive player of the year.

Male Athlete of the Year: Tay’shaun Davis, Football/Boys Basketball/Cheerleading

Balancing multiple sports isn’t easy, but Davis, a 2025 graduate of Farmersville High School and a University of Texas Rio Grande Valley signee in football, came up with a solution to maximize his efforts.

“I do a lot of conditioning,” he said. 

All of that conditioning has paid off, especially in football, where he has been a two-way star on the offensive and defensive lines for the Farmers. He provided solid pass and run blocking for a Farmersville offense that averaged more than 400 yards per game, but his best work came on defense, as he was named the District 13-4A defensive lineman of the year for a second consecutive season.

Davis and his Farmersville defensive teammates dominated in a 27-0 win over Canton in the bi-district round of the playoffs for the Farmers’ first playoff win since 2016.

On the hardwood, Davis used his 235-pound frame to dominate in the paint. Named to the All-District 13-4A second team, he averaged 8.8 points per game and pulled down a team-high 194 rebounds on the season, an average of 6.2 rebounds per game.

Davis has also been a member of the Farmersville cheer squad since he was a sophomore.