DAPHNE—Bayside Academy participated in National Signing Day, Feb. 4when senior athletes Colin Douglas (Football) and Julia Martin (Volleyball) both officially committed to college athletic programs. Douglas signed with the University of West Alabama. Martin signed with Mississippi College.

Bayside volleyball head coach Ann Schilling said Martin would be missed.

“We're going to miss her a lot next year. Julia was a key part of our overall success the last few years. Her ball control, her serving and her defensive skills are going to help them out a lot. She is the true testament of a team player. She always worked really hard for every minute and always with a smile on her face. They will probably want her to play libero.”

For her senior season, Martin finished with 484 digs, 59 aces and 42 assists. She was the only senior on the most recent Class 3A state champion Admirals team that brought home state title No. 14 in a row to Bayside.

Head football coach and athletic director Phil Lazenby said Douglas was a major asset to the 2016 team that advanced to the Class 3A state championship game.

“Colin Douglas was a real difference maker for us,” Lazenby said. “His kicking and punting gave an added dimension to our game plan every week. He was one of the main reasons we were as successful as we were this year.”

Douglas was 60-for-60 on extra points, 7-of-13 on field goals (Longest 47 yards) and he kicked 74 percent of his kickoffs into the opponents end zone preventing a runback.

“When you have a kicker who can put it in the end zone that consistently you force the other team to go 80 yards and that's hard to do without a mistake. West Alabama is a high-scoring team so he should get a lot of opportunities to make extra points and field goals and his punting is excellent and still improving.”