The Gatorade Player of The Year Award recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court. Since the program's inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners, and educators. For the fourth year in a row, the Jackson Academy Lady Raider volleyball program boasts the top player in the state. Senior Lakin Laurendine was named the 2022-2023 Gatorade Mississippi Volleyball Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

This is the ninth time in the last 10 years a Jackson Academy athlete has received a Gatorade Mississippi Player of The Year distinction. In volleyball alone, Lady Raiders have received the coveted Gatorade State Award for volleyball five times.

This season, the JA volleyball team and fans enjoyed another spectacular season, culminating in yet another MAIS Overall Volleyball Championship. That marks the eighth state title since volleyball began at Jackson Academy in the 2011-12 school year and in the last two years of championships the Lady Raiders amassed a record of 78-13.

Lakin finished the year with 623 kills, 97 aces, 526 digs, 35 blocks, and a 2.34 passing average. She has been recognized by prepvolleyball.com as a 1st Team AllAmerican, volleyballmag.com as the Best Player in the State, AVCA as a 1st Team All-American, Maxpreps as a 1st Team All-American, Maxpreps as Best Player in Mississippi, and All Time Kills Leader for Mississippi. She was All-MAIS, MAIS Player of the Year, and was chosen for the MAIS All-Stars. JA recognized her as the varsity kill leader, varsity ace leader, and Most Valuable Player at the team's end-of-year banquet. Lakin finished her high school career with over 2,000 career kills and 2,000 career digs. She also participated in USA High Performance A-1 camps. She is the Scorebook Live National Player of the Year and AVCA All-American. She was also named Stadium Talk and MaxPreps Player of the year in Mississippi. She has also been a part of the yearly Under Armour All American camps. She will be continuing her academic and athletic career in volleyball with Auburn University in the fall.