FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-52-06-07
Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Elizabethtown College Juniors Kelly Downs and Ashley Whitmarsh Named to All-Commonwealth Conference Teams in Volleyball; Etown Head Coach Randall Kreider Named Conference Coach of the Year

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Two members of the Elizabethtown College volleyball team have been named to the All-Commonwealth Conference teams for the 2006 season, with junior middle hitter Kelly Downs (Airville, PA/Red Lion) making the First Team and junior outside hitter Ashley Whitmarsh (New Castle, DE/Padua Academy) making the Second Team. Also, Elizabethtown head coach Randall Kreider has been named the 2006 Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year.

Downs has earned a spot on the all-conference teams for the third time in her career, and this year marks her first time on the first team. Over the course of the 2006 season, she has been named the conference’s Player of the Week one time, and she has been named to the all-tournament teams in the Gettysburg College Battlefield Classic, the Elizabethtown Blue Jay Classic, and the Eastern University Extravaganza.

Downs currently leads the entire conference in blocks per game (1.21), and she ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage (.337) and tenth in the Commonwealth in kills per game (3.03). This season, she has 339 kills, four assists, 33 service aces, 59 digs and 135 blocks in 31 matches. Her 339 kills thus far in 2006 marks the seventh-highest single season total in Etown history. In her career, she has 1,011 kills to rank fourth all-time at Elizabethtown and 402 blocks to rank eighth all-time at Elizabethtown.

Whitmarsh has earned a place on the all-conference teams for the second time in her career, having also been named to the second team in 2004. She was also named the Commonwealth Conference Co-Rookie of the Year in 2004.

Whitmarsh currently ranks third on the team in kills with 274 and is in a tie for second on the team in digs with 302. In 31 matches, she has also compiled 31 assists, 29 service aces and 33 blocks. Her 914 career kills over three seasons rank her sixth all-time at Elizabethtown. She also has 598 digs, 104 service aces and 97 blocks in her career at Elizabethtown.

Kreider, now in his fifth year as Elizabethtown’s head coach, has been voted the conference’s Coach of the Year for the first time. In 2006, he has guided Elizabethtown to the conference playoffs for the third season in a row, the first time the Blue Jay volleyball program has accomplished that feat since the 1990-92 season. The Blue Jays are currently 25-6 overall, the team’s highest win total since 1995. The team’s current winning percentage of .806 is the program’s highest since 1986. Currently, Kreider has a career win-loss record of 99-55, and a win in tonight’s conference playoff match would give him 100 career wins.

The Elizabethtown College volleyball team returns to action at home tonight in the Commonwealth Conference playoff semifinals against Moravian College at 7:00 p.m.