FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-61-06-07
Thursday, November 9, 2006

Elizabethtown College Junior Kelly Downs Named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team in Volleyball

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College junior middle hitter Kelly Downs (Airville, PA/Red Lion) has been named to the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-District 2 First Team in volleyball, as selected by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). By landing a spot on the first team, Downs is on the ballot for the ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-America volleyball team, which will be announced by CoSIDA Tuesday, November 28.

This year, Downs led Elizabethtown in kills with 349 and blocks with 137. She had a .320 hitting percentage, 35 service aces, and 64 digs in 33 matches in 2006. Downs was named to the All-Commonwealth Conference First Team for the first time in her career this season. She was also named the conference’s Player of the Week one time and made the all-tournament teams in the Gettysburg College Battlefield Classic, the Elizabethtown College Blue Jay Classic, and the Eastern University Extravaganza over the course of 2006. In 2004 and 2005, she was named to the All-Commonwealth Conference Second Team.

In just three seasons, Downs already ranks fourth all-time at Elizabethtown in career kills with 1,021 and seventh in career blocks with 404. She has a career hitting percentage of .320, along with 100 career service aces and 149 career digs.

The Elizabethtown College volleyball team finished the 2006 season with a 26-7 overall record. The Blue Jays were the runners-up of the Commonwealth Conference this year, and the team posted its best win total since 1995 and its best winning percentage since 1986.

The District 2 College Division in the CoSIDA Academic All-America program consists of all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The members of CoSIDA by districts select the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams, and the 11 first team selections in each district now move on to the national ballot for ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.