FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-038-07-08
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Four Elizabethtown Volleyball Players Named All-Conference; Kelly Downs Selected Player of the Year, Randall Kreider Named Coach of the Year

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Four members of the Elizabethtown College volleyball team have been named All-Commonwealth Conference as voted upon by the league's six head coaches and released Wednesday.

Seniors Kelly Downs (Airville, PA/Red Lion) and Ashley Whitmarsh (New Castle, DE/Padua Academy) were first-team selections while senior Stacey Wasserman (Upperco, MD/Owings Mills) and sophomore Paige Tanner (Waynesboro, PA/Waynesboro) were second-team choices.

In addition, Downs was recognized as Player of the Year while Randall Kreider was honored for the second straight season as Coach of the Year after leading the Blue Jays to a 29-6 regular-season record and the top seed in the conference tournament.

Downs, a four-time All-Conference selection and the first Elizabethtown player to earn Player of the Year honors, leads the Commonwealth Conference in kills per game (3.82), blocks per game (1.28) and hitting percentage (.391) and has set a single-season program record with 470 kills. She has reached double figures in kills in 29 of 35 matches this season and hit better than .500 in a total of 11 matches.

She is the program's career leader with 1,491 kills and ranks second with 561 blocks, just 11 shy of tying the program record of 572 blocks set by Nancy (Dunmyer) Brady '91 set from 1987 to 1990.

Whitmarsh, a second-team All-Conference selection in 2004 and 2006, is second on the team with 361 kills and entered the playoffs with 1,292 kills, four shy of second place on the school career list.

This season, Whitmarsh ranks ninth in the Commonwealth Conference in hitting percentage (.227) and is sixth in kills per game (3.14). She has recorded 10 or more kills in 19 matches this season and reached double figures in digs seven times.

Wasserman ranks second in the conference in assists per game (10.51) and service aces per game (0.52) while ranking ninth in digs per game (3.60). She has distributed 50 or more assists seven times this year and posted 20 or more digs six times.

She has dished out 1,251 assists to set a school single-season record, and her 4,441 career assists are also a school record while her 1,400 career digs rank third all-time.

Tanner is 10th in the Commonwealth Conference in kills per game (2.77) and ninth in digs per game (3.57). She has hit double figures in kills 19 times this year and recorded 10 or more digs in 21 of 35 matches.

Kreider, who has a career record of 129-62 in six seasons as head coach, has led the Blue Jays to a winning record in each of the last five years including four straight conference playoff berths. The Blue Jays' 29 wins this season are the most for an Etown team since winning 33 matches in 1988.