FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-059-07-08
Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Kelly Downs Selected College Division Academic All-American of the Year in Volleyball; First Elizabethtown Athlete to Earn Prestigious Honor

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College senior middle hitter Kelly Downs (Airville, PA/Red Lion) has been named the 2007 ESPN The Magazine College Division Academic All-American of the Year in volleyball, as voted upon by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and released Wednesday.

Downs is the first Elizabethtown student-athlete to earn the prestigious Academic All-American of the Year honor, which goes to the highest vote-getter among candidates for the Academic All-America team. She is also the first Blue Jay to be named first-team Academic All-America since Mandi (Ewing) Romig '01 was selected to the women's at-large team in 2001 and the ninth overall.

A second-team Academic All-American in 2006, Downs joins Duane Snavely '85 (men's soccer), Gary Yeager '95 (baseball) and Megan Halladay '04 (women's soccer) as two-time Academic All-America selections.

Downs was an honorable mention All-America selection by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), a member of the AVCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region team and the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year as well as a first-team Academic All-District selection.

She finished the season with a school-record 511 kills and led the conference in kills, hitting percentage (.378) and blocks (181). A four-time All-Conference selection, she finished her career as Elizabethtown's all-time leader with 1,532 kills and 585 blocks.

Downs reached double figures in kills in 31 of 39 matches this season and hit better than .500 in a total of 11 matches as the Blue Jays (32-7 overall) won the first conference championship in program history and qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since 1986.

Off the court, Downs has a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average as an occupational therapy major with a minor in human services. She has been named to the Dean's List every semester, is a Presidential Scholarship recipient and is a member of the Pi Theta Epsilon occupational therapy honor society.

Downs is treasurer of Best Buddies, a student-directed learning community that mentors local residents with intellectual disabilities, and organized a Halloween dance for Special Olympics members. She is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

To be nominated for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program, a student-athlete must be of at least sophomore academic standing with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade-point average and be a starter or significant reserve. College Division classification includes all non-NCAA Division I colleges and universities.

2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team
College Division Volleyball
First Team
Kelly Downs, Sr., Elizabethtown College
Mallory Clements, Sr., Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
Mandy Gerolstein, Sr., University of South Carolina-Aiken
Amanda Morris, Sr., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jori Simmons, Sr., Carthage College
Melissa DeLuca, Sr., Wingate University
Second Team
Amy Anderson, Sr., Bethel University
Carrie Buchanan, Sr., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Emily Bell, Sr., Wittenberg University
Rachel Chizmadia, Sr., Widener University
Katie Becofsky, Sr., SUNY-New Paltz
Becky Rohrbaugh, Sr., Widener University
Stephanie Wilson, Sr., University of Southern Indiana
Third Team
Laura Winkler, Sr., Kalamazoo College
Kristi Fiorillo, Sr., Clarion University
Margeaux Sinibaldi, Sr., University of Tampa
Jessie Hampson, Sr., Capital University
Paula Harry, Sr., Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Academic All-American of the Year: Kelly Downs, Etown