Downes, Long selected to All-CAC first team
YORK, Pa. - The Salisbury University volleyball team was the beneficiary of four All-Capital Athletic Conference players after the league office released its 2009 All-CAC volleyball teams on Tuesday. The Sea Gulls had two players honored to the All-CAC first team in senior outside hitter Rachel Downes (Salisbury, Md.) and senior libero Gabby Long (Bel Air, Md.). SU also had two players collect All-CAC second team honors in senior middle hitter Nicole Massarelli (Clarksville, Md.) and freshman middle hitter Chelsea Glowacki (Poolesville, Md.). This is the ninth consecutive year that SU has had at least one player named to the All-CAC first team.
Long is the team's defensive specialist as she leads the team with 633 digs this season. This is the third time Long has made an All-CAC team in her four-year career at Salisbury. The Bel Air, Md., product stands second in the conference in digs and digs per set (5.28), third in service aces (55), and fifth in service aces per set (0.46); she set the program's career record in digs on Oct. 13 against Gallaudet University.
Downes receives her second consecutive All-CAC first team honor after leading the team in kills (313) and kills per game (2.77). She currently ranks sixth in the CAC in both statistical categories. The Salisbury, Md., native has also provided SU with 270 digs, 44 blocks and 34 service aces in 34 matches played. She was named the CAC Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 8.; she was also named to the Battlefield Classic All-Tournament team. The senior now has 1,154 kills in her career at Salisbury.
Massarelli has put together an impressive year as well. The Clarksville, Md., product has racked up 227 kills, 138 blocks and 31 service aces this season. Her 1.14 blocks per game stands second in the CAC and has helped guide the Sea Gulls to an 11th place standing in the nation in blocks per game (2.41). In her four-year career, she has 1,108 kills and 440 blocks. She also stands ninth in the CAC in hitting percentage (.247). Massarelli collected her 1,000th career kill against on Sept. 29 against Marymount (Va.) University. She exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete, as the middle hitter was named to the 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Volleyball First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
In her first year at the collegiate level, Glowacki has started all 34 matches for the Sea Gulls. She leads the CAC and stands 46th in the nation in hitting percentage (.329). The Poolesville, Md., native is second on the team in blocks (96), and fourth on the team in both kills (186) and points (244). Glowacki has notched 13 kills twice this season including one in SU's CAC semifinal match against York (Pa.) College.
Links:
