Volleyball's Cusack, Murphy Named All-South Region
Thursday, December 10, 2009 | Volleyball
Florida's Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) and Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) each have been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-South Region team, the Lexington, Ky.-based organization announced Wednesday afternoon.
Cusack, Florida's all-time career digs leader, is named to the All-South Region team for the third time in her career, thanks to a stellar senior career that puts Cusack just four digs shy of becoming the Southeastern Conference's all-time career digs leader heading into Friday's match. Cusack has 2,123 career digs and needs just four more to surpass former Arkansas standout Ashley Miller (2,126) for the all-time record.
Cusack, a 2009 second-team All-SEC selection, has recorded double-figure digs in 27 of the team's 30 matches so far this season and ranks second in the SEC with 4.66 digs per set on the year. She is a four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week selection in 2009 and has eclipsed the 20-dig plateau on eight occasions this season. Cusack also leads Florida's team with a .974 reception percentage in 647 reception attempts.
Murphy ranks second in the nation in triple-doubles in 2009 with nine (15 career) and also was a first-team All-SEC selection. She is named to the All-South Region team for the second consecutive campaign after being the South Region Freshman of the Year in 2008.
Murphy is Florida's assists leader, averaging 6.99 dishes per set, which ranks seventh in the SEC. She also is tied for second in the league in hitting percentage with a .351 clip. Murphy has hit better than .300 in 13 of her last 15 matches and has charted 16 double-doubles on the year. She is one of only two sophomores on the 2009 AVCA All-South Region Team.
Cusack, Murphy and the Gators return to action on Friday when 14th-ranked Florida plays host to No. 1 Penn State in the NCAA Regional Semifinals. Opening serve is slated for 6 p.m. ET and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and on WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
NCAA Gainesville Regional tickets are now on sale. Reserved first-level all-session passes are $15. General admission all-session passes for the upper level of the O'Connell Center are available for $12 for adults and $8 for youth and senior citizens. Fans can purchase tickets by phone at (800) 34-GATOR, ext. 6800 or online at GatorZone.com/tickets. Only all-session passes will be available at that time. Single-session tickets will be available only on the day of the event.
2009 AVCA ALL-SOUTH REGION TEAM
- Brittnee Cooper (LSU), Sr., MB
- Elyse Cusack (Florida) Sr., L
- Nikki Fowler (Tennessee), Jr., RS
- Chloe Goldman (Tennessee), Sr., L
- Alex Kelly (Lipscomb), Jr., MB
- Sarah Mendoza (Kentucky), Jr., OH
- Kelly Murphy (Florida), So., RS/S
- Stacy Oladinni (Middle Tennessee State), So., RS
- Stefine Pease (Lipscomb), Jr., S
- Yarimar Rosa (FIU), Sr., OH
- Sarah Rumely (Kentucky), Sr., S
- Marina Skender (LSU), Sr., OH
- BriAnne Sauer (Kentucky), Sr., L
- Natalia Valentin (FIU), Jr., S
Region Freshman of the Year: Jasmine Norton, Arkansas
Honorable Mention Selections: Jovana Bjelica (FIU), Sam Dabbs (LSU), Emmy Davidsmeyer (Denver), Cole Dawley (Charleston), Jasmine Norton (Arkansas), Lauren Rapp (Kentucky).
END OF REPORT
