Cusack Named Alligator Sports Top-10 Athlete of 2008-09
Friday, July 3, 2009 | Volleyball
Over the next five issues of the Alligator, the newspaper lists two athletes per edition in revealing its top-10 Florida athletes of the 2008- 09 season.
"For her spectacular saves and an all-around game crucial to the Gators' success, Elyse Cusack is the alligatorSports No. 10 UF Athlete of 2008- 09," wrote staff writer Phil Kegler.
Cusack, who in 2007 became Florida's first All-America selection at the defensive specialist/libero position, was named an AVCA honorable mention All-America selection for the second consecutive season in 2008. Cusack, who broke Florida's nearly 21-year-old career digs record earlier this year, currently has 1,634 career digs and is the only player in school history to have eclipsed the 1,500 and 1,600-dig marks.
Cusack, 5-foot-9, ranks seventh on the Southeastern Conference's all-time career digs list and holds three spots among the Gators' top-four single- season digs totals. She was a four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week selection during the 2008 campaign, marking the first time in league history that a student-athlete has won the award four times during a single season. Cusack has been a SEC Defensive Player of the Week nine times in her career.
Cusack led the team and was second in the SEC in digs per set with 4.59. She tallied double-figure digs in 27 of the team's 31 matches this past season and 87 of 92 matches during her Florida career. She has eclipsed the 20-dig plateau on 10 occasions in 2008, including a season-high 38 digs at Georgia on Oct. 26.
Cusack also was second in the SEC in service aces per set with 0.41, making her the only player to rank in the league's top five in both digs and service aces.
In league matches only, Cusack averaged a squad-best 4.91 digs per set, notching double-figure digs in 19-of-20 league contests. Cusack also led the team in service aces with 0.32 per set in conference matches. She played in each of the team's 74 sets during conference play and charted nine matches during league play with a perfect 1.000 reception percentage.
The University of Florida is home to the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regional. Tickets for the event go on sale July 6. For all of the latest information on Gator Volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com.
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