February 24, 2008

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University volleyball team conducted its second post-season awards banquet in the Don Morris Room on the campus of Marshall University, Feb. 24.

The event was highlighted with an awards ceremony and celebrated the careers of the four departing seniors, Maggie Arias, Kelly-Anne Billingy, Stephanie Cahill, and Uche Ndubisi.

The awards given out Sunday night were the Academic Excellence Award, the Spirit Award, the Amber Sims Workhorse Award and the Overall Achievement Award.

The "Academic Excellence" award went to senior Uche Ndubisi and junior Jalicia Ross. Ndubisi and Ross provided solid defense for the Herd all year, as Ndubisi finished her final year with a 113 total blocks (27 solo, 86 assisted) and added 255 kills, while Ross finished second in the category with 94 blocks (22 solo, 72 assisted) and was named to the All-Conference USA second team.

Freshman Elizabeth Herman took the "Spirit Award." The first-year hitter contributed 10 kills and three assisted blocks to provide a spark off the bench for the Thundering Herd.

The "Amber Sims Workhorse Award" went to sophomore Kristin Marcum. Marcum led the squad with 61 service aces and was third in digs with 309. She also provided 158 kills on the season.

The "Overall Achievement Award" went to Billingy and Cahill. Billingy earned the conference's top honor as C-USA Player of the Year for a record third consecutive year after helping the Herd to its second regular season crown in the last three years.

Billingy, who's 5.06 kills per game placed her 11th in the NCAA, tallied 5.27 per game in conference play en route to earning her third straight All-C-USA first team honor. Billingy led the team in kills for the fourth straight year with 567, and finished her career at Marshall with a school record 2,481 kills. The senior also tallied a .346 hitting percentage and added 221 digs for the Herd during the 2007 season en route to being named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team.

Cahill earned All-Region Honorable Mention honors. The outside hitter tallied 436 kills and registered 343 digs to help lead Marshall to the semifinals of the C-USA Championship and joined Billingy on the All-C-USA first team.

Awards:

Academic Excellence - Uche Ndubisi, Jalicia Ross

Spirit Award - Elizabeth Herman

Amber Sims Workhorse Award - Kristin Marcum

Overall Achievement - Kelly-Anne Billingy, Stephanie Cahill