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Women’s Volleyball Nets Four All-NEAC Picks
November 5, 2012
Juniors Taylor Smith (left) and Paige Golden (right) were each named to the All-NEAC women's volleyball teams. Golden earned first-team All-NEAC while Smith earned second-team All-NEAC.
The Keuka College women’s volleyball team won the most matches in a season in school history en route to an appearance in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship.
The Storm (24-8, 9-2 NEAC) earned the No. 2 seed for the postseason tournament, and the Green and Gold placed four student-athletes on the year-ending All-NEAC squads, the conference announced.
Junior Paige Golden (Kent, NY/Albion) garnered first-team All-NEAC for the second straight season after setting the school record for total attacks in a season, and compiling the third-most kills in a season.
Fellow junior Taylor Smith (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) earned second-team All-NEAC, the first all-conference selection of her volleyball career, after breaking the school record for digs in a season.
Sophomore Devan Curtis (San Clemente, CA/San Clemente) earned her second straight third-team All-NEAC honors while freshman Morgan Eberley (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) was also named third-team All-NEAC.
Golden recorded 372 kills and added 468 digs to power Keuka to its first NEAC championship appearance since 2006.
She finished fourth in the NEAC in both kills and digs, and was third in kills per set (3.32) and fifth in digs per set (4.18). Those numbers improved against NEAC foes, as Golden averaged 4.64 digs and 3.78 kills per set.
Golden finished with double-digit kills in 21 of 32 matches, and also added 36 service aces and 37 blocks as an all-around threat at outside hitter.
Golden led the Storm in kills and was second in digs, and she recorded 20 double-doubles, including seven straight matches from Oct. 12 through the 21st.
Among her season highlights, Golden recorded a season-most 27 kills during a four-set win over D’Youville College on Sept. 14, one of nine matches where Golden had 10-plus kills on a hitting percentage of .200 or better.
One of her best hitting percentage games came during a three-set sweep of Lancaster Bible College on Sept. 23. Golden had 18 kills and only three errors in 43 attempts, good for a .349 hitting percentage.
Facing rival Ithaca College on Sept. 27, Golden recorded 22 kills with 28 digs during a come-from-behind non-conference win over the Bombers, the first 20-20 game of the season for Golden.
She posted double-digit dig totals in 28 of Keuka’s 32 matches, including 13 straight from Oct. 6 through the 24th.
Smith led the Storm in digs with 534, the highest single-season total in school history, smashing Jodi Pagett’s previous mark of 512, set in 1998.
Smith ranked second in the conference in digs and fourth in digs per set (4.77). She added 74 assists, 21 service aces and 2 kills for Keuka.
The libero/defensive specialist posted double-digit dig totals in 27 of Keuka’s 32 matches, including a career-best 36 digs during the five-set NEAC semifinal win over Penn State- Berks.
Three times this year, Smith eclipsed 30 digs in a match, including 32 during a four-set loss to SUNY Fredonia on Sept. 14, and 30 digs during a four-set loss to SUNYIT on Oct. 7.
Smith compiled 10 matches with 20-plus digs and went on a tear from Sept. 11 through the 27th, averaging 20 digs per match as the Storm went 7-2. An excellent digger and distributor, Smith had only 22 receive errors all season long.
Curtis compiled 222 kills with 258 digs and a team-leading 65 service aces for the Storm.
Five times, Curtis posted double-digit kill totals, including 13 kills during the NEAC semifinal win over Berks. Curtis also reached double-figures in digs six times, including the first double-double of her career, a 16 dig, 11 kill effort during a four-set loss to Hartwick on Oct. 13.
Curtis averaged 2.32 digs and 2.00 kills per set and was Keuka’s third-best attacker with a .183 hitting percentage.
During a four-set loss to Pitt-Bradford on Sept. 11, Golden recorded season-best 15 kills with no errors in 39 attempts for a .385 percentage, one of 12 matches where Curtis had 7-plus kills and a .200 hitting percentage or better.
Eberley compiled 164 kills with 61 digs and 49 blocks in her first season of collegiate volleyball.
Eberley averaged 1.59 kills per set, and upped her effort against NEAC competition, averaging 1.74 kills per set in the Storm’s 11 NEAC clashes as Keuka finished the regular season 23-7 overall and 9-2 in the NEAC.
Eberley was Keuka’s leader in blocks with 49, and she recorded two or more blocks in 14 of Keuka’s matches, including a pair of four-block games vs. Cazenovia (Oct. 7) and Utica College (Oct. 12).
She had a career-high 12 kills with only three errors on 28 attempts (.321 percentage) during the NEAC semifinals against Berks, and added 11 kills with two errors on 28 attempts (.321 percentage) during a four-set loss to SUNYIT on Oct. 7.
Eberley finished as the Storm’s leader in hitting percentage (.203), and managed a .218 percentage vs. NEAC opponents.
To view the entire All-NEAC women’s volleyball team, click here.
