BIDDEFORD, Maine – Following Suffolk volleyball's first season in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), two Rams, McKenna Keowen and Kenzley Bell took home All-CCC recognition with the former garnering a spot on the first-team and latter earning a third-team nod, the conference office unveiled Tuesday.
The twosome ties the most honors under Scott Blanchard's guidance and mark the second straight season all-league honors were awarded that Suffolk saw a pair of student-athletes receive a nod following behind Harmony Johnson and Hannah Fabiano who collected All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) status in 2019.
Keowen and Bell were crucial cogs in the Rams wheel throughout their entire first CCC campaign, in which the blue-and-gold went 3-6 against conference counterparts to earn the seventh seed in the 2021 league tournament that kicks off tonight with quarterfinals action.
Keowen, who hails from San Ramon, California, led the league in kills with 342 behind a .209 attack percentage to earn a spot on the first team. She is the first Suffolk student-athlete to pick up first-team nod since Jennifer Harrington did so in 2005 and fifth Ram in the program's history to earn a first-team selection. She produced a team-best 3.49 kills and second-best 2.42 digs per set respectively, to go along with 0.36 aces per set. The freshman hit the double-double mark nine times on the season. She made the most of her collegiate debut with a program-record six weekly honors from the conference, comprised of one player of the week and a record-setting five rookie of the week nods.
Bell, meanwhile, was the backbone to Suffolk's defensive unit. The junior captain from Lake Park, Georgia, total 319 digs to average 3.94 digs per set, both sit sixth in the conference.
Both McKeowen and Bell are first time all-league selections and go into the Rams' record books as the first student-athletes recognized by the CCC with all-conference distinction. When combined with Suffolk's All-GNAC accolades the Rams have now garnered 20-plus all-conference accolades including five first-team selections, four second-team nods and 12 third-team honors.
Keowen and Bell will guide Suffolk into its first CCC post-season tonight as the Rams battle second seed Roger Williams at 7 p.m. in Bristol, Rhode Island.
2021 ALL-CCC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
ALL-CCC FIRST-TEAM
Riley Donahue, Endicott
Amanda Gilbert, Endicott
Colleen McAvoy, Endicott
McKenna Keowen, Suffolk
Valerie Nilan, Gordon
Katherine Pickard, Roger Williams
Libero – Jaime Gaffga, Roger Williams
ALL-CCC SECOND-TEAM
Nicole Karabiach, Salve Regina
Lauren McGrath, Endicott
Tori Melanson, Roger Williams
Annie Murphy, Gordon
Kate Porter, Roger Williams
Riley Waggoner, Wentworth
Libero – Kate Murphy, Salve Regina
ALL-CCC THIRD-TEAM
Jasmine Babbitt, Roger Williams
Lauren Edmiston, Wentworth
Madison Lee, Salve Regina
Katelyn O'Brien, Salve Regina
Sarah Scott, Western New England
Brighton Solheim, Salve Regina
Libero – Kenzley Bell, Suffolk
Player of the Year – Valerie Nilan, Gordon / Katherine Pickard, Roger Williams
Libero of the Year – Jaime Gaffga, Roger Williams
Rookie of the Year – Riley Donahue, Endicott
Coach of the Year – Tim Byram, Endicott
Team Sportsmanship – Curry / Wentworth