BEVERLY, Mass. – The winningest team in Suffolk volleyball's history had three players recognized as All-Conference of New England honorees, the league office unveiled Wednesday afternoon. McKenna Keowen and Sami Shore were named to the first team and Morgan Kelsey grabbed a second team spot.
The trio was main ingredients to Suffolk's winningest season in program history in which the Rams went 23-7 overall and locked up hosting rights in the First Round of the CNE Tournament as the fourth seed with a 5-4 league ledger.
Keowen made history of her own as she took home her fourth all-conference accolade, third first-team honor, of her career. The San Ramon, California native is the only Ram in program history to earn all-conference status in all four seasons of her collegiate career. The award comes on the senior's season in which she paced the squad's 11.58 kills per set (kps) attack with 3.32 kps of her own. She was the biggest threat at the service line as well with 0.63 aces per set. Defensively, she was second on the squad with 3.35 digs per set (dps). The two-way player produced 14 double-doubles throughout the 30-match campaign to wrap up her career with 30.
The 5-foot-8 outside hitter cemented herself in blue-and-gold history throughout the season. She became the first Ram to produce 1,000 careers, achieving the feat in a 3-1 win at Southern Maine Sept. 19, 2024 and concluded her career with 1,234 kills. She also reached the 1,000-dig milestone, the fifth Ram to do so behind co-captain and fellow all-league honoree Kelsey, who joined the 1K dig club this season as well. The twosome of Keowen and Kelsey both served 200 career aces this year as well, just the second and third Suffolk student-athletes to achieve the feat.
Shore, a middle blocker from Wrentham, Massachusetts, had a standout sophomore season en route to her first first-team nod and second straight all-league distinction. The middle blocker from Wrentham, Massachusetts supplied 2.43 kps, good for second on the team, behind the best attack percent of the conference at a .395 hitting clip. More impressively, she was a force at the net with a team-best 0.71 blocks per set (bps), the eighth most among her conference counterparts. She became the 10th student-athlete in Suffolk volleyball's record books to pick up multiple all-conference awards in their careers, a group that also includes Keowen. It is the first time in Suffolk volleyball's history that two student-athlete garnered first-team accolades in the same season.
Kelsey was the backbone of Suffolk's defensive unit that limited foes to 9.59 kps. The senior from Parker, Colorado totaled 434 digs to average a team-best 4.13 dps, which landed third in the league. Throughout her career, Kelsey was feared at the service line and it showed with 0.53 aces per set this season. Earlier this year, she etched her name in the Rams record book as the program's all-time aces leader when she put away the 232nd ace of her career in a sweep of Salem State Sept. 10, 2024. She went on to serve 50 more to bring her career total to 282. She also had the chance to rewrite another Rams' record, but fell 15 digs shy of the all-time digs mark held of 1,250 held by Colbey Kennedy, who played for Suffolk from 2010-13. The distinction is the first of Kelsey's career. She is the first Rams' libero to be recognized by the league since Kenzley Bell collected was the first major award winner in Suffolk's history with the league's Libero of the Year recognition along with a first-team nod.
Last night the league announced that Chloe Clement was the inaugural Elite 20 honoree, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA) participating in the CNE Tournament in each sport. Clement, a junior studying biology, boasts a 3.98 cumulative GPA.
In addition, the conference handed out the CNE Community Service Team award, presented to a student-athlete on each squad that demonstrates a commitment to their community. Suffolk's representative is senior Sophie Palmer.
In four seasons in the CNE (formerly CCC), Suffolk has accumulated 15 awards from the conference: one Elite 20 recipient, one libero of the year, five first-team, four second-team and four third-team honors. When combined with Suffolk's All-GNAC accolades, the Rams have garnered 35 all-conference accolades including one Elite 20 honoree, one libero of the year, nine first-team selections, eight second-team nods and 16 third-team honors. Under Scott Blanchard's guidance, Suffolk has racked up 18 all-conference awards, including the program's only major accolade, 2022 CCC Libero of the Year, Bell.
2024 CNE Women's Volleyball Postseason Awards
Player of the Year - Hadley Helenbrook, Endicott
Libero of the Year - Emma Ruel, Endicott
Rookie of the Year - Hannah Maguire, Endicott
Scholar Athlete of the Year - Annie Murphy, Gordon
Co-Coach of the Year - Tim Byram, Endicott / Danielle Davis, Roger Williams
All-CNE First-Team
Hadley Helenbrook, Endicott
McKenna Keowen, Suffolk
Annie Murphy, Gordon
Emma Sanders, Wentworth
Alissa Hawes, WNE
Sami Shore, Suffolk
Libero - Emma Ruel, Endicott
All-CNE Second-Team
Hannah Maguire, Endicott
Kate McLane, Wentworth
Brianna Picchietti, Roger Williams
Ellijah Hanley, UNE
Angela West, Roger Williams
Ava Grace Dresback, Endicott
Libero - Morgan Kelsey, Suffolk
Libero - Marianna Hernandez, Roger Williams
All-CNE Third-Team
Stephanie Moreau, Endicott
Taylor Geist, WNE
Taylor Joyner, Roger Williams
Olivia Vaughn, Wentworth
Yemayma Molina, WNE
Payton Felix, Roger Williams
Megan Murphy, Endicott
Libero - Becca Mayer, WNE
Community Service Team
Jenna Cotter, Curry
Megan Murphy, Endicott
Hansen Evey, Gordon
Kalle Legassey, Hartford
Ruby St. Onge, Nichols
Kaylee Jackson, Roger Williams
Sophie Palmer, Suffolk
Taressa Szewczyk, UNE
Brenda Soares, Wentworth
Taylor Geist, WNE