Four MCLA Volleyball Players Earn CSC Academic All-District Honors

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.— Senior libero Ezmeralda Albright (Love's Park, IL), senior right-side Chloie Garber (Eagle River, AK), and junior outside hitters Elizabeth Brown (Lee, MA) and Audrey Melson (Champlin, MN) have earned All-District recognition by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American program.

This is a first-time honor for Albright and the second time Garber, Brown, and Melson have earned a CSC Academic All-American program designation, a rare and prestigious honor. They join six Men's Soccer, six Women's Soccer team members announced last week, and nine athletes from the 2023-24 school year. Prior to last season, no MCLA athlete had been honored by CSC since 2019, when softball outfielder Kaitlyn Berghela was named to the Academic All-American Division III third team.

A member of the All-MASCAC Second team, Garber became the first player in MCLA history to amass 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs and finished strong, leading the MASCAC in service aces (64) and aces per set (.067), finishing 2nd in total kills (258), 4th in kills per set (2.69) and 7th in total digs (304). She appeared in 27 of the Trailblazers' 28 matches, starting 21. Garber is a four-year volleyball team member who will graduate with a double degree in Health Sciences and Psychology this May.

With the graduations of Ellie Walter-Goodspeed and Julia Conturso following last season, coach Amanda Beckwith turned to Albright to move from her accustomed outside hitter position to libero for the 2024 season. Albright responded by being named the MASCAC defensive player of the year, earning her first All-MASCAC designation, being named to the First Team. She started all 28 of the Trailblazers' matches and will graduate with a double degree in Health Sciences and Psychology at the end of the academic year.

Brown earned her first All-MASCAC First Team selection this year, finishing 2nd in the league in kills per set (2.71) and 3rd in total kills (257). The junior outside hitter also finished in the top ten in digs per set (10th) and total digs (9th). The highlight of her season was her 28-kill performance at Salem State on October 26^th. It is the second-highest total in a single game for the Trailblazers, trailing only Allison Clark's 32-kill showing at William Patterson on October 1, 2016. Brown appeared in 26 of MCLA's 28 games, starting 19 of them. She is a three-year member of the volleyball program and is majoring in Biology.

Melson transferred to MCLA ahead of last season after playing one year at Ellsworth Community College. Consistently the first player off the bench for the Trailblazers, she was third on the team with 186 kills, trailing only Garber (259) and Brown (257). Melson ranked among the top 25 in the MASCAC in kills (11^th), kills per set (1.94, 13^th), points (198.5, 15^th), points per set (2.1, 19^th), and solo blocks (6, 23^rd). She played in all 28 of the MCLA's matches, starting four. The second-year outside hitter is majoring in Health Sciences.

Per the College Sports Communicators (previously known as COSIDA) website, the Academic All-American is a title reserved for college student-athletes who perform at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom. The all-time list of 40,000+ Academic All-Americans includes major sports stars and some of the world's most accomplished individuals in medicine, business, science, and the arts. Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators, Academic All-America is the longest-running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges, and Canadian institutions. Teams are announced year-round and amplified by CSC member colleges, universities, and conferences on a wide local, regional, national, and even international scope.

To be eligible for consideration, student-athletes must demonstrate the best traits of a student-athlete, both on and off the playing field. Among the requirements are:

• Outstanding student-athletes are nominated for Academic All-District® recognition by communications directors and must have a minimum 3.50 GPA and meet high athletic standards. (25,000+ nominations annually)
• A select group of student-athletes advances to the national ballot, where CSC members vote on Academic All-America teams. (approximately 2,000 selections annually)
• A Team Member of the Year is selected in each sport and division. (66 recipients)
• An overall Academic All-America of the Year is selected as the top student-athlete across all sports in each NCAA and NAIA division. (4 recipients)

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