Marshall University Athletics
Photo by: Adam Gue
DeBell Named Senior CLASS Award Candidate
10/7/2021 5:08:00 PM | Volleyball
DeBell selected for work on and off the court
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall volleyball graduate student Ciara DeBell was named a Senior CLASS Award candidate, the organization announced on Thursday.
Thirty student-athletes were chosen among all of the seniors across Division I. DeBell is one of three players from Conference USA selected along with Nicole Lennon of Rice and Sydney Rowan of Charlotte.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior or graduate-student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition.
"I am so happy for Ciara on being named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award," Herd head coach Ari Aganus said. "Ciara is a great leader on and off the court and strives for greatness in every aspect of her life. This is such a great honor but comes as no surprise to those of us that are blessed to be around her day in and day out."
DeBell spent her first two years of collegiate action at Florida Gulf Coast, redshirting one year due to a knee injury. She transferred to Marshall before the 2018 season and has been a star for the Herd. The Ocala, Fla., native jumped right in for Marshall and set a single-match career-high with 32 kills on Aug. 28 against Morehead State. It was just her fourth match for the Green & White, and is tied for the seventh-most in a single match in program history.
She finished her first year in Huntington with 437 kills, an average of 4.24 per set and was named Second Team All-Conference USA.
DeBell continued to roll right along when coach Aganus took over in 2019. The outside hitter tallied another 422 kills in 2019, 4.18 per set, and was named First Team All-Conference USA. She was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week three times and was honored as an AVCA All-South Region selection.
Following the 2019 season, DeBell received an invitation to tryout for Team USA.
The senior leader helped keep the team together through the pandemic that pushed the 2020 fall season into the spring of 2021 with a shortened schedule. Despite not getting to practice together in full for quite some time, DeBell still came out firing in the spring of 2021. She tallied her 1,000th career kill on Feb. 14 against Xavier, and recorded her 1,000th of her Marshall career on March 15 at home against Florida Atlantic. She finished the condensed season with 201 kills and helped lead the Herd to the Conference USA Tournament for the second-straight season. DeBell was honored as a C-USA First Team selection and an AVCA All-South Region member again.
DeBell was able to comeback for another go-round with the Herd after being granted the COVID season of 2020-21. She continues to lead the team offensively in 2021 with 231 kills and is also second in digs with 190.
In her collegiate career, DeBell has piled up 1,377 kills, 922 digs and 191 total blocks. In her Marshall career, she has 1,291 kills, 853 digs and 178 total blocks. DeBell has been working her way up the all-time charts ranking fourth all-time in kills, second in kills per set (3.89) as she trails only Hall of Famer Kelly-Anne Billingy, and fifth in total attacks (3,714). DeBell has tallied double-digit kills in 71 of her 88 career matches at Marshall. She has put up 10 or more digs in 35 matches at Marshall and has also accumulated 35 double-doubles in her career. DeBell started the 2021 season with a double-double in the first six matches.
Her calm demeanor has helped her success on the floor as well as allowing her teammates to look to her when the Herd needs a big play. Off the court, DeBell has been a leader whether it was helping to keep the team together during COVID, or out in the community volunteering for many different activities including reading to kids, coaching kids, cleaning up around Huntington or visiting retirement centers. And always with a smile.
DeBell and her teammates are on the road for two contests at Florida Atlantic, Friday and Saturday. First serve of both matches is set for 1 p.m.
The group of Senior CLASS Award candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season. The winner will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!
Thirty student-athletes were chosen among all of the seniors across Division I. DeBell is one of three players from Conference USA selected along with Nicole Lennon of Rice and Sydney Rowan of Charlotte.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior or graduate-student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition.
"I am so happy for Ciara on being named a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award," Herd head coach Ari Aganus said. "Ciara is a great leader on and off the court and strives for greatness in every aspect of her life. This is such a great honor but comes as no surprise to those of us that are blessed to be around her day in and day out."
DeBell spent her first two years of collegiate action at Florida Gulf Coast, redshirting one year due to a knee injury. She transferred to Marshall before the 2018 season and has been a star for the Herd. The Ocala, Fla., native jumped right in for Marshall and set a single-match career-high with 32 kills on Aug. 28 against Morehead State. It was just her fourth match for the Green & White, and is tied for the seventh-most in a single match in program history.
She finished her first year in Huntington with 437 kills, an average of 4.24 per set and was named Second Team All-Conference USA.
DeBell continued to roll right along when coach Aganus took over in 2019. The outside hitter tallied another 422 kills in 2019, 4.18 per set, and was named First Team All-Conference USA. She was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week three times and was honored as an AVCA All-South Region selection.
Following the 2019 season, DeBell received an invitation to tryout for Team USA.
The senior leader helped keep the team together through the pandemic that pushed the 2020 fall season into the spring of 2021 with a shortened schedule. Despite not getting to practice together in full for quite some time, DeBell still came out firing in the spring of 2021. She tallied her 1,000th career kill on Feb. 14 against Xavier, and recorded her 1,000th of her Marshall career on March 15 at home against Florida Atlantic. She finished the condensed season with 201 kills and helped lead the Herd to the Conference USA Tournament for the second-straight season. DeBell was honored as a C-USA First Team selection and an AVCA All-South Region member again.
DeBell was able to comeback for another go-round with the Herd after being granted the COVID season of 2020-21. She continues to lead the team offensively in 2021 with 231 kills and is also second in digs with 190.
In her collegiate career, DeBell has piled up 1,377 kills, 922 digs and 191 total blocks. In her Marshall career, she has 1,291 kills, 853 digs and 178 total blocks. DeBell has been working her way up the all-time charts ranking fourth all-time in kills, second in kills per set (3.89) as she trails only Hall of Famer Kelly-Anne Billingy, and fifth in total attacks (3,714). DeBell has tallied double-digit kills in 71 of her 88 career matches at Marshall. She has put up 10 or more digs in 35 matches at Marshall and has also accumulated 35 double-doubles in her career. DeBell started the 2021 season with a double-double in the first six matches.
Her calm demeanor has helped her success on the floor as well as allowing her teammates to look to her when the Herd needs a big play. Off the court, DeBell has been a leader whether it was helping to keep the team together during COVID, or out in the community volunteering for many different activities including reading to kids, coaching kids, cleaning up around Huntington or visiting retirement centers. And always with a smile.
DeBell and her teammates are on the road for two contests at Florida Atlantic, Friday and Saturday. First serve of both matches is set for 1 p.m.
The group of Senior CLASS Award candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season. The winner will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship in December.
For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.
To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules, and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!
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