Debell Named Senior CLASS Award Candidate

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall volleyball redshirt senior Ciara Debell was recognized Tuesday as one of 30 of the top NCAA volleyball student-athletes for her accomplishments on and off the court, as a candidate for the Senior CLASS Award. Debell has been a leader for the Herd since she first came to Huntington.

CLASS is an acronym for "Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School." For a player to eligible for the award they must be classified as a NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

The Senior CLASS Award is focused on the complete student-athlete and encourages students to use the platform they have as athletes to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. Debell is one of three players from Conference USA named to the list along with Nadia Dieudonne of WKU and Nicole Lennon of Rice.

"I am so proud of Ciara and the way that she represents Marshall University and Marshall Volleyball day in and day out," Herd head coach Ari Aganus said. "Being selected to this group of outstanding student athletes is a huge achievement, but comes as no surprise if you have the honor of knowing Ciara DeBell. Ciara encompasses what it means to put the 'We over Me,' while staying true to who she is, and continually building up those around her. We are lucky to have her on our team, but more importantly to know her, her character, and all that she stands for."

Debell has persevered through her career. She initially played for Florida Gulf Coast and suffered a knee injury that shortened her freshman season to just nine matches, after a promising start. Debell continued to try and push through, but played only sparingly in her sophomore season while still trying to come back from the injury.

The Ocala, Fla., native transferred to Marshall before the 2018 season and has been a star for the Herd. She played in 103 sets in 2018 and led the team with 437 kills, an average of 4.24 per set. Debell also led with 19 service aces and was second with 238 digs and 47 total blocks. The all-around athlete was named to the All-Conference USA Second Team.

In 2019, her offensive numbers took only a slight dip, but her impact was known and respected. Debell ended the season with 422 kills, an average of 4.18 per set in 101 sets. She finished second on the team with 254 digs and third in blocks with 76 as the Herd established itself as a force at the net. She was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week three times as well as the MVP of the Bulldog Invitational on Sept. 7. By the end of the year, Debell helped lead the Herd to an 8-win turnaround in the first season under coach Aganus, and finished as the No. 4 seed going into the C-USA Tournament. She was honored as a First Team All-Conference USA selection.

Debell began the 2021 spring season named to the Preseason All-Conference USA team, as voted on by the league's coaches. She has played in every set this season. And finally, after pushing through the early injuries and then the transfer, Debell recorded her 1,000th career kill in the fifth set against Xavier on Feb. 14. She still has a chance to even reach 1,000 in her Marshall career as she currently has 958 with six regular season matches remaining.

Debell is also second all-time at Marshall in career kills per set with 4.12. The always smiling athlete also received an invitation to try out for a spot on the USA Volleyball Women's National Team in 2020.

Off the court, Debell is an environmental science major and has been heavily involved in her community. She has spent time with the Sweetheart Clinic, Altizer Elementary Academic Motivation Talk, My Huntington West End Community Clean-up, My Huntington Guyandotte Clean-up (area around the river), Clean-up around campus and downtown Huntington, Altizer Elementary Dr. Seuss Day Reading, Woodlands Retirement Center Game Night and Altizer Elementary National Reading Month.

For all the latest information about Marshall volleyball, follow @HerdVolleyball on Twitter and Marshall University Volleyball on Facebook.

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---HerdZone.com---

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