The Shippensburg University volleyball team had four of its players selected to the 2023 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Teams on Thursday afternoon, with Gracen Nutt (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg Area) earning a major award as the Eastern Division’s Freshman of the Year.
Voting for the all-conference teams is conducted by the league’s head coaches.
Nutt, an outside hitter, is one of three All-PSAC Eastern Division First Team honorees for the Raiders along with senior middle Kaitlyn Townsend (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) and sophomore setter Kearstin Davis (San Antonio, Tex./Reagan). Junior Maddie Clabaugh (Gettysburg, Pa./Delone Catholic) was selected to the All-PSAC Eastern Division Second Team.
It is the second straight season that Davis has received All-PSAC plaudits; she was a Second Team selection last season as a freshman. It is the first career All-PSAC classification for Nutt, Townsend and Clabaugh.
It is the first time that Shippensburg has had four or more players receive All-PSAC honors since 2019, when five players were recognized (the 2019 All-PSAC teams featured a First, Second and Third Team and did not separate by division).
Nutt enters the PSAC Final Four ranked eighth in the conference with 319 kills – an average of 2.9 kills per set. She has compiled an efficient hitting percentage of .211 and has totaled 28 aces, 141 digs and 21 blocks. In 19 matches this season, Nutt has ripped double-digit kills, including 15 or more kills in three matches. Against Eastern Division opponents, Nutt has posted a .244 hitting percentage.
Davis ranks third in the PSAC with 9.81 assists per set, and her 1,109 total assists rank second in the league. She not only leads the team in assists, but she also leads in digs – her 324 digs constitute an average of 2.87 digs per set. Davis has produced 30 or more assists in 24-of-31 matches, including 40 or more assists in 10 matches and 50 or more assists twice. She also has produced double-digit digs in 17 matches.
Townsend has broken through this season with career highs of 232 kills and 97 total blocks. She ranks among the PSAC’s Top 10 blockers this season with her average of nearly one block per set. Her 2.1 kills per set have come with an excellent hitting proficiency of .255. She has recorded double-digit kills in eight matches and seven or more kills in 21 matches.
Clabaugh’s balanced production was rewarded with All-PSAC Second Team recognition. On offense, she was the second-leading Raider in kills with a career high of 268, and she contributed to the strongest serving team in the conference with 37 total aces. On defense, Clabaugh finished second on the team in blocks (58.0) and third in digs (272)—two more career highs. Throughout the season, she recorded five double-doubles, 11 matches with 10 or more kills, and 12 matches with 10 or more digs.
The Eastern Division’s major award winners are East Stroudsburg’s Anna Coulter (Athlete of the Year), East Stroudsburg’s Mikayla Baca (Defensive Athlete of the Year) and Lock Haven’s Mike Kraft (Coach of the Year.
