Waterville, Maine - Senior Rachel Melampy of Maine Maritime earned her second-consecutive North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Women's Volleyball Player of the Year award and first-year teammate Katie Albritton earned her first major award as the 2021 NAC Rookie of the Year. Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to first-year Rebecca Heuler of SUNY Delhi, and SUNY Canton's Peyton Nadeau was named the 2021 Senior Scholar Athlete. Delhi Broncos' head coach Beau Bracchy claimed his first NAC Coach of the Year award

In addition to the major conference awards, 22 student athletes were named to the All-Conference First, Second, and Honorable Mention Teams, and ten women were named to the NAC Volleyball Sportsmanship Team. The Sportsmanship Team is reserved for those who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The honorees have positively affected the sport culture and match environment by clearly demonstrating sportsmanship and integrity beyond playing rules and etiquette.

Maine Maritime will host SUNY Cobleskill for the conference championship match in the first East-West NAC Volleyball showdown. The match is scheduled for noon on Saturday, November 6th. The conference champion will represent the NAC in the NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball national championship tournament later this month.

Player of the Year

Rachel Melampy, Maine Maritime Academy
Junior / Marshfield, Massachusetts

Outside Hitter Rachel Melampy is the NAC Women's Volleyball Player of the year for the second time in her career. Melampy has earned a major conference award each of her three seasons in the NAC, starting with the 2018 NAC Rookie of the Year. Within conference play this season, Melampy led the NAC with 132 kills (5.5 k/s) on .439 hitting and 152 points (6.3 pts/s). She also logged 16 service aces, 73 digs (3.04 d/s), seven total blocks (.29 b/s), and three assists to lead the Mariners to another undefeated (8-0) NAC season. Across 24 matches and 78 sets on the season, the five-time NAC Player of the Week smashed a league-leading 383 kills (4.91 k/s) on .306 hitting. She also tallied 26 aces, 207 digs (2.65 d/s), 17 total blocks (16 BA, 1 BS), and 14 assists to help the squad go 18-6 overall. Melampy and company will host the NAC Championship this Saturday.

Defensive Player of the Year

Rebecca Heuler, SUNY Delhi
First-year / Piermont, New York

First-year Rebecca Heuler is the 2021 NAC Women's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Year. The defensive specialist led the conference with 426 digs and 5.68 d/s overall. Within NAC matches, Heuler tallied 119 digs for a NAC-best 5.17 digs per set. She contributed two kills, 13 assists, and six service aces in conference matches, and logged five kills, 50 assists, and 42 services aces across the Broncos 24 total matches and 75 sets. Her defensive prowess led Delhi to an undefeated regular season in the NAC West and top-seed in the divisional rounds. Heuler was twice named NAC Defensive Player of the Week this fall.

Senior Scholar Athlete

Peyton Nadeau, SUNY Canton
Senior / Parish, New York

Peyton Nadeau is the 2021 NAC Women's Volleyball Senior Scholar Athlete. Nadeau currently boasts a 3.56 GPA as a dual-degree student pursuing Health & Fitness Promotion and Physical Therapy. Her GPA has never dipped below 3.25, and she already earned an Associate's degree from the SUNY Canton PTA program. The Parish, NY native is currently a licensed physical therapy assistant. She plans to graduate in May with a Bachelor's degree and continue her education towards becoming a Physical Therapist. Over her four-year career Nadeau has appeared in 77 matches totaling 320 digs, 45 aces, 37 kills and 25 assists. Over 24 matches this season she ranked second on the team in both aces (18) and digs per set (2.18). During eight regular season NAC matches she amassed 64 digs (2.56/set), 12 points, 10 service aces, two kills, two assists, and zero ball-handling errors. She earned a spot on the Honorable Mention All-Conference team for her efforts.

Rookie of the Year

Katie Albritton, Maine Maritime Academy
First-year / Hutto, Texas

First-year setter Katie Albritton is the 2021 NAC Women's Volleyball Rookie of the Year. She broke and re-broke the Mariners' records for most assists in a three-set match along the way to a place on the First-Team All-Conference. Across eight NAC matches this fall, Albritton tallied an incredible 250 assists for an average of 10.42 assists/set. She also earned 10 kills, 14 service aces, 33 digs, and one block. Through 24 Maine Maritime matches (78 sets) this fall, the four-time NAC Rookie of the Week led the league with 727 assists (9.2 a/s) and also covered the court with 37 service aces, 41 kills, 155 digs, and 16 total blocks (14 BA, 2 BS).

Coach of the Year

Beau Bracchy, SUNY Delhi

SUNY Delhi head coach Beau Bracchy is the 2021 NAC Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year. Bracchy led his squad to a perfect 8-0 NAC record through the regular season and top-seed in the West division tournament. The Broncos were 21-6 overall on the season. Coach Bracchy placed five players on the All-Conference team including the Defensive Player of the Year, Rebecca Heuler. In NAC eight matches, the Broncos combined for 296 kills (11.38 k/s), .186 hitting, 260 assists (10 a/s), 79 aces (3.04 sa/s), 26 blocks (1.0 b/s), 476 digs, and a league-leading 18.31 digs per set. Overall on the season, Bracchy's team led the conference with 1661 digs, 17.67 d/s, and 244 service aces. Four difference Broncos earned six NAC weekly honors this fall.

All-Conference Team

First Team

• Rebecca Heuler, SUNY Delhi - First-Year, Piermont, New York
• Rachel Melampy, Maine Maritime Academy - Junior, Marshfield, Massachusetts
• Witchney Clersainville, SUNY Delhi - Senior, Spring Valley, New York
• Grace Thomas, SUNY Delhi - Sophomore, Owego, New York
• Katie Albritton, Maine Maritime Academy - First-Year, Hutto, Texas
• Mackenzie Larson, SUNY Cobleskill - Sophomore, Winterset, Iowa
• Sophia Pagliarini, Husson University - Senior, Johnston, Rhode Island

Second Team

• Sydney Pellman, SUNY Poly - Junior, Chittenango, New York
• Emma Draper, SUNY Poly - Junior, North Chili, New York
• Alexis Miranda, SUNY Cobleskill - Sophomore, Nashua, New Hampshire
• Kaley Pichura, SUNY Poly - Graduate, Syracuse, New York
• Stephanie Burke, SUNY Delhi - Sophomore, West Winfield, New York
• Sydney Rich, Maine Maritime Academy - First-Year, Williamsburg, Virginia
• Makayla Miskiewicz, UMaine-Presque Isle - Junior, Orlando, Florida

Honorable Mention Team

• Karissa Decosse, Cazenovia - First-Year, Binghamton, New York
• Peyton Nadeau, SUNY Canton - Senior, Parish, New York
• Mason Lores, NVU-Johnson - Junior, Englewood, Colorado
• Briana Mays, Maine Maritime Academy - Senior, Bradenton, Florida
• Alexis Engel, UMaine-Presque Isle - First-Year, Burns, Wyoming
• Kaylin Van Auken, Cazenovia - Senior, Cicero, New York
• Cheyenne Young, Husson University - Junior, Eagle River, Alaska
• Lexi Taylor, SUNY Delhi - Junior, Norwich, New York

Sportsmanship Team

• Bailee Jones, SUNY Delhi - Sophomore, Binghamton, New York
• Charlotte Morris, NVU-Lyndon - First-Year, Middletown, Deleware
• Natalia Medina, NVU-Johnson - Sophomore, San Jose, California
• Grace Jennings, Maine Maritime Academy - First-Year, Upper Kingsclear, Canada
• Gabrielle Durant, SUNY Canton - Junior, Massena, New York
• Jillian Nitchman, SUNY Cobleskill - Senior, Ballston Spa, New York
• Emma Draper, SUNY Poly - Junior, North Chili, New York
• Alyvia McIntyre, Husson University - First-Year, San Jose, California
• Karissa Decosse, Cazenovia - First-Year, Binghamton, New York
• Miranda Washinawatok, UMaine-Presque Isle - Senior, Keshena, Wisconsin