Carmel graduate and Adelphi University senior Macarty McQueen received two major awards for her performance on the Panthers’ volleyball team. McQueen was named the Northeast 10 Conference Player of the Year in November and the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Division II Player of the Year in early December. (Photo courtesy Cosmic Fox Media)
Carmel grad, Adelphi senior named Player of the Year for NE10 Conference, AVCA East Region
By RICHIE HALL
It was a typical November afternoon and Adelphi University senior volleyball player Macarty McQueen was eating lunch.
McQueen and her Panthers teammates had just finished lifting and were in the university center when someone informed McQueen that she had just been named the Northeast 10 Conference’s Player of the Year.
“I thought something had happened,” said McQueen. “My heart was racing and I was worried. When she said I got that award, I was relieved. It’s hard to believe because it’s something I had been working towards my entire career. It definitely took a moment to sink in, but I was very happy.”
McQueen received more good news in early December when she was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s East Region Player of the Year for Division II.
McQueen is a graduate of Carmel, where she was a volleyball star for the Greyhounds. McQueen played as a part of the Class of 2022 but graduated a semester early. As a result, she started a semester early at Adelphi, a private college in Garden City, N.Y. Adelphi is on Long Island, just east of New York City.
“There were no games going on, so the fact that I was able to train with the team early made me ready to join the team in the fall,” said McQueen. “I had the whole spring semester to get my feet wet and work on things I needed to work on to get ready for the season.”
McQueen, an outside hitter, immediately became a factor for the Panthers. As a freshman she hit 309 kills and served 40 aces and proved to be solid on defense as well by collecting 298 digs.
She was a part of history as well, as Adelphi reached the Division II Sweet 16. McQueen called that season “an incredible ride, especially because we were ranked fifth going into our region, so no one was expecting us to do that well.”
The Panthers upset No. 4 seed Jefferson in the NCAA East Region quarterfinal and top-seeded American International College in the semifinals before falling to Southern New Hampshire in the East Region final. All of those matches went five sets.
The success continued next year as well, with Adelphi rolling to a 26-7 record. The Panthers finished as the top seeds in the NE10 and got to host the conference and East Region playoffs. McQueen remembered “having so many people in the stands seeing us do well.”
During McQueen’s four years at Adelphi, the Panthers compiled a 96-37 record. She totaled 1,371 kills, including 443 her senior year, when she was putting down an average of four kills per set. McQueen also totaled 1,018 digs for her career.
“I think Adelphi was a great fit for me,” said McQueen. I as given opportunities I was never given playing club and high school. I feel like I’ve developed as a player. The girls have been great every year.”
McQueen said Adelphi’s coach, Danielle McKnight, makes “culture her No. 1 thing. Having a good team culture, it’s been so much fun.”
Off the court, McQueen is majoring in marketing with a minor in sports marketing. She will be staying at Adelphi to get her Masters of Business Administration in marketing.
“It’s been busy, you definitely have to remember student becomes before athlete,” said McQueen. “My classes are very small and my professors know I’m an athlete.” McQueen noted that small-school professors know their students by their name “and they understand the obligations you have outside the classroom. It’s been very fun being able to do both.”
“It’s definitely an experience that I’ll never forget,” said McQueen. “There’s something about D-II that the other divisions can’t say. I’m really grateful about the balance between both on court and off court.”
