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Eight college journalists were selected to the inaugural Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Reporter All-American Team.
The Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Reporter All-American Team recognizes the season’s top men’s volleyball reporters from college newspapers around the nation.
Members of the 2012 All-American Team include Daily Sundial reporter Jonathan Andrade, Daily Bruin reporter Kevin Bowman, The Daily Collegian reporter Kevin Byrne, Daily Bruin reporter Chris Kalra, The Ball State Daily News reporter Andrew Mishler, The Daily Collegian reporter Jake Somerville, The Daily Universe reporter Taylor Street and The Daily Collegian reporter John Stuetz.
Winners were determined primarily on their reporting and writing skills and their ability to produce articles that went beyond the box score and game notes. Also factored into the award was the reporter’s use of non-traditional media such as online video, blogs and social media.
Throughout the season Off the Block conducted an analysis of men’s volleyball coverage in college and professional newspapers from around the nation.
Penn State University led all schools with three All-American selections, while UCLA added two members. In addition, Ball State University, BYU and Cal State Northridge University each had one representative on the All-American Team.
This is one of three media honors that Off the Block awards at the end of the men’s volleyball regular season. The Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Conference Reporters of the Year recognizes the top reporter in the EIVA, MIVA and MPSF, while the Off the Block Best Men’s Volleyball Online Coverage of the Year is given to the student-newspaper with the best online reporting.
Off the Block each week during the regular season also releases a list spotlighting the top five men’s volleyball articles of the week from around the nation.
2012 Off the Block Men’s Volleyball Reporter All-American Team
Jonathan Andrade — Daily Sundial, Cal State Northridge
Kevin Bowman — Daily Burin, UCLA
Kevin Byrne — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
Chris Karla — Daily Bruin, UCLA
Andrew Mishler — The Ball State Daily News, Ball State
Wynton Somerville — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
Taylor Street — The Daily Universe, BYU
John Stuetz — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
SELECTION COMMITTEE’S REMARKS
Jonathan Andrade — Daily Sundial, Cal State Northridge
Andrade, a senior, was the beat reporter for the Cal State Northridge men’s volleyball team and averaged about three stories per week. Andrade’s articles were compelling in large part because of his ability to get strong quotes from players.
Kevin Bowman — Daily Bruin, UCLA
Bowman was one of two Daily Bruin beat reporters for the UCLA men’s volleyball team and had eight articles throughout the season featured on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list. He also wrote consistently strong preview and game articles that went beyond the box scores to provide in-sight into the matches and effectively used delayed leads to bring readers into his stories.
Kevin Byrne — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
Byrne, a senior, was one three Collegian beat reporters for the Penn State men’s volleyball team and had four articles this season on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list. Among Byrne most compelling articles this season was a news-feature story about the Nittany Lions preparing to face BYU All-American outside attacker Taylor Sander in an upcoming match.
Chris Kalra — Daily Bruin, UCLA
Karla, a freshman, was one of two Daily Bruin beat reporters for the UCLA men’s volleyball team this season and won the 2012 Off the Block MPSF Reporter of the Year. Karla this season had five articles featured on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list — including perhaps his top article of the year, a personality profile story on starting outside attacker Jeremy Casebeer overcoming injuries throughout his career.
Andrew Mishler — The Ball State Daily News, Ball State
Mishler, a junior, was the The Ball State Daily News beat reporter for the Ball State men’s volleyball team and won the 2012 Off the Block MIVA Reporter of the Year. He also led the nation writing more than 75 volleyball articles and had 12 articles featured on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list — including several in-depth feature stories about Ball State players.
Wynton Somerville — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
Somerville, a freshman, was one of three Collegian beat reporter for the Penn State men’s volleyball team and had six articles this season featured on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list. Somerville placed an emphasis on writing news-feature stories throughout the year with one of his top stories being about former starting outside attacker Tom Comfort adjusting to his new role of coming off the bench.
Taylor Street — The Daily Universe, BYU
Street, a freshman, was The Daily Universe beat reporter for the BYU men’s volleyball team and had five articles this season featured on an Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week list. Street throughout the year displayed a strong ability to get powerful direct quotes for her stories and was the first journalist to interview BYU coach Chris McGown following a controversial serve call in a late-season match against UCLA.
John Stuetz — The Daily Collegian, Penn State
Stuetz, a freshman, was one of three Collegian beat reporter for the Penn State men’s volleyball team and was the 2012 Off the Block EIVA Reporter of the Year. He also had articles on 12 Off the Block Top Five Men’s Volleyball Stories of the Week lists this season — including a controversial article about Title IX’s affects on men’s volleyball that became a source of significant discussion in the volleyball community.