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A freshman for the first time in the history of the award is the nation’s top server in college men’s volleyball.
Off the Block announced Thursday that a nationwide voting committee selected UCLA all-conference setter Micah Ma’a as the 2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Server of the Year.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Server of the Year recognizes the top individual serving performance from a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player during the regular season.
Ma’a in the regular season had a MPSF-best 54 aces and was fourth in the nation with a 0.51 aces per game average. The Freshman All-American also had 13 matches with multiple aces, including a season-high seven aces against CSUN in January.
UCLA with Ma’a as one of its starting setters finished the regular season in second place in the MPSF and earned an at-large berth to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Ma’a received all but four of the 25 first-place votes from the nationwide voting committee comprised of head coaches and volleyball media members. In addition, Ma’a received more votes than the other three finalists combined.
CSUN freshman outside attacker Dimitar Kalchev finished in second place with 17 points and beat-out UC Irvine opposite Michael Saeta by one point. Coker outside attacker Artur Cabral received three first-place votes to come in fourth place.
This is the fourth year of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Server of the Year award. Former Loyola All-American opposite Joseph Smalzer repeated as the winner in 2012 and 2013, while former Loyola All-American outside attacker Thomas Jaeschke won the award last year.
Off the Block is a website that launched in 2011 and has become among the nation’s leading media outlets for college men’s volleyball news and analysis. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2016 National Server of the Year and produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB and U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.
2016 OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. NATIONAL SERVER OF THE YEAR: VOTING RESULTS
1. Micah Ma’a, UCLA — 65 (21) points
2. Dimitar Kalchev, CSUN — 17 points
3. Michael Saeta, UC Irvine — 16 points
4. Artur Cabral, Coker — 14 (3) points
5. Aleksa Brkovic, Barton — 7 points
6. Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State — 5 points
T-7. Miles Johnson, Ohio State — 3 points
T-7. Jalen Penrose, Penn State — 3 (1) points
9. James Shaw, Stanford — 2 points
T-10. TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State — 1 point
T-10. Ben Patch, BYU — 1 point