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An Ohio State player for the first time in its program’s almost 50-year history is the nation’s best player.
The AVCA announced Wednesday night that Ohio State All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen was selected as the 2016 AVCA National Player of the Year.
Szerszen is in the nation’s top 10 with both a 4.31 kills per game average and a .395 attack percentage. The sophomore also had five matches with at least 20 kills, including a match-high 21 kills in the MIVA Tournament finals to help the Buckeyes win their first conference title since 2011.
Along with the offense, Szerszen had a MIVA-best 55 aced and was among the conference leaders with a 1.70 digs per game average to lead the Buckeyes to the nation’s longest winning streak at 21 matches.
This is the third major individual award that Szerszen has earned this season. Szerszen was the recipient of the 2016 Karch Kiraly Award as the nation’s top outside attacker and won the 2016 MIVA Player of the Year.
Ohio State defeated George Mason in the NCAA Tournament play-in match on Tuesday to advance to the NCAA Tournament semifinals against UCLA.
A player from the MIVA has earned the AVCA National Player of the Year in back-to-back years. Loyola outside attacker Thomas Jaeschke won the 2015 AVCA National Player of the Year and became the first MIVA player in recent history to win the award.
The AVCA National Player of the Year is voted upon by coaches on the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball All-American voting committee.