Finalists unveiled for new men’s volleyball Division III national awards

A nationwide voting committee selected 16 finalists for the newest NCAA Division III men’s volleyball national awards.

Off the Block on Thursday announced the finalists for the five inaugural position-based awards — the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Setter of the Year, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Outside Attacker of the Year, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Opposite of the Year, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Middle Attacker of the Year and the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Libero of the Year.

Each national award recognizes the most outstanding Division III player at their position during the recent season. While several other volleyball organizations present Division III national honors, these are the first nation position-based awards in the history of Division III men’s volleyball.

A committee of 15 Division III head coaches voted for these national awards. The top-three vote-getters for each award were named finalists and the student-athlete receiving the most votes will be named the award winner.

The Division III NCAA champions SUNY New Paltz led all schools with five players earning finalist honors. In addition, Springfield and Carthage both were the only other schools to have multiple finalists.

Hunter, Kean, Nazareth, Stevenson, Stevens Tech and Hunter each had one player named a finalist.

The national winners and complete voting results will be unveiled June 13-17 at Off the Block.

Off the Block is a college men’s volleyball website that launched in 2011 and is among the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor the new Division III national awards 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 Setter of the Year finalists
Luis Garcia Rubio, Springfield
Christian Smith, SUNY New Paltz
Rob Wingert, Stevenson

2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Outside Attacker of the Year finalists
Tim Ferriter, Stevens Tech
Luis Vega, Springfield
Tim Zyburt, Nazareth

2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Opposite of the Year finalists
Joe Norman, SUNY New Paltz
Griffin Shields, Carthage
Greg Woods, Springfield

2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Libero of the Year finalists
Trey Cimorelli, Vassar
Marc Hansen, Carthage
Joe Muir, Hunter
Kevin Nardone, SUNY New Paltz

2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Middle Attacker of the Year finalists
Christopher Hussman, SUNY New Paltz
Tommy Rosario, Kean
Steven Woessner, SUNY New Paltz