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Add another national honor for the setter who helped lead his team to its first NCAA championship.
Off the Block announced Monday that a nationwide voting committee selected SUNY New Paltz setter Christian Smith as the inaugural recipient of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Division III National Setter of the Year.
Smith was among the nation’s leaders with a 10.49 assists per game average and guided the SUNY New Paltz offense to a .371 attack percentage, the second best attack percentage in the nation. The All-American senior also helped the Hawks win the national championship and end the season on a 32-match winning streak.
Smith received all but two first-place votes from a nationwide voting committee comprised of Division III head coaches.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for this national award.
Springfield setter Luis Garcia Rubio finished the voting in second place with 16 points — 20 fewer points than Smith. In addition, the other finalist Stevenson setter Rob Wingert ended in third place with four points.
Along with the National Setter of the Year award, Off the Block will present four more inaugural Division III awards this 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.
While several other volleyball organizations present Division III national honors, these will be the first nation position-based awards in the history of Division III men’s volleyball. Off the Block also has presented similar position-based national awards for Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the last three seasons.
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.
OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. DIVISION III NATIONAL SETTER OF YEAR VOTING RESULTS
1. Christian Smith, SUNY New Paltz — 36 (12) points
2. Luis Garcia Rubio, Springfield — 16 (2) points
3. Rob Wingert, Stevenson — 4 points
T-4. Jake Kemp, Nazaerth — 1 point
T-4. Quin Krisik, MSOE — 1 point
T-4. Kevin McCandlees, Rutgers-Newark — 1 point
T-4. Matt Reinsel, Carthage — 1 point