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UCLA middle attacker Daenan Gyimah was one of the nation’s best offensively, defensively and from the service line this season and is now earning one of the top awards in college men’s volleyball.
Off the Block announced Thursday that a nationwide voting committee selected Gyimah as the recipient of the 2018 Ryan Millar Award.
The Ryan Millar Award, which is named after the former BYU All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best middle attacker in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Gyimah led the nation with a .535 attack percentage and had seven regular season matches with double-digit kills while hitting at least .500. In addition, he contributed a season-high 17 kills on a .889 attack percentage in a victory against Pepperdine in March that helped UCLA finish in second place in the MPSF and earn an at-large berth to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
The sophomore, who spent the offseason playing for Canada in the FIVB U21 World Championship, also had a career-high 41 aces and was in the top 10 of the MPSF averaging 0.37 aces per game.
Along with his offensive and serving performance, Gyimah was third in the nation with a 1.22 blocks per game average and had a MPSF-best 135 blocks.
A voting committee of about 25 men’s volleyball coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation determined the winner of the Ryan Millar Award. The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the award.
Gyimah received 41 votes to edge out Loyola middle attacker Jeff Jendryk by seven votes.
The other finalist UC Irvine middle attacker Scott Stadick finished in third place with 16 votes.
This is the third year that Off the Block has presented the Ryan Millar Award. Previous winners of the award are former Stanford middle attacker Conrad Kaminski in 2016 and former Long Beach State middle attacker Amir Lugo-Rodriguez in 2017.
The Ryan Millar Award is one of several end of season awards presented by Off the Block. Among the other national awards includes the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, the Bryan Ivie Award to the nation’s top opposite, the Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker and the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.
Ryan Millar Award (voting results)
1. Daenan Gyimah, UCLA — 41 votes
2. Jeff Jendryk, Loyola — 34 votes
3. Scott Stadick, UC Irvine — 16 votes
4. Matt Walsh, Ball State — 10 votes
5. Tyler Mitchem, Lewis — 4 votes
T-6. Blake Leeson, Ohio State — 3 votes
T-6. Pedro Carvalho, Lincoln Memorial — 3 votes
8. Max Chamberlain, Pepperdine — 2 votes
T-9. TJ Murray, Lewis — 1 vote
T-9. Nick Amado, Long Beach State — 1 vote
T-9. Jon Wheaton, King — 1 vote