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Jonathan Bates | Associate Editor
Some of the top Harvard players from the decade are receiving a college men’s volleyball honor.
Off the Block announced on Wednesday the seven players selected to the Harvard All-Decade Starting Lineup presented by Off the Block.
The All-Decade Starting Lineup recognizes the best players to compete with a team since 2010. Similar to the starting lineup for a match, the All-Decade honor is comprised of a setter, opposite and libero along with two outside attackers and middle attackers.
The Off the Block staff determined the All-Decade Starting Lineup using a variety of factors including career statistical performance and the team’s overall success when a player was a member of the program.
This is also part of a series from Off the Block to celebrate the end of the decade in college men’s volleyball. Off the Block throughout the rest of 2019 will release an All-Decade Starting Lineup for every NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team.
Harvard made it to the EIVA Tournament six times this decade, having advanced to the championship match twice. The Crimson won the 2018 EIVA Tournament to earn a bid in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that was established in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball.
Crimson All-Decade Starting Lineup presented by Off the Block
Setter – Rob Lothman
Opposite – Branden Clemens
Outside attacker – DJ White
Outside attacker – Matt Jones
Middle attacker – Kyle Rehkemper
Middle attacker – Caleb Zimmick
Libero – Chase Howard
Coming off the bench: Nick Madden, Marko Kostich, Riley Moore
Rob Lothman (2010-13)
Awards and honors: 2012 All-EIVA First-Team, 2013 All-EIVA Second-Team
Lothman’s 3,094 career assists are tops in Harvard men’s volleyball program history. His 406 career digs also ranks in the top-ten in program history. In 2010, Lothman had 64 assists in two separate matches, a feat that ranks fifth in program history.
Branden Clemens (2013-16)
Awards and honors: 2015 All-EIVA First-Team, 2016 All-EIVA First-Team, 2016 All-American Honorable Mention
Clemens ranks in the top-ten in program history for career service aces (77), digs (504), solo blocks (30), and block assists (165). Clemens led the Crimson in kills in both his junior and senior seasons, with 314 and 295 kills respectively.
DJ White (2012-15)
Awards and honors: 2012 All-EIVA First-Team, 2013 All-EIVA First-Team, 2014 All-EIVA First-Team, 2014 All-American Honorable Mention, 2015 All-EIVA First-Team
White is the only player on this list to make the All-EIVA First Team in all four seasons in Cambridge. White ranks second all-time in Harvard history in both kills (1,052), and digs (556). White ranks in the top-ten in program history in attack percentage, kills per game, and block assists.
Matt Jones (2009-12)
Awards and honors: 2012 All-EIVA First-Team
The current UC Santa Barbara women’s volleyball assistant coach has 1,218 kills in his career, best in program history. Jones’s 97 service aces also is top in program history, while ranking in the top-ten in program history in kills per game, digs, solo blocks, block assists, and total blocks. White has three of the ten best single-match performance in terms of kills for a Crimson player. His 12 services aces versus Cal Baptist in 2012 still stands as the most in program history in a single match.
Kyle Rehkemper (2011-14)
Awards and honors: 2013 All-EIVA Second-Team, 2014 All-EIVA Second-Team
Rehkemper’s 13 total blocks in a match versus Princeton in 2011 ranks second-best in program history for a blocks in a single match, while his five aces in a match versus Newbury is tied for second-best in program history for aces in a single match. His .428 attack percentage in 2014 is seventh-best in program history. Rehkemper ranks in the top-ten in both block assists and total blocks in program history.
Caleb Zimmick (2012-15)
Awards and honors: 2013 All-EIVA Second-Team, 2014 All-EIVA First-Team, 2014 All-American Honorable Mention, 2015 All-EIVA First-Team, 2015 All-American Honorable Mention
Zimmick is the only player on this list to have made garner All-American honors in two seasons. He ranks second in Harvard history in both block assists (312) and total blocks (362). Zimmick ranks in the top-ten in program history for career attack percentage, solo blocks, and kills.
Chase Howard (2017-Present)
Awards and honors: None
Howard is on this list even though he has only played in two seasons for the Crimson. His 380 digs is good for tenth all-time in program history, while his 234 digs in 2018 is tops for a Crimson player in a single season.