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A record amount of fans voted to make Harvard outside attacker Branden Clemens the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Player of the Month for February.
Clemens received a record 10,518 votes to win the only college men’s volleyball national monthly award solely determined by the fans.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Player of the Month recognizes the best individual performances from NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the month and gives fans from around the world the chance to determine who was the best player through online voting. More than 23,000 votes were cast during the three-day voting period on the Off the Block website to shatter the record for the largest voter turnout in the award’s history.
Clemens had double-digit kills in six matches and at least a .400 attack percentage in four matches during February to help Harvard move into top-half of the EIVA standings. He also was named the Morgan Classic MVP after a tournament-high 32 combined kills in two matches as Harvard won the non-conference event.
In one of the tightest races in the National Player of the Month award’s history, Clemens beat the runner-up Hawai’i libero Kolby Kanetake by 163 votes. Clemens received 43.99 percent of the total vote among the 15 finalists selected for the award.
Along with Clemens and Kanetake, Lewis middle attacker Bobby Walsh finished in third place receiving 1,142 votes.
The National Player of the Month is one of two awards solely determined by the fans. Similar to the monthly award, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Fan Choice National Player of the Year is annual event at the end of the season with fans deciding the winner of this 64-player bracket-style tournament through online voting.
Clemens for winning National Player of the Month will receive an automatic berth to the Fan Choice National Player of the Year tournament in May.
Off the Block was founded in 2011 and has emerged as one of the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.
Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the National Player of the Month and the Fan Choice National Player of the Year. Springbak, Inc. 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.
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