Finalists named for 2016 OTB/Springbak National Blocker of Year

A nationwide voting committee selected Pepperdine middle attacker Tommy Carmody, BYU middle attacker Michael Hatch and Stanford middle attacker Conrad Kaminski as the finalists for the annual Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year.

The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year is annually awarded to the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player with the best front-row defensive performance during the regular season.


Carmody, the 2014 National Blocker of the Year while playing for Pacific, finished the regular season third in the nation with a 1.49 blocks per game average. Despite missing part of the season with an injury, the senior had at least five blocks in 10 matches and had a season-high 12 blocks against USC in January to help Pepperdine earned a postseason berth.

Hatch led the nation with a 1.52 blocks per game average and had a conference-best 134 blocks in the regular season. The two-time finalist for this award also had three matches with at least nine blocks to help BYU win the MPSF regular season title in his senior season.

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Kaminski was second in the nation averaging 1.49 blocks per game and had at least five blocks in 14 regular season matches. In addition, Kaminski had a season-high 10 blocks in a late-season victory against CSUN to help Stanford earn the No. 4 seed for the MPSF Tournament.

This is the sixth year of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year. Previous winners include BYU All-American middle attacker Futi Tavana in 2011, USC middle attacker Robert Feathers in 2012, UC Santa Barbara All-American middle attacker Dylan Davis in 2013,Carmody in 2014 and Lewis All-American middle attacker Bobby Walsh last year.

The voting committee for this award was comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.

The overall winner of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year will be announced Friday.

Off the Block is a website that launched in 2011 and has become among the nation’s leading media outlets for college men’s volleyball coverage. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2016 National Blocker of the Year 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. NATIONAL BLOCKER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
(listed alphabetically)
Tommy Carmody, Pepperdine
Michael Hatch, BYU
Conrad Kaminski, Stanford

Others receiving votes:
4. Mitch Stahl, UCLA
T-5. Taylor Gregory, Long Beach State
T-5. Luke Grupe, Coker
T-5. Mike Marshman, St. Francis
8. James Shaw, Stanford
T-9. Jarrod Kelso, Quincy
T-9. Alex Pia, Ball State
T-9. Brendan Schmidt, McKendree