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Different team but the same national award earned for Pepperdine middle attacker Tommy Carmody.
Off the Block announced Monday that a nationwide voting committee selected Carmody for the second time in the last three years as the 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 the disbanded Pacific program, finished the 2016 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.
Carmody received 13 first-place votes to beat-out the runner-up and BYU middle attacker Michael Hatch by 16 points. In addition, Stanford middle attacker Conrad Kaminski earned five first-place votes to finish in third place — one point behind Hatch.
Carmody, Hatch and Kaminski as the top three vote-getters were named finalists for this national award that was voted upon by a 26-person committee comprised of head coaches and media members.
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 and Lewis All-American middle attacker Bobby Walsh last year.
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.
2016 OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. NATIONAL BLOCKER OF THE YEAR: VOTING RESULTS
1. Tommy Carmody, Pepperdine — 50 (13) points
2. Michael Hatch, BYU — 34 (4) points
3. Conrad Kaminski, Stanford — 33 (5) points
4. Mitch Stahl, UCLA — 7 (1) points
T-5. Taylor Gregory, Long Beach State — 3 (1) points
T-5. Luke Grupe, Coker — 3 (1) points
T-5. Mike Marshman, St. Francis — 3 (1) points
8. James Shaw, Stanford — 2 points
T-9. Jarrod Kelso, Quincy — 1 point
T-9. Alex Pia, Ball State — 1 point
T-9. Brendan Schmidt, McKendree — 1 point