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The season when Springfield outside attacker Luis Vega returned to the college men’s volleyball court ends with him earning a national accolade.
Off the Block announced Wednesday that a nationwide voting committee selected Vega as the inaugural recipient of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Division III National Outside Attacker of the Year.
Vega after missing the entire 2015 season finished this year among the nation’s leaders with both a .390 attack percentage and a 3.65 kills per game average, including having at least 15 kills in 12 matches. The All-American junior also was in the nation’s top 30 with 47 aces as he helped Springfield reach the NCAA Tournament finals.
Vega received all but four first-place votes from a nationwide voting committee comprised of Division III men’s volleyball head coaches.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for this national award.
Stevens Tech outside attacker Tim Ferriter received three first-places and finished in second place with 16 points — 19 fewer points than Vega. In addition, the other finalist Nazareth outside attacker Tim Zyburt earned the only other first-place vote and ended in third place.
Along with the National Outside Attacker of the Year award, Off the Block will present four more inaugural Division III awards this year — the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Setter of the Year, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Opposite of the Year, the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Middle Attacker of the Year and the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Libero of the Year.
While several other volleyball organizations present Division III national honors, these will be the first national position-based awards in the history of Division III men’s volleyball. Off the Block also has presented similar position-based national awards for Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the last three seasons.
Off the Block is a college men’s volleyball website that launched in 2011 and is among the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor the new Division III national awards 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. DIVISION III NATIONAL OUTSIDE ATTACKER OF YEAR VOTING RESULTS
1. Luis Vega, Springfield — 35 (11) points
2. Tim Ferriter, Stevens Tech — 16 (3) points
3. Tim Zyburt, Nazareth — 7 (1) points
4. Andy Fishman, SUNY New Paltz — 3 points
5. Lake Merchen, UC Santa Cruz — 2 points
6. Erik Griffin, Elmira — 1 point