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The most tightly contested national award this season ended with Long Beach State middle attacker Amir Lugo-Rodriguez earning one more vote.
Off the Block announced Friday that a nationwide voting committee selected Lugo-Rodriguez as the 2017 recipient of the Ryan Millar Award for the nation’s top middle attacker.
Lugo-Rodriguez received 27 votes to beat the runner-up Loyola middle attacker Jeff Jendryk by one vote. In addition, Ball State middle attacker Matt Walsh finished in third place at 22 votes.
The Ryan Millar Award, which is named after the former BYU All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best middle attacker in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Lugo-Rodriguez led the MPSF and was second in the nation with a 1.26 blocks per game average. He also had at least a .500 attack percentage in 17 matches as he earned all-conference honors and helped No. 1/1 Long Beach State win a share of the MPSF regular season title.
Among Lugo-Rodriguez’s top performances of the season included a combined 15 kills on a .600 attack percentage and seven blocks in a two-match series against No. 3/3 BYU in March. The senior also had 18 blocks in three postseason matches as the 49ers won the MPSF Tournament to clinch a NCAA Tournament berth.
This is the second national award for Lugo-Rodriguez. Off the Block announced earlier this week that a nationwide voting committee selected Lugo-Rodriguez as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year.
The voting committee for the Ryan Millar Award was comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the Ryan Millar Award.
This is the second year of the Ryan Millar Award, which is one of several end of season awards presented by Off the Block. Among the other national awards includes the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, the Bryan Ivie Award to the nation’s top opposite, the Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker and the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.
RYAN MILLAR AWARD (voting results)
1. Amir Lugo-Rodriguez, Long Beach State — 27 votes
2. Jeff Jendryk, Loyola — 26 votes
3. Matt Walsh, Ball State — 22 votes
4. Mitch Stahl, UCLA — 14 votes
5. Daenan Gyimah, UCLA — 12 votes
6. Scott Stadick, UC Irvine — 7 votes
T-7. Andy Benesh, USC — 3 votes
T-7. Wyatt Patterson, McKendree — 3 votes
T-7. Drake Silbernagel, Grand Canyon — 3 votes
T-10. Myles Miller, Alderson Broaddus — 2 votes
T-10. Mitch Penning, Pepperdine — 2 votes
T-12. Taylor Bloomquist, Sacred Heart — 1 vote
T-12. Driss Guessous, Ohio State — 1 vote
T-12. Matthew McManaway, North Greenville — 1 vote
T-12. Jon Wheaton, King — 1 vote