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Long Beach State setter Josh Tuaniga is once again earning the award for being nation’s top setter.
Off the Block announced Monday that for the second consecutive year a nationwide voting committee selected Tuaniga as the recipient of the Lloy Ball Award.
The Lloy Ball Award, which is named after the former Fort Wayne All-American and U.S. Olympian setter, is presented to the nation’s best setter in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Tuaniga guided Long Beach State to a nation-best .379 attack percentage, including hitting more than .400 in 11 regular season matches. The junior also was sixth in the nation averaging 10.50 assists per game as he helped the 49ers start the season on a 23-match winning streak and win the Big West championship.
Along with his offensive performance, Tuaniga was in the top 10 of the Big West with both 26 aces and a 1.78 digs per game average.
A voting committee of about 25 men’s volleyball coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation determined the winner for the Lloy Ball Award. In addition, the top three vote-getters were named finalists.
Tuaniga received 55 votes to beat the runner-up UCLA setter Micah Ma’a by 21 votes. Both Tuaniga and Ma’a were the only setters to receive double-digit votes.
The other finalists Ohio State setter Sanil Thomas finished in third place with nine votes.
Tuaniga is the second player to win the Lloy Ball Award multiple times in his college career. Former USC All-American and current U.S. starting setter Micah Christenson won the honor in 2014 and 2015.
The Lloy Ball Award is one of several end of season awards presented by Off the Block. Among the other national awards includes the Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker, the Bryan Ivie Award to the nation’s top opposite, the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero and the Ryan Millar Award to the nation’s top middle attacker.
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.
LLOY BALL AWARD (voting results)
1. Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State — 55 votes
2. Micah Ma’a, UCLA — 34 votes
3. Sanil Thomas, Ohio State — 9 votes
4. Matt Yoshimoto, Lewis — 3 votes
T-5. Leo Durkin, BYU — 2 votes
T-5. Joe Worsley, Hawai’i — 2 votes
T-5. Garrett Zolg, Loyola — 2 votes
T-8. Dante Chakrovorti, UC Irvine — 1 vote
T-8. Nick Drooker, King — 1 vote
T-8. Brian Negron, George Mason — 1 vote