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A nationwide voting committee selected CSUN outside attacker Dimitar Kalchev, UCLA setter Micah Ma’a and Lewis setter Matt Yoshimoto as finalists for the Off the Block National Server of the Year.
The Off the Block National Server of the Year is an annual award that recognizes the top individual serving performance from a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player during the regular season.
Off the Block announced the finalists on Sunday and will unveil the award winner on Friday as part of its College Men’s Volleyball National Awards Presentation.
Kalchev was in the nation’s top 10 with a 0.46 aces per game average, including having a season-high five aces in each of CSUN’s non-conference victories versus Harvard, St. Francis and Lindenwood. The senior also concluded his college career with at least 40 aces all four seasons.
Ma’a, the 2016 recipient of the National Server of the Year, led the MPSF and was third in the country with a 0.64 aces per game average this season. The setter had multiple aces in 17 matches, including a season-high six aces in a four-game victory against Grand Canyon on March 31.
Yoshimoto, the MIVA Player of the Year, leads the nation with a 0.66 aces per game average and is tied with Ma’a for nation-best 67 aces. He also had multiple aces in 18 matches, including five aces in conference sweeps against both Purdue Fort Wayne and Ohio State.
The voting committee for the National Server of the Year was comprised of about 20 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the National Server of the Year.
This is the seventh year that Off the Block has presented the National Server of the Year. Previous winners of the award are former Loyola All-American opposite Joseph Smalzer in 2013 and 2014, former Loyla All-American outside attacker Thomas Jaeschke in 2015, Ma’a in 2016, former Ohio State All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen in 2017 and Penn State opposite Jalen Penrose in 2018.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.