Off the Block, Molten announce finalists for NCAA Division III National Awards

Photo by Fabiana Huffaker

A nationwide voting committee selected 16 finalists for the Off the Block/Molten NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Awards.

Off the Block announced Monday the finalists for the five annual position-based Division III awards — the Off the Block/Molten National Setter of the Year, the Off the Block/Molten National Outside Attacker of the Year, the Off the Block/Molten National Opposite of the Year, the Off the Block/Molten National Middle Attacker of the Year and the Off the Block/Molten National Libero of the Year.

Each national award recognizes the most outstanding NCAA Division III men’s volleyball player at their position during the regular season. While several other volleyball organizations present national honors, these are the only national position-based awards for NCAA Division III men’s volleyball.

The voting committee for these national awards was comprised of about 20 NCAA Division III men’s volleyball coaches from around the nation.

The top-three vote-getters for each award were named finalists and the student-athlete receiving the most votes will be named the award winner. The close voting margins for the National Setter of the Year resulted in four finalists been named for that award.

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The NCAA champions SUNY New Paltz along with Carthage, Kean and MSOE each had multiple players named finalists. In addition, eight other schools had one player selected as a finalist — Arcadia, Juniata, Lancaster Bible, Marian, Springfield, Stevenson, Stevens and UC Santa Cruz.

The national winners and complete voting results will be unveiled June 3-7 on the Off the Block website.

Off the Block is a national award winning website and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage. Molten is the official volleyball supplier of NCAA Division III men’s volleyball and is the 2019 sponsor of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Awards.

Off the Block/Molten Division III National Setter of the Year finalists

Ian Capp, Kean
Matthew Grace, SUNY New Paltz
Matt Reinsel, Carthage
Quin Krisik, MSOE

Off the Block/Molten Division III National Opposite of the Year finalists

David Lehman, Stevens
Nate Miller, Lancaster Bible
Quinn Peterson, Juniata

Off the Block/Molten Division III National Outside Attacker of the Year finalists

Landon Shorts, Stevenson
Matt Slivinski, Carthage
Nick Smith, SUNY New Paltz

Off the Block/Molten Division III National Middle Attacker of the Year finalists

Austin Braas, Arcadia
Raymond Cascio, UC Santa Cruz
Kamil Garbowski, Kean

Off the Block/Molten Division III National Libero of the Year finalists

Cullen Liberski, Marian
Danny Martens, MSOE
Johjan Mussa Robles, Springfield