BYU, Lewis, UCLA players named finalists for 2020 National Server of Year

Photo courtesy of BYU athletics

A nationwide voting committee has selected Lewis outside attacker Kyle Bugee, BYU opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez and UCLA setter Mads Kyed Jensen as the finalists for the 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 later this week as part of its College Men’s Volleyball National Awards Presentation.

Bugee was second in the nation averaging 0.62 aces per game and had at least one ace in all but three matches that played in this season. The senior also had at least five aces in two matches — five aces in a four-game loss to Hawai’i and a season-high six aces in a sweep against Lindenwood.

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Fernandez led the nation with a 0.92 aces per game average and had a career-high 56 aces — three more aces than service errors during the season. Among his top serving performances included a season-high eight aces in a sweep against Hawai’i days before the remainder of the season was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kyed Jenssen was third in the country with a 0.60 aces per game average and had at least one ace in all but four matches during his freshman season. The setter had at least three aces in eight matches, including a match-high four aces in a victory against its crosstown rival USC.

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, former UCLA All-American Micah Ma’a in 2016, former Ohio State All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen in 2017, Penn State opposite Jalen Penrose in 2018 and both Ma’a and former Lewis All-American setter Matt Yoshimoto in 2019.

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.