The 2018 NCAA DI-II Men’s Season has come to its conclusion with Long Beach State winning the National Championship. Now let’s transition to some individual accolades to give out.
This week, we will present our end-of-season VolleyMob awards, starting with our All-Freshman Team today, our Third-Team tomorrow, Second-Team on Thursday and First-Team on Friday. For each level of All-America recognition, we’ve selected six players plus a libero, similar to a starting lineup. The week will culminate on Saturday with us naming our National Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.
*Note: All-Americans and National Player of the Year were voted on by a VolleyMob staff of writers and compiled based on the aggregate results.
| VOLLEYMOB FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICANS | |
| OH/RS (Hitter): | Jake Hanes – Right Side/Ohio State |
| OH/RS (Hitter): | Gabi Garcia Fernandez – Right Side/BYU |
| MB: | Tyler Mitchem – Middle Blocker/Lewis |
| MB: | Simon Anderson – Middle Blocker/LBSU |
| S: | Garrett Zolg – Setter/Loyola Chicago |
| OH/RS (Hitter): | Jaylen Jasper – Right Side/Stanford |
| L: | Florian Ruhm – Libero/Limestone |
VolleyMob All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention:
OH: Joel Schneidmiller (UC Irvine)
MB: Jack Reese (George Mason), TJ Murray (Lewis), Felipe de Brito Ferreira (BYU)
L: Connor Nagaki (Queens)
VOLLEYMOB’S 2018 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM:
JAKE HANES, RS FRESHMAN OPPOSITE AT OHIO STATE
6’10″ | Orland Park, Illinois
- 2018 Stats: 3.67 kills per set (.273), 1.25 digs per set, 0.57 blocks per set, 0.45 aces per set
- Ranked 1st among freshman in points per set (4.44), 12th overall in the entire country
- Ohio State finished 25-6 and ranked 5th in the VM Top 20, making the Volley Four
GABI GARCIA FERNANDEZ, FRESHMAN OPPOSITE AT BYU
6’7″ | San Juan, Puerto Rico
- 2018 Stats: 3.44 kills per set (.269), 1.32 digs per set, 0.83 blocks per set, 0.48 aces per set
- Ranked 2nd among freshman in points per set (4.36), 14th overall in the entire country
- BYU finished 22-7 and ranked 3rd in the VM Top 20, making the Volley Four
TYLER MITCHEM, RS FRESHMAN MIDDLE BLOCKER AT LEWIS
6’10″ | Bolingbrook, Illinois
- 2018 Stats: 1.78 kills per set (.394), 1.10 blocks per set, 0.16 digs per set, 0.07 aces per set
- Ranked in the top 20 of the NCAA in blocks per set and 2nd among freshman
- Lewis finished 19-11 and ranked 8th in the VM Top 20
SIMON ANDERSON, FRESHMAN MIDDLE BLOCKER AT LBSU
6’8″ | Middlefart, Denmark
- 2018 Stats: 1.50 kills per set (.471), 0.80 blocks per set, 0.18 digs per set, 0.12 aces per set
- If eligible, hitting % would’ve ranked 2nd in the NCAA; Ranked in the top 10 of freshman in blocks per set
- LBSU finished 28-1 and ranked 1st in the VM Top 20, winning the National Championship
GARRETT ZOLG, FRESHMAN SETTER AT LOYOLA CHICAGO
6’3″ | Santa Ana, California
- 2018 Stats: 10.32 assists per set, 2.02 digs per set, 0.34 blocks per set, 0.32 kills per set, 0.23 aces per set
- Loyola Chicago hit .308, the best for a team with a freshman setter; 2nd among freshman in assists per set
- Loyola finished 23-7 and ranked 7th in the VM Top 20
JAYLEN JASPER, FRESHMAN OPPOSITE AT STANFORD
6’7″ | Annapolis, Maryland
- 2018 Stats: 3.92 kills per set (.237), 1.34 digs per set, 0.27 blocks per set, 0.26 aces per set
- Ranked 7th in the country in kills per set and first among freshman
- Also ranked 17th in the country and third among freshman in points per set
FLORIAN RUHM, FRESHMAN LIBERO AT LIMESTONE
5’11″ | Kriftel, Germany
- 2018 Stats: 3.16 digs per set, 0.68 assists per set, .937 reception percentage
- Ranked 1st in the NCAA (for both freshmen and everyone) in digs per set
- Hit the 20-dig mark twice this season – both in just four sets of play
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