The American Volleyball Coaches’ Association (AVCA) has announced its 2018 NCAA Division III All-Americans. The AVCA names three teams annually, a First-Team, Second-Team, and Honorable Mention list. This year, the First Team has 14 athletes, the Second-Team has 14 athletes, and the third-team has 3 athletes.
Elms College freshman Jovanny Torres from Puerto Rico was named the national Newcomer of the Year. The 6’4″ setter/opposite had 43 blocks and 156 kills in 69 sets this season. He also chipped in 153 assists, 12 aces, and 101 digs while playing a number of different positions. His brother, 5’8″ outside hitter Jeremy Torres, was also a freshman at Elms this year.
The Division III Player of the Year will be named at the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship banquet in Kenosha, Wisconsin during the Final 4 of the national championship tournament.
Vassar College senior middle blocker Matthew Knigge was named First-Team All-American for the third-straight season. He ranked 2nd in the nation in kills-per-set this season with 4.33 and points-per-set with 5.45. In addition to his 429 kills and 38 aces, he also contributed 132 total blocks. No other player in the top 80 nationally in scoring had more blocks than did Knigge. Meanwhile Marymount’s TJ Wiechecki and NYU’s Alex Li each earned their second-straight First-Team honor.
Stevens leads all teams with 5 total honorees – 4 on the 1st team, and 1 on the second team. The four teams that will play in this weekend’s national semifinals account for 12 of the 31 honorees.
Honors by Team
| Institution | First Team | Second Team | Honorable Mention | Total |
| Stevens Institute of Technology | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Carthage College | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| New York University | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Springfield College | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Vassar College | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Milwaukee School of Engineering | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lancaster Bible College | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wentworth Institute of Technology | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Marymount University | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rivier University | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kean University | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Dominican University | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| North Central College | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Endicott College | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Juniata College | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Hunter College | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Elms College | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
2018 AVCA MEN’S DIVISION III FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA
| Player | Institution | Pos. | Yr. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Burrell! | Stevens Institute of Technology | MB | Sr. |
| Neil Ferraro | New York University | MB | So. |
| Sergio Figueroa Velez | Springfield College | OH | Sr. |
| Matthew Knigge*^ | Vassar College | MB | Sr. |
| David Lehman! | Stevens Institute of Technology | RS | So. |
| Alex Li* | New York University | OH | So. |
| Zach Lillig! | Carthage College | MB | Sr. |
| Danny Martens | Milwaukee School of Engineering | L | So. |
| Nate Miller | Lancaster Bible College | RS | Jr. |
| Jacob Patterson | Stevens Institute of Technology | S | Jr. |
| Matt Reinsel!$ | Carthage College | S | Jr. |
| Collin Ritter! | Wentworth Institute of Technology | S/H | Sr. |
| Gabe Shankweiler& | Stevens Institute of Technology | OH | Gr. |
| TJ Wiechecki* | Marymount University | RS | Sr. |
2018 AVCA MEN’S DIVISION III SECOND-TEAM ALL-AMERICA
| Player | Institution | Pos. | Yr. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grant Andler | Rivier University | RS | Sr. |
| Garrett Bucklin | Rivier University | S | Sr. |
| Ian Capp | Kean University | S | So. |
| Brendan Crawford | North Central College | MB | So. |
| Dylan DeBoer | Stevens Institute of Technology | OH | Jr. |
| Joseth Irizarry Feliciano | Springfield College | MB | Sr. |
| Kyle Jasuta! | Springfield College | MB | Jr. |
| Zechariah Lee! | Vassar College | S | Sr. |
| Bryn Lipton | Endicott College | OH | So. |
| Thomas Nelson | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | L | So. |
| Quinn Peterson | Juniata College | RS | Jr. |
| Luke Spicer* | Dominican University | RS | Sr. |
| Shayron Taylor | Kean University | MB | Jr. |
| Evan Walsh | Carthage College | RS | Jr. |
2018 AVCA MEN’S DIVISION III HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA
| Player | Institution | Pos. | Yr. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan Klosak | Dominican University | OH | So. |
| Joe Muir | Hunter College | L | Sr. |
| Jovanny Torres | Elms College | S/H | Fr. |
* – 2017 AVCA Division III Men’s First-Team All-America selection
! – 2017AVCA Division III Men’s Second-Team All-America selection
^ – 2016 AVCA Division III Men’s First-Team All-America selection
$ – 2016 AVCA Division III Men’s Second-Team All-America selection
# – 2015 AVCA Division III Men’s First-Team All-America selection
% – 2015 AVCA Division III Men’s Second-Team All-America selection
& – 2014 AVCA Division III Men’s Second-Team All-America selection
The selections were made by the AVCA Men’s Division III Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson LJ Marx (chairperson), Paul Leon (UC Santa Cruz), Joseph Contello (Brooklyn), Pedro Trevino (Rutgers-Newark), Scott Reslow (Johnson & Wales), Aldis Berzins (Stevenson), Ryan Shopf (Lakeland), Keith Koch (Medaille), Sheila Gisbrecht (Elms), Bill Kropp (St. Joseph’s – Long Island), Cal Wickens (Nazareth).
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