United Volleyball Conference | 4/20/2020 12:55:23 PM

Ten different United Volleyball Conference student-athletes earned All-American honors, as announced by the National Volleyball Association (NVA) and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Monday, April 20. Seven different players garnered first team accolades, while three were second team selections. Seven are first time All-Americans.
 
Josh Bigford and David Cerqua of St. John Fisher College, Aaron Carrk, Matthew Grace and Nick O’Malley of SUNY New Paltz, Neil Ferraro of NYU and Gavin van Beveren of Vassar College were the first team selections, while Evan Lindley of NYU, Thomas Nelson of MIT and Kevin Ros of Vassar earned second team accolades.
 
Bigford, who was previously named 2020 UVC Co-Player of the Year and AVCA North Region Player of the Year, helped lead the Cardinals to their best start in program history at 15-4 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 7 in the NVA/AVCA Division III National poll. Bigford, the 2019 UVC Rookie of the Year, was second in the league and 15th nationally with 4.00 kills per set and 17th in Division III with 4.58 points per set. It is his first All-American honor.
 
Ceruqa, earned his second Empire 8 Libero/Defensive Player of the Year honor last month. Cerqua, a junior, was fourth nationally with 3.15 digs per set. It is his first All-American honor.
 
Defending national champion New Paltz was well represented on the All-American team, as Grace, Carrk and O’Malley earned first team accolades. Grace, the 2020 UVC Co-Player of the Year, led all of Division III with 11.00 assists per set. He also had 88 digs and 15 service aces in leading the Hawks to a 16-3 overall record and 4-1 mark in UVC play. He has 4,102 career assists in four seasons at New Paltz. Carrk led the UVC and was 12th nationally with 4.13 kills and 14th in Division III with 4.69 points per set in 2020. He also hit .352 with 264 kills. O’Malley, a middle blocker, was second nationally with a .440 hitting percentage and added 136 kills and 26 blocks. Grace is a two-time All-American, as he was a second team pick in 2019.
 
Ferraro earned his third straight AVCA All-American honor and second first team accolade. Ferraro, a senior, who previously earned first team honors in 2018 and second team plaudits last season, was ninth nationally in 2020 with a .405 hitting percentage and 11th overall with 1.06 blocks per set. He also added 130 kills. For the Violets, who started 12-0 and were the No. 1 team in the NVA/AVCA Division III National poll for the first time in program history on Feb. 25.
 
van Beveren was in the midst of a tremendous first season for Vassar, who ascended to as high as No. 2 in the NVA/AVCA Division III National poll. The 2020 UVC Rookie of the Year and AVCA North Region Newcomer of the Year, van Beveren was second in the UVC and third nationally with a .434 hitting percentage to go along with 190 kills, 71 blocks and 22 service aces. His 0.90 blocks per set were second in the league and 26th in Division III.
 
Lindley, a senior, led the Violets with 144 kills, while hitting .327. He was 14th nationally with 0.565 aces per set and finished with 4.01 points per set. It is his first All-American honor.
 
Nelson, a senior, was previously named the 2020 UVC Libero/Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. He finished second in the league and 21st nationally with 2.79 digs per set. He helped lead MIT to a 17-4 overall record and 4-1 mark in league play, as the Engineers were ranked as high as 13th in the NVA/AVCA Division III National poll. He was previously a second team All-American in 2018.
 
Ros hit .365 for the Brewers in 2020 with team-best totals of 237 kills and 279.5 points per set. He also added 132 digs and 44 blocks for the Brewers to earn his first All-American honor. He was named an All-UVC first team selection on March 30. 
 
The UVC canceled its season in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the season was cut short, NYU (2), New Paltz (3), Vassar (4), St. John Fisher (9) and MIT (13) were all ranked in the most recent NVA/AVCA Division III Men’s Volleyball Coaches poll.
 
ABOUT THE UNITED VOLLEYBALL CONFERENCE
The members of the United Volleyball Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. For more on the UVC visit www.theuvc.org.
 
For more on the UVC visit www.theuvc.org
 
UVC SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter – Instagram