Nine student-athletes from the United Volleyball Conference earned 2026 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Region II accolades, announced on Monday, April 13. Junior right side Emerson Evans of NYU earned Region II Player of the Year honor, while teammate Charlie Clifford, an outside hitter, was named the Region II Newcomer of the Year.
UVC Champion NYU, ranked No. 1 nationally, led all UVC institutions with six individual selections, while St. John Fisher University had two student-athletes honored. Hobart, MIT, Nazareth University, New Paltz and Vassar each had one student-athlete selected.
All 13 student-athletes are eligible to earn 2025 AVCA All-American honors, which will be announced on Monday, April 21.
Evans, a native of Huntington Beach, CA, was previously named the 2026 UVC Player of the Year and earned a spot on the 2026 UVC Championship All-Tournament Team. Evans is enjoying a tremendous season for the Violets, who are headed to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
Evans leads the UVC in both kills and points per set. He is sixth nationally, averaging 4.23 kills per set and is seventh in Division III with 4.84 points per set. Evans has recorded at least 10 kills in a match 18 times this season, including 10 matches with at least 20 kills. Evans, a three-time UVC Player of the Week, has also added 153 digs (1.82 per set) and 48 blocks (0.57 per set), while hitting .292 this season.
Clifford, a two-time UVC Rookie of the Week, is second on NYU behind Evans and is fifth among all UVC student-athletes, averaging 3.18 kills per set and sixth with 3.64 points per set, while hitting .295. He also leads the Violets with 25 service aces to go along with 27 blocks. A native of Glen Ellyn, IL, Clifford has recorded at least 10 kills in a match 17 times this season.
Three teams are set to represent the UVC in the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament, which begins this weekend. UVC Champion MIT heads to Stevens to face St. Joseph's of Long Island in an opening round match at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 17. NYU and SUNY New Paltz earned at-large bids into the tournament and will face-off against each other in a second round contest from Springfield College at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18.
The complete 2026 AVCA Division III All-North Region team is below. Devyn Nguyen of NYU garnered his third consecutive All-Region honor, while Armaan Desai of Vassar College, Evans and Nikko Tenedorio of SUNY New Paltz all earned their second straight All-Region accolades.
2025 AVCA Division III All-North Region Selections
Braeden Baker, So., OH, MIT
Henry Bonney, So., RS, Vassar
Charlie Clifford, Fr., OH, NYU
^ Armaan Desai, Jr., MB, Vassar
^ Emerson Evans, Jr., MB/OH, NYU
Geoff Ndoria, Jr., OH, SUNY New Paltz
% Devyn Nguyen, Fr., S, NYU
Bennet Tchiakovsky, So, L/DS, NYU
^ Nikko Tenedorio, Fr., OH, SUNY New Paltz
AVCA North Region Player of the Year: Emerson Evans, Jr., RS, NYU
AVCA North Region Rookie of the Year: Charlie Clifford, Fr., OH, NYU
^ Two-time AVCA All-Region selection
% Three-time AVCA All-Region selection