The UVC announced its 2026 individual awards and all-conference teams on Thursday, April 9. The awards are voted on by the league’s head coaches.
 
NYU swept all three individual student-athlete accolades. Junior right side Emerson Evans was named the 2026 UVC Player of the Year, while NYU sophomore Bennet Tchaikovsky was named Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year and teammate Charlie Clifford was named 2026 UVC Rookie of the Year.
 
Evans, a native of Huntington Beach, CA, is enjoying a tremendous season for the Violets, as he leads the UVC in both kills and points per set. He is seventh nationally, averaging 4.14 kills per set and is tenth in Division III with 4.8 points per set. Evans has recorded at least 10 kills in a match 16 times this season, including nine matches with at least 20 kills. Evans, a three-time UVC Player of the Week, has also added 141 digs (1.83 per set) and 46 blocks (0.6 per set), while hitting .282 this season. He enters the UVC Tournament with 831 career kills and 1,010 points (3.75 per set). Evans is the second straight UVC Player of the Year from NYU.
 
Clifford, a two-time UVC Rookie of the Week, leads is second on NYU behind Evans and is fifth among all UVC student-athletes, averaging 3.17 kills per set and sixth with 3.64 points per set, while hitting .292. He also leads the Violets with 25 service aces to go along with 24 blocks. A native of Glen Ellyn, IL, Clifford has recorded at least 10 kills in a match 15 times this season, including a season-high 22 in a five-set win over Hobart on March 28. He is the third NYU student-athlete to earn UVC Rookie of the Year honors, joining Deyn Nguyen (2024) and Alex Li (2017).
 
Tchaikovsky was named the 2026 UVC Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year, marking the fourth straight season (Zack Knudsen, 2023-25) that an NYU student-athlete earned the honor. A native of Huntington Beach, CA, Tchaikovsky, a sophomore, leads the UVC with 232 total digs and 2.76 digs per set this season. He has recorded at least 10 digs in a match 12 times this season, including a season-high 21 against Stevens on Feb. 10.
 
Todd Elwell of MIT and Radu Petrus of SUNY New Paltz were named 2026 UVC Co-Coaches of the Year. Elwell has led MIT to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming UVC Tournament with a 20-7 record and 5-2 mark in league play. The Engineers are a top-two seed in the UVC Tournament for the first time and will look to win their first league title this weekend. It is Elwell’s first UVC Coach of the Year honor and for MIT (2014).
 
Petrus led the Hawks to the 2026 UVC Regular Season Championship and top-seed in the upcoming UVC Tournament. New Paltz enters the weekend with a 21-6 overall and record, having finished 6-1 in league play. The Hawks have won 13 of their last 14 matches. It is Petrus’ third UVC Coach of the Year honor, having also won in 2016 and 2022. He has also led the Hawks to two NCAA Championships in 2016 and 2019.
 
Devyn Nguyen, the 2024 UVC Rookie of the Year and 2025 UVC Co-Player of the Year, garnered all-UVC first team honors for the second straight season. He is currently second nationally, averaging 10.3 assists per set. Evans gave NYU a pair of first team selections to lead the league. Junior right side Noah DeLong of Hobart College, junior middle blocker Armaan Desai of Vassar College, junior outside hitter Geoff Ndoria of New Paltz and sophomore outside hitter Braeden Baker of MIT were all selected to the 2026 UVC First Team.
 
Overall, MIT, New Paltz and NYU placed four members apiece on the all-conference team, while Hobart had three, Vassar and St. John Fisher University both had two student-athletes and Nazareth University garnered one.
 
Top-seeded SUNY New Paltz, who is also ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball National Power Index, is set to host the six-team 2026 UVC Championship Tournament this weekend. The quarterfinals will be played on Friday, as No. 4 Hobart and No. 5 Vassar meet at 5 p.m., while No. 3 NYU takes on No. 6 St. John Fisher at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, top-seed New Paltz will play the winner of Hobart and Vassar in one semifinal at 2:30 p.m., while No. 2 seed MIT will face the winner of NYU and St. John Fisher in the second semifinal at 5 p.m. The two semifinal winners will meet for the 2026 UVC Championship on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m.

2026 UVC All-Conference Selections
 
Player of the Year: Emerson Evans, Jr., RS, NYU
Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year: Bennet Tchaikovsky, So., L/DS, NYU
Rookie of the Year: Charlie Clifford, Fr., OH, NYU
Co-Coach of the Year: Todd Elwell, MIT
Co-Coach of the Year: Radu Petrus, SUNY New Paltz
 
UVC All-Conference First Team
Braeden Baker, So., OH, MIT (Phoenix, AZ/Sandra Day O’Connor)
Noah DeLong, Jr., RS, Hobart (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg)
Armaan Desai, Jr., MB, Vassar (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley Central)
Emerson Evans, Jr., OH, NYU (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison)
Geoff Ndoria, Jr., OH, SUNY New Paltz (Ronkonkoma, NY/Sachem North)
Devyn Nguyen, Jr., S, NYU (Sage Creek, CA/Los Gatos)

UVC All-Conference Second Team
Henry Bonney, So., OH, Vassar (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin)
Charlie Clifford, Fr., OH, NYU (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard West)
Krish Jain, Sr., MB, SUNY New Paltz (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville)
Matt Marusza, Jr., S, SUNY New Paltz (Orchard Park, NY/Canisius)
Ryan Murphy, So., MB, Nazareth (Penfield, NY/Penfield)
Colin Zimmerman, Fr., S, MIT (Phoenix, AZ/Brophy College Prep)

UVC All-Conference Honorable Mention
Harry Fromberg, Fr., OH, Hobart (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan)
Aiden Kemora, Jr., OH/RS, Hobart (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame Prep)
Avery Kielbasinski, Fr., OH, St. John Fisher (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt)
Gabe La Robardiere, Sr., OH, St. John Fisher (North Syracuse, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse)
Matthew Louis, Fr., MB, MIT (Barrington, IL/Barrington)
Bennett Tchaikovsky, So., L/DS, NYU (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach)
Nikko Tenedorio, So., OH, SUNY New Paltz (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore)
Nate Toth, Fr., OH, MIT (Mokena, IL/Marist)