2016-17 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball All-Conference and Major Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – King University outside hitter Jeff Sprayberry has been selected as the 2016-17 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Player of the Year. University of Mount Olive's Josh Donahue was named Defensive Player of the Year, while Angelos Mandilaris of Barton College won Freshman of the Year. In addition, Ryan Booher of King earned Coach of the Year, the Conference announced today.
Sprayberry, a junior from Oak Forest, Ill., earned Player of the Year honors after averaging 3.43 kills per set and leading the league with 350 kills while hitting .263 on the season. He a season-best 27 kills twice and had two double-doubles on the year. Sprayberry becomes King's second Player of the Year, joining Joel Salva in 2011.
Donahue, a junior from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., receives Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 2.73 digs per set on 243 digs. The all-time leader in digs at Mount Olive, Donahue led UMO to a 16-9 overall record and 14-4 Conference Carolinas mark on the season.
Mandilaris, a freshman from Chalkida, Greece, was named the league's Freshman of the Year after ranking 10th in conference with 255 total kills for a 3.45 per set average, while hitting .350 percent. He also chipped in 1.66 digs per set on 123 digs and collected a team-high 36 service aces.
Booher earns Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career, winning the award last in 2011. This season, Booher guided the Tornado to its first Conference Carolinas regular season title, winning a program-best 16 conference matches. He also led King to a 20-win improvement from last season, winning a program-record 28 matches. The previous best for the program was 15 back in 2015. In the middle of the season, the Tornado won a program-record 15 straight matches.
Barton led the way with four first team selections each, as Mandilaris was joined by Vasilas Mandilaris, Aleksa Brkovic and Federico Pagliara. Rounding out the first team was Sprayberry and the Mount Olive duo of Donahue and Robert Poole.
All-Conference Carolinas First Team
Jeff Sprayberry, King
Robert Poole, Mount Olive
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
Vasilas Mandilaris, Barton
Josh Donahue, Mount Olive
Federico Pagliara, Barton
All-Conference Carolinas Second Team
Jon Wheaton, King
Bruno Kretzschmar, Limestone
Matthew McManaway, North Greenville
Bret Rutledge, Mount Olive
Dylan Lavner, Limestone
Keenan Freitas, Lees-McRae
Nick Drooker, King
All-Conference Carolinas Third Team
Evan Blair, Pfeiffer
Justice Lord, Barton
Alex Palmatier, Mount Olive
John Sobel, Lees-McRae
Eddie Moushikhian, King
Jimmy Nuckolls, King
Jeff Yasalonis, Mount Olive
Player of the Year
Jeff Sprayberry, King
Defensive Player of the Year
Josh Donahue, Mount Olive
Freshman of the Year
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Coach of the Year
Ryan Booher, King
Regular Season Men's Volleyball Champions
Barton College & King University
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 12 teams from Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These institutions consist of: Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Converse College, Emmanuel College, Erskine College, King University, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, University of Mount Olive, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University, and Southern Wesleyan University. Emmanuel College is currently completing the NCAA DII membership process and will be fully competing in league championships in the near future.