2019 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball All-Conference and Major Awards Announced
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Barton College outside hitter Angelos Mandilaris has been selected as the 2019 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Year, while teammate Aleksa Brkovic was named Defensive Player of the Year. Belmont Abbey College's Andrew Kohut was tabbed the league's Freshman of the Year. In addition, Jeff Lennox of Barton earned Coach of the Year, the Conference announced today.
New to the Conference Carolinas postseason award offering is the Elite 23 Award. The Elite 23 Award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at their respective championship site. The inaugural winner for men's volleyball is Barton's Brkovic.
Mandilaris, a junior from Chalkida, Greece, was named the Conference Carolinas Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight year. Mandilaris was a five-time league player of the week this season and currently leads the squad in kills (409) and kills per set (4.35).
Brkovic, a senior from Belgrade, Serbia, led the Bulldogs in digs this year with 245 and a 2.69 digs per set average. Brkovic was also named the Elite 23 Award winner, sporting a 3.90 GPA as a mathematics and business administration major.
Kohut, a freshman from Naperville, Ill., played in all 26 matches, hitting .216 from the opposite side and registered 208 total kills for a 2.24 kills per set average.
Lennox led Barton to its third straight regular season Conference Carolinas title in 2019 with the teams 23-4 overall record and 14-2 conference record.
Barton placed four players on the first team in, while King placed two and Belmont Abbey landed one first team honoree. Joining Mandilaris and Brkovic on the first team is Vasilis Mandilaris (Barton), Oscar Fiorentino (Barton), Liam Maxwell (Belmont Abbey), Sean Kohlhase (King) and Jon Wheaton (King).
All-Conference Carolinas First Team
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Liam Maxwell, Belmont Abbey
Sean Kohlhase, King
Vasilis Mandilaris, Barton
Jon Wheaton, King
Oscar Fiorentino, Barton
Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
All-Conference Carolinas Second Team
Don Thompson, Emmanuel
Jackson Gilbert, North Greenville
Eric Visgitis, Mount Olive
Dalton Johnson, King
Tobi Azeez, Mount Olive
Brennan Davis, Belmont Abbey
Joel Roberts, Mount Olive
All-Conference Carolinas Third Team
Luke Visgitis, Mount Olive
Keegan Sullivan, Erskine
Joshua Kim, King
Andrew Kohut, Belmont Abbey
Jordan Barreto, Limestone
Shane Yeo, Mount Olive
Noah Melendez, King
Offensive Player of the Year
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Defensive Player of the Year
Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
Freshman of the Year
Andrew Kohut, Belmont Abbey
Coach of the Year
Jeff Lennox, Barton
Elite 23 Award
Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
Regular Season Men's Volleyball Champions
Barton College & King University
Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletics conference made up of 11 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, and Southern Wesleyan University.