Conference Carolinas Unveils 2022 Men’s Volleyball All-Conference Honors
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Conference Carolinas unveiled its 2022 men’s volleyball all-conference honors at a special banquet on the campus of Mount Olive ahead of the 2022 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinals on Friday, April 22, 2022.
The all-conference awards were chosen by the league’s head coaches.
Joshua Kim of King was named Offensive Player of the Year as he helped lead the Tornado to the No. 2 seed in the championship. The third Tornado to win the award, Kim finished the regular season second in the league with 3.85 kills per set with 227 total kills in 59 sets this season. The 6-foot-6 right side from Garden Grove, California, hit. 314 on the season and added six service aces.
A 5-foot-11 libero from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Nicklas Eichenberger earned Defensive Player of the Year recognition. Eichenberger helped Emmanuel advance to the conference semifinals thanks to a league-best 2.96 digs per set with 320 total digs in 108 sets this season. He has a .973 reception percentage this season and 61 assists for the Lions. He is the first Lion to win the award.
In a first for North Greenville, 6-foot-3 freshman middle blocker Michael de la Cruz was named Freshman of the Year. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native finished the regular season fourth in hitting percentage at .396, third in service aces per set at .49 and third in blocks per set at .96. A large reason why the Crusaders won the regular season title and top seed in the tournament, Cruz currently has 157 kills, 38 aces and a team-best 75 blocks.
Fourth-year head coach James Friddle of Emmanuel was named Coach of the Year after leading the Lions to the best regular-season finish in program history and a program-record 15 wins and a 7-7 league mark. The four seed in the tournament, Friddle has the Lions in the program’s first-ever championship semifinal.
2022 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball All-Conference
Offensive Player of the Year
Joshua Kim, King
Defensive Player of the Year
Nicklas Eichenberger, Emmanuel
Freshman of the Year
Michael de la Cruz, North Greenville
Coach of the Year
James Friddle, Emmanuel
Elite 23
Tobi Azeez, Mount Olive
First Team
Jarrod Ferguson, Mount Olive
Joshua Kim, King
Noah Melendez, King
Michael Marsans, Lees-McRae
Matteo Miselli, Belmont Abbey
Eric Visgitis, Mount Olive
Luke Visgitis, Mount Olive
Second Team
Sergio Carrillo, North Greenville
Michael de la Cruz, North Greenville
Gustavo Cavalcanti, Emmanuel
Nicklas Eichenberger, Emmanuel
Suetonius Harris, King
Andrew Kohut, Belmont Abbey
Diego Rosich, North Greenville
Third Team
Edgerrin Austin, Erskine
Tobi Azeez, Mount Olive
Tyran Gillespie, Mount Olive
Dominic Hagerty, Mount Olive
Christian Phung, North Greenville
Jack Sarnowski, King
Gregory Torres, North Greenville