Inaugural recipients never get lost in a crowd. They stand above everyone else, and that was the general consensus about Stanford sophomore libero Evan Enriques.
Inaugural recipients never get lost in a crowd. They stand above everyone else, and that was the general consensus about Stanford sophomore libero Evan Enriques.
Enriques, a 2014 Kamehameha graduate, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Erik Shoji Award, the newest college men’s volleyball national honor, in a vote by a nationwide committee.
Shoji, the son of Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji, was a Stanford four-time All-American libero. Erik Shoji is a member of the U.S. national team and plays pro ball in Germany.
The Erik Shoji Award will be annually given to the nation’s best libero in NCAA Division I and II men’s volleyball during the regular season. (The two divisions play together.)
Enriques was in the nation’s top 10 and had a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation-best 2.59 digs per game average during the regular season. The second-year starter had a career-high 18 digs against Long Beach State in February.
The Cardinal (19-6, 17-5 MPSF) ended the regular season in the conference’s top four and narrowly missed the final at-large bid to the six-team NCAA Tournament.
Enriques received seven first-place votes and 33 points to beat-out the runner-up IPFW libero Luis Bertran by nine points. Hawaii senior libero Kolby Kanetake finished in third place with 21 points.
Last season, Kanetake was an NCAA All-American honorable mention. The liberos on the first and second teams were seniors.
The NCAA All-American teams have yet to be announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Erik Shoji Award is run by Off the Block, a men’s college volleyball website that launched in 2011.
Enriques was recently named to the All-MPSF first team. Stanford senior setter James Shaw was the conference player of the year.
On the NCAA level, Enriques was 11th in the nation with 2.53 digs per set. George Mason junior Johnny Gomez led with a 3.04 average.
However, the MPSF is considered the strongest conference in the nation. The league has three teams (BYU, Long Beach State, and UCLA) in the six-team NCAA Championships, which start Thursday.
Barton College freshman Kekaulike Alameda, a 2015 Kamehameha graduate, was ranked fourth in the nation with 2.82 dps.
Alameda was first in the nation with 302 digs for the Division II Bulldogs from North Carolina.
Barton College advanced to the conference championships and lost to Erskine College for what could have been an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Lees-McRae junior Keenan Freitas, a 2013 Christian Liberty grad, was ranked 13th with 2.44 dps.
UH’s Kanetake, a 2012 Moanalua High graduate, was 16th with 2.27 dps.
Other former BIIF players finishing their collegiate seasons were:
UH freshman libero Mamane Namahoe, 2014 Waiakea.
University of Mount Olive senior libero Ryan Thomas, 2012 Kamehameha.
Barton College freshman middle blocker Justin Lord, 2015 Hilo.
Cal Baptist freshman libero Emmett Enriques, 2015 Kamehameha.
Grand Canyon freshman setter Kaehu Kaaa, 2014 Kamehameha-Kapalama graduate and former Waiakea player.