Men's Volleyball | 3/31/2020 11:00:00 AM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The Empire 8 announced its 2020 Men's Volleyball Awards and All-Conference teams Tuesday morning. The St. John Fisher College men's volleyball team won three of the four major awards while six athletes overall were recognized.
Josh Bigford was named Player of the Year and
David Cerqua earned Libero/Defensive Player of the Year. The Fisher coaching staff that is led by Head Coach
Stephen England was selected as the E8 Coaching Staff of the Year.
Bigford takes home his second Player of the Year honor of the week after receiving Co-Player of the Year of the United Volleyball Conference on Monday. The sophomore, who was also selected to the All-Conference First Team, averaged the most kills (4.0) and points per set (4.58) in the E8 while also having the second-highest hitting percentage (.325) and fifth-most service aces (23) in the league.
The outside hitter struck the ball extremely well against conference opponents with hitting .545 in a straight-sets win over The Sage Colleges on February 22. In the pair of 3-0 victories versus Elmira, the Cicero native hit .429 and .455. Bigford was selected E8 Player of the Week three times throughout the year.
Cerqua garners his second Libero/Defensive Player Award after winning it for his freshman season in 2018. The Baldwinsville native netted 230 digs, averaging 3.15 per set which was almost entire dig more than any other competitor in the conference. The Libero had double-digit digs in 11 matches this season and broke his own program record with 33 in a five-set victory versus Wentworth on January 25, the junior was honored as E8 Player of the Week for the performance. Cerqua also took All-Conference Second Team honors.
Coach England and his staff of Associate Head Coach
Kelly Greapentrog and assistants
John McCarty,
Mike Strumpfler,
Alexis Mancha and
Lindsey DeBonis won their second-straight Conference Coaching Staff of the Year award after leading the Cardinals to an impressive season that was cut short by the COVID-19 virus. The Cardinals went undefeated against E8 opponents and ended up with an overall record of 15-4. Fisher appeared in the National Rankings for the first time in program history and got as high as seventh before finishing ninth in the final poll.
Matt Broderick,
Paul Hackford and
Martin Hackford all nabbed Second Team honors.
Broderick ranked third on the team in kills (116) and fourth in digs (107) while also holding the seventh-highest hitting percentage (.217) in the conference.
Paul Hackford, who was also named to the All-UVC Second Team, led the league in assists with 589 while averaging 9.82 per set. The setter produced a season-high 55 assists in the win over No. 1 ranked New York University on February 29.
Martin Hackford took a major leap forward in 2020 with ranking in the top ten of the E8 for kills (147), hitting percentage (.325), digs (103) and service aces (37). The Orchard Park native led the league in aces and set a single match program record with eight aces in a three-set win against Elmira on March 11. The outside hitter was named the final Conference Player of the Week of the season for the performance.
Eric Bentivegna was recognized as an E8 Honorable Mention. The sophomore went from playing in just nine matches last season to leading the conference in total blocks with 62. The Ontario native had a career-high seven total blocks in the win over Wentworth which he would later tie versus Elmira in the final match of the 2020 campaign.
Along with his Second Team honor, Broderick was also selected as Fisher's representative for E8 Sportsman of the Year. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. The Sportsman of the Year honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
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