EMU’s Josh Elmore (Chester, Va./Matoaca) has been named the Continental Volleyball Conference Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Royal to win a major award in the six-year history of the CVC.
Elmore finished fourth in the conference with 316 kills. He led a balanced EMU attack with 2.75 kills per set, notching an impressive .275 hitting percentage. Four Royals averaged between 2.75 and 2.24 kills per set. The outside hitter was fifth in the CVC with 81 blocks, at 0.70 per set, and fourth with 18 solo blocks. He was also second on the team with 207 digs, picking up 1.80 per set.
In just the third week of his first collegiate season, Elmore was named the CVC Player of the Week after leading EMU to wins over nationally ranked Nazareth and Vassar. He had 50 kills, 22 digs and 9 blocks in the three-match Clash at Kean, which turned out to be the watershed weekend for the Royals.
He had 22 kills twice this season, Jan. 28 against ranked Kean and March 11 at D-II King. Elmore had six blocks in a match two different times, in high-profile matches against Nazareth and Stevenson. Defensively, he had 14 digs in each match against King.
After their run to the CVC Championship match at last weekend’s CVC Tournament, Eastern Mennonite moved back into the AVCA national poll, coming in at No. 15.
The Royals finished the 2017 season with a record of 22-11, tied for the best mark in program history. EMU was 9-5 in the CVC, earning a trip to the potseason tourney for the first time in league history, where they notched another first by upsetting top-seeded and host Marymount University in the semifinals.
Eastern Mennonite’s William Ragland (North Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) and Micah Buller (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) were also named to the All-CVC Team, which was announced last week.
In the other major awards announced from the CVC, Marymount’s TJ Wiechecki was named Player of the Year while Glenn DeHaven was named Coach of the Year after leading Juniata to the CVC Championship and a bid to the NCAA Tournament.