FOREST, Va. - The Old Dominion Athletic Conference named its All-Conference teams on Saturday, and five Royals found themselves named to the inaugural All-ODAC teams.
Andre Mills was named First Team All-ODAC,
Daeman Odom was named Second Team All-ODAC and
Jose Melendez,
Ricardo Fernandez Perez and
Ezekiel Awkward found themselves on the Third Team.
Mills, a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had arguably one of the best offensive seasons in the ODAC. The RS finished the season first in the conference with 370 kills and 3.43 K/S, which was 49th best in all of Division III. Three times he eclipsed 20+ kills in a match, including an ODAC-high 28 kills in a five set win over Marymount on March 22. Mills was also tops in the conference with 448.5 points, 62.5 points ahead of the next closest player. He was tied for the ODAC lead with 4.15 points/set. Mills also finished the season fourth in the ODAC with 0.32 service aces/set. Defensively, Mills was second on the team, and 11th in the ODAC, with 0.73 blocks/set.
Odom, named Second Team All-ODAC at MB, was a dominant presence at the net for EMU, as the first year from Virginia Beach finished at the top of the ODAC, and 10th nationally, with 1.10 blocks/set. He also led the Royals, and was second in the ODAC, with 110 total blocks, including 26 solo blocks and 84 assisted blocks. He had at least one block in all but four of EMU's 31 matches, and had the ODAC's second most total blocks in a single match when he had 10 against Illinois Tech on Feb. 15. On the offensive side of the ball, he finished third on the team with 164 kills while hitting .308 for the season.
Melendez was named Third Team All-ODAC at middle blocker after a season that saw him notch 138 kills and 192.0 points, both of which were fourth on the team. The sophomore from San Juan, Puerto Rico, patrolled the net with Odom, and was able to pick up 49.0 total blocks, which was third on the Royals. He was second on the team with 15 solo blocks and had a season-high five blocks in a 3-1 win over Lynchburg.
Awkward, an outside hitter Bloomfield, NJ, was one of the top first years in the ODAC on the offensive side of the net. He was inserted in the lineup early in the season, and had a strong initial campaign. He was second on the team in kills with 227 kills, which was good enough for eighth in the ODAC, and 2.25 K/S, which was 12th in the conference. He slammed home a career, and match-high 18 kills in a Royals 3-2 win over Randolph on April 2, which helped EMU secure the three seed in the inaugural ODAC MVB Tournament. He also finished with 30 service aces, fifth in the ODAC, and 0.30 SA/S, tied for seventh in the ODAC. Defensive, he was fourth on the squad with 31.0 total blocks.
From the setter position, Fernandez Perez was the director of the Royals offense in his first season in Harrisonburg. The first year from San Juan, Puerto Rico, was third in the ODAC in both total assists with 751 and A/S with 7.44. He had double-digit assists in 27 of EMU's 31 matches, including an ODAC season-high 56 assists against Illinois Tech. He also finished with 49 in the five-set win over Marymount. He was third on the team with 167 digs, averaging 1.65 DIG/S, which put him second on the squad. He also had 19 blocks.
The Royals went 15-16 in its first season in the ODAC, and qualified for the ODAC Tournament, where they fell to #2 Roanoke College. Randolph Macon, the top seed in the tournament, would go on to beat Roanoke in straight sets, to get the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA MVB Tournament. The Yellow Jackets will take on Nichols on April 17.
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