Hilton, NY - The United Volleyball Conference (UVC) announced its All-Conference selections on Wednesday morning as three Vassar College Men's Volleyball student-athletes were tabbed to the All-League teams. Senior Gavin Akoto and sophomore Walter Birnbaum were named All-Conference Second Team selections while sophomore Armaan Desai garnered All-Conference Honorable Mention status.

Akoto earns his first All-Conference recognition in his senior campaign as he ranks second on the team in total blocks with 59 and is tied for fourth in kills with 126. The senior also ranks tied for fifth in service aces with 12 and has lifted 30 digs this season. Akoto was named a Co-UVC Player of the Week on February 10 and has recorded a block in all but two matches played this season. 

Akoto heads into the postseason with 380 career kills, 34 career aces and 183 career total blocks and was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team last season following an impressive 20 kills and seven total blocks in the National Semifinal and National Championship match.

Birnbaum also earns his first career All-UVC accolades after leading the team with 178 kills and ranking fifth on the squad in blocks with 30. The sophomore also ranks in the top-five in digs with 72 and has landed 11 aces. Birnbaum has recorded eight matches with double-digit kills and buried a career-high 20 winners in a triumph over nationally-ranked Nichols on January 25. He also lifted a career-high 10 digs in back-to-back matches against Arcadia and Misericordia. 

Desai scores his first career conference recognition following a season where he ranks tied for fifth in the conference in total blocks with 72 and is second in blocks per set at 1.06. Desai is also tied for fourth on the team in kills with 126 and is third on the squad in aces with 16. Desai was recently named the Co-UVC Player of the Week on Monday and was tabbed the AVCA Division III National Player of the Week yesterday following a big week against #1 NYU and #2 Springfield.

Vassar earned the third seed in the UVC Championship this weekend and will travel to top-seeded NYU to take on sixth-seeded Hobart on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup. With a victory, the Brewers would advance to a semifinal matchup with second-seeded Nazareth on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

Co-Player of the Year: Andrew Kim, Gr., OH, Hobart
Co-Player of the Year: Devin Nguyen, So., S, NYU
Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year: Zach Knudsen, Sr., L/DS, NYU
Rookie of the Year: Nikko Tenedorio, Fr., OH, SUNY New Paltz
Coach of the Year: José Piña, NYU

UVC All-Conference First Team
Andrew Kim, Gr., OH, Hobart (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Mission Viejo)
Owen Wickens, Gr., OH/L, Nazareth (Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit)
Ry Kagan, Sr., MH, NYU (Calabasas, CA/Calabasas)
Devyn Nguyen, So., S, NYU (Sage Creek, CA/Los Gatos)
Lucas Osiecki, Sr., OH, NYU (Middle Village, NY/Hunter College)
Griffin Stella, Gr., MH, St. John Fisher (Churchville, NY/Churchville-Chili)

UVC All-Conference Second Team
Grant Oh, Sr., OH, MIT (Irvine, CA/Orange Lutheran)
Buddy Cohen, Sr., MB, NYU (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar)
Emerson Evans, So., OH, NYU (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison)
Zach Knudsen, Sr., L/DS, NYU ^ (Carlsbad, CA/Carlsbad)
Nikko Tenedorio, Fr., OH, SUNY New Paltz (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore)
Ian Rauh, Sr., MB, St. John Fisher ^ (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park)
Gavin Akoto, Sr., MB, Vassar (Justice, IL/Argo Community)
Walter Birnbaum, So., OH, Vassar ^ (La Jolla, CA/La Jolla)
^ Tie for final Second Team position

UVC All-Conference Honorable Mention
Jordan Peiser, Gr., OH, Elmira (Great Neck, NY/Great Neck)
Daniel Sappia, So., OH, Hobart (Wellington, FL/Cardinal Gibbons)
Andrew Bodensteiner, Sr., MB, Nazareth (Rochester, NY/Spencerport)
Ryan Murphy, Fr., MB, Nazareth (Penfield, NY/Penfield)
Armaan Desai, So., MB, Vassar (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley)