Pepperdine Alum Mayer Named AVP Best Defender and MVP
11/9/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Full AVP Release
MALIBU, Calif. — The Association of Volleyball Professionals announced its 2015 year-end award winners last week, and Pepperdine alum John Mayer was named AVP Best Defender and MVP after the conclusion of the 2015 AVP season.
Mayer, who will begin his first season as beach volleyball head coach at Loyola Marymount this 2016 season, garnered the two awards after excelling on the sand throughout the AVP circuit. He earned four finals appearances, six semi-finals and a tournament title in Seattle in the 2015 campaign. In 82 games played, Mayer collected a tour-high 387 digs, while maintaining a well-round reputation with 43 aces and 476 kills.
Seven tournament were included in the AVP's 2015 schedule, located in different regions of the United States, including New Orleans (May 21-24), New York (July 16-19), Seattle (Aug. 6-9), Manhattan Beach, Calif. (Aug. 13-16), Chicago (Aug. 27-30), Cincinnati (Sept. 3-6) and Huntington Beach, Calif. (Sept. 10-13). The AVP also hosted and operated an Olympic qualifying tournament on the FIVB World Tour in St. Petersburg, Fla. in June.
Full Release provided by the AVP:
The AVP enjoyed another successful year as the tour continued to flourish in its third full year under the leadership of Donald Sun. The enhanced seven-event 2015 tour schedule reached the nation's largest markets and beach volleyball hotbeds, including the AVP's first-ever event in Manhattan (N.Y.) and its long-awaited returns to New Orleans, Seattle and Chicago. The AVP increased its partnership revenue, and hundreds of thousands of fans were entertained across the nation with the dynamic competition on the sand, yielding impressive TV ratings on NBC and NBC Sports Network.
With its end-of-season awards, the AVP honors the beach volleyball veterans and newcomers that have helped elevate the level of competition enjoyed by fans across the country in 2015.
The year-end honors were awarded based on statistics, player votes and points earned during the 2015 tour season. Ten players were nominated in the categories of best defensive player, best blocker and best server, based on statistics (blocks, digs and aces recorded per set, with a minimum of 30 sets played to qualify for the category), with the winner being chosen by votes cast by active AVP players. Similarly, the top 10 offensive players were nominated based on hitting percentage (with a minimum of 600 attacks to qualify), with the winner also being selected by AVP players. Five men's players and nine women's players were nominated for newcomer of the year honors, based on the criteria that they must have been ranked among the top 32 players in their gender at the end of the 2015 season and must have played in less than half of the previous season's main draws.
Winners in the categories of most valuable player and most improved player were selected by AVP athletes through a write-in ballot. Teams were nominated in the category of team of the year based on tournament wins and overall points earned in 2015, with the winner being selected in a vote cast by the AVP players.
The AVP also honored the Tour's official DJ, Jeremy "DJ Roueche" Roueche, with the AVP's Lifetime Achievement award for his contributions to the tour over the past 12 years.
A complete list of the award winners and honorees is below.
AVP 2015 award winners
| Men | Women | |
| Best Blocker | Phil Dalhausser | Jenny Kropp |
| Best Server | Robbie Page | April Ross |
| Best Defender | John Mayer | Kendra Van Zwieten |
| Best Offensive Player | Ryan Doherty | Nicole Branagh |
| Most Improved Player | Billy Kolinske | Kendra Van Zwieten |
| Newcomer of the Year | Taylor Crabb | Betsi Metter Flint |
| Most Valuable Player | John Mayer | April Ross |
| Team of the Year | John Hyden Tri Bourne | Nicole Branagh Jenny Kropp |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | Jeremy "DJ Roueche" Roeche |
