SIOUX CITY, IA. (NewsDakota.com) – The Great Plains Athletic Conference released its inaugural 2021 men’s volleyball awards this morning and Jamestown’s Derek Owens was named the player of the year and the Jimmies swept all other categories.
Owens, a freshman out of Andover Minnesota connected on 51% of his attack attempts during the year, good for third-best in the entire country. Owens finished third on the Jimmies in kills for the year with 157, and second in blocks with 49. The middle blocker appeared in 20 matches this season for Jamestown and averaged 2.3 kills per set.
UJ took home the awards for Libero of the Year, Setter of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Junior Braden Neumann won the GPAC libero of the year after recording 160 digs on the season and committing just 12 receiving errors in 2021.
Derek Correa was named the setter of the year for the GPAC after dishing out nearly 10 assists per set during the year. Correa earned setter of the week honors on four different occasions in 2021.
Riley Salmon is the first coach to receive the GPAC Coach of the Year for men’s volleyball after he led the Jimmies to a 20-2 overall record and a regular and postseason GPAC title.
Jamestown is one of four #1 seeds entering the Men’s Volleyball Championship in Des Moines Iowa on April 20th. The Jimmies will play in pool play against Georgetown (KY) at 4 p.m. on the 20th and Park (MO) on the 22nd also at 4 p.m.