2016
USA Volleyball Athletes/Teams of the Year
USA Volleyball honors the best of 2016
U.S. WOMEN’S SITTING VOLLEYBALL TEAM | USA Volleyball Team of the Year
Three straight quadrennials of impressive medals had already procured the U.S.
Women’s Sitting Team a place in USA Volleyball history. However, it wasn’t until the 2016 Paralympic Games gold-medal match in Rio de Janeiro when the team dispatched of long-time nemesis, China, that the players reached a place in history where they knew they belonged: As one of the best teams in the association’s history. The U.S. Women’s Sitting Team was a natural and popular pick as USA Volleyball’s
Team of the Year for 2016. Three-time Paralympian Katie Holloway summed up the ac- complishments in Rio the best. “We climbed the mountain together,” she said. “I could not believe how we played. It’s as close to perfect as we could get.”
MAX HOLT | USA Volleyball Male Indoor Player of the Year
Growing up in Cincinnati, Max
Holt was one of those kids who dreamed of playing volleyball on the biggest stage in the world at the Olympic Games. “That was my dream as soon as I
started playing volleyball,” said Holt, 29. “I always told myself, ‘That’s where you want to be.’”
When he finally made it onto the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Holt played his best volleyball of the season and maybe of his career in Rio de Janeiro as the U.S. Men won the bronze medal. For that, he has been named the 2016 Male Indoor Player of the Year. Holt was the second-leading blocker of the Olympic Games with 20 blocks
for an average of 0.65 per set (Holt started all 31 sets the U.S. played in Rio). He was also second among all servers with 12 aces (0.39 per set). He scored on 45 kills (.538 hitting efficiency) to put him 13th among all Olympic scorers.
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NICKY NIEVES | USA Volleyball Female Sitting Most Improved Player
Nicky Nieves could not temper her enthusiasm when learning she was named USA Volleyball’s Fe- male Sitting Most Improved Player of the Year. “Wow!! What an honor!” Nieves said. “This award means that all my hard work has not gone in vain both on the court and in recognition.” Nieves scored a total of 141 points in the 2016 season. “Nicky has contributed to the team in many ways this year, but her biggest improvement and impact was in the aggressiveness of her attacking,” U.S. Women’s Sitting Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter said. “Her willingness to work hard, make some technical changes in her swing and have a more aggressive mindset paid off for her and the team.”
PHIL DALHAUSSER | USA Volleyball Male Beach Player of the Year For the sixth time in his career, Phil Dalhausser has been named the
USA Volleyball Male Beach Player of the Year. The three-time Olympian finished fifth at the 2016 Olympic Games with partner Nick Lucena. “It’s an honor to be voted the Male Beach Player of the Year,” Dalhausser said. “I’m getting older and every award means a little more. It means that you’re still playing.” “In 2016, Phil Dalhausser won multiple medals on the FIVB World Tour, was voted Best Setter on Tour, finished ranked second in the FIVB World Tour ranking and was an Olympian,” said USAV Beach National Programs Director Sean Scott. “Therefore, USAV is proud to name him the 2016 Male Beach Player of the Year.”
Dalhausser, with Lucena, played in 12 FIVB tournaments during the
year and won gold at four of those. Nine of the finishes during the season saw the pair reach the podium.
HEATHER ERICKSON | USA Volleyball Female Sitting Player of the Year Heather Erickson produced a dream season in sparking the U.S. Women’s Sit-
ting Volleyball Team to three gold medals in 2016, including the program’s first-ever Paralympic Games title by defeating three-time defending champion and rival China in the finals. For her accomplishments, Erickson has been selected the USA Volleyball Female Sitting Player of the Year. She helped Team USA to a 21-3 overall record and 18-1 mark in tournament play with titles at the World ParaVolley Intercontinental Cup, the Dutch Tournament and the Paralympic Games. “I am so honored and excited to get
USAV Female Sitting Player of the Year,” Erickson said. “It has been an amazing year for my team.”
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