BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott’s \#A.J. Witkofsky\# (Scotia, N.Y.) has been named the NECVA New England Division Player of the Year, while head coach \#Tim Byram\# was awarded co-Coach of the Year recognition after leading the Gulls to a 15-1 divisional record. Joining Witkofsky on the First Team is senior outside hitter \#John Emery\# (Westford, Mass.), while classmates \#James Sliva\# (Monroe, Conn.) and \#Ben Foster\# (Penfield, N.Y.) earned All-Division Second Team honors. Voting was conducted within each of the 44-team conference’s five divisions.

In all, 73 student-athletes—one shy of the league record—were named either First or Second-Team All-Division this season or earned a major divisional honor. Those players named to a divisional First-Team will be eligible for NECVA All-Conference honors, which will be announced at the league’s annual banquet during this weekend’s NECVA Tournament, on Saturday, April 10 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

\#A.J. Witkofsky\# headlines the New England Division after totaling 451 kills in 97 sets played. Endicott’s all-time kill leader averaged 5.88 points per set and swung at a .340 clip in 2010. The middle hitter had 202 digs and 33 aces, while also posting 135 blocks in the regular season for a total of 570.5 points. Twice named the AVCA National Player of the Week this winter, Witkofsky had three matches in which he posted more than 30 kills and had 20-plus kills in nine of his 29 outings.

Emery, the other Gulls’ First Team selection, had 312 kills in 96 sets (3.25 kps). He posted an attack percentage of .270 and had 34 aces to go along with 73 digs. The senior totaled 371.5 points for the Blue and Green.

\#Ben Foster\# earned All-NECVA New England honors after handing out 1,196 assists in his senior campaign. The Endicott standout surpassed the 5,000 assist mark for his career in late March, and also set a program record with 73 assists in a five-set thriller against Hunter College. For the season, Foster had 199 digs, 27 aces, 50 total blocks and averaged 11.39 assists per set.

\#James Sliva\# also picked up Second Team recognition after a senior season that included 201 kills, 80 total blocks, 18 aces and 264.5 points. Sliva swung at a .308 clip, committing just 69 errors in 429 attack attempts. The middle blocker accounted for 2.50 points per set.

Endicott’s \#Tim Byram\# and Paul Dill of Massachusetts Institute of Technology were voted the New England Division co-Coaches of the Year. Byram wins the honor for the second straight season after leading the Gulls to back-to-back divisional regular season titles. Dill, who was the divisional winner in 2007, led the Engineers to a 28-7 regular season mark. 

To view the entire 2010 NECVA All-Division Award recipients, please click here