CHRISTIAN SHEAFFER, SOUTHERN VIRGNIA UNIVERSITY, OH, SR.

• Sheaffer becomes Southern Virginia’s first-ever Division III National Player of the Year.
• The Palmyra, PA, native turned in a well-balanced year, hitting .433 and averaging 3.96 kills per set and 5.18 points per set, to go with 90 blocks.
• This season, he set single-season program records for kills, hitting percentage, blocks, and aces.
• He has helped Southern Virginia set a school record for wins in a season: 33 heading into its NCAA Championship semifinal match.
• The Knights opened 2025 with 24 straight victories, and they didn’t drop a set until March 27.
• In addition to being the Player of the Year, he is a First-Team AVCA All-American for the third-consecutive season.
• He has hit at least .400 in 23 of the Knights’ 34 matches through the NCAA Regionals.

2025 Stats (as of April 23): .433 Hitting %, 392 Kills, 3.96 K/S, 5.18 P/S, 64 Aces, 1.34 D/S, 90 Total Blocks, 0.91 B/S

 

AVCA NCAA DIVISION III PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

2004: Kenny Eiser, Juniata
2005: Ricky Ziegler, Juniata
2006: Chris Schmidt, New York University
2007: Matt Werle, Juniata
2008: Bryan Shires, UC Santa Cruz
2009: Andrew Cranford, Stevens
2010: AJ Nally, Springfield
2011: Cal Palumbo, Springfield
2012: Randy Hansen, Carthage
2013: EJ Wells-Spicer, Nazareth
2014: Jimmy O’Leary, Springfield
2015: David Evans, Stevens
2016: Christian Smith, SUNY New Paltz
2017: Luis Vega, Springfield
2018: Sergio Figueroa Velez, Springfield
2019: Matt Reinsel, Carthage
2020: Brennen Brandow, Springfield
2021: Mason Nissley, Messiah
2022: Jarrett Anderson, Springfield
2023: Andrew Kim, Vassar
2024: Jacob LaBouliere, Wentworth
2025: Christian Sheaffer, Southern Virginia