FLUSHING, N.Y. (Apr. 6, 2022) – On the heels of the semifinals of the 2022 CUNYAC/Healthfirst Men’s Volleyball Championship, the conference announced its award winners for the 2022 men’s volleyball campaign.
 
CCNY’s Xhulio Myftari was voted CUNYAC Player of the Year, while Lehman’s Ray Rodriguez was tabbed the league’s Rookie of the Year. In addition, Hunter’s Chris Scandole was named Libero of the Year, while Chris Schortgen was selected as Coach of the Year.
 
Player of the Year: Xhulio Myftari, CCNY
Myftari receives CUNYAC Player of the Year accolades for a second time in his career and becomes the first Beaver since Owen Niles (2000-01, 03) to multiple CUNYAC Player of the Year citations.
 
A three-time CUNYAC Player of the Week, Myftari is among the nation’s leaders in kills (272), kills per set (4.69) and points per set (5.66). The outside hitter recorded double-digit kills in all but one match this season, highlighted by four performances of 20 or more.
 
Rookie of the Year: Ray Rodriguez, Lehman
Rodriguez becomes the first Lightning player to earn the honor in 22 years (Anderson Soto – 2000). In his rookie campaign, Rodriguez paced Lehman in kills (176) and digs (192) and a CUNYAC Rookie of the Week honoree.
 
Libero of the Year: Chris Scandole, Hunter
Scandole has been one of the premiere liberos in the CUNYAC all season long. The team captain is among the conference leaders in digs (154), averaging a whooping 3.14 digs per set.   
 
"I feel honored to be recognized for this award, but all eyes are on winning the CUNYAC championship. That's our focus right now," said Scandole.
 
Coach of the Year: Chris Schortgen, Hunter
In his first season as head coach, Schortgen led the Hawks to an 11-1 conference regular to claim the program’s fifth consecutive regular season championship and a first-round bye in the CUNYAC Men’s Volleyball Championship.
 
"I'm thankful to be recognized by my peers for this award but I must also thank my amazing assistant coaches Blake Hixson, Michael McCullough as well as the staff at Hunter who have made us all feel at home in our first year at the program,” said Schortgen. “We're all very proud of the hard work and growth we've seen from our boys and hopefully this is just the beginning for us. "
 
Award Winners
Player of the Year: Xhulio Myftari, CCNY
Libero of the Year: Chris Scandole, Hunter
Rookie of the Year: Ray Rodriguez, Lehman
Coach of the Year: Chris Schortgen, Hunter
Sportsmanship Award: Brian Fok, Brooklyn
Sportsmanship Team: Justin Iloulian (Baruch), Jeffrey Celis (CCNY), Sherrod Cole (Hunter), Manuel Peralta (John Jay), Miguel Gonzalez (Lehman), Anthony Nazario Jr. (York)



First Team
Stallone Shankar, Baruch
Jack Nugent, John Jay
Jack Centeno, Baruch
Ted Kim, Hunter
Akil Vaughn, Baruch
Cooper Moran, Hunter



Second Team
Logan Ramos, John Jay
Sherrod Cole, Hunter
Akashdeep Singh, John Jay
Hoaxin Hu, Baruch
Jeffrey Celis, CCNY
Utpal Chand, CCNY
Chris Scandole, Hunter

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