LEXINGTON, Ky. - On Tuesday afternoon, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced Messiah sophomore outside hitter
Mason Nissley as the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year.
On Monday, Nissley was announced as a First Team All-American alongside his teammates, setter
Matt Knab (First Team) and middle hitter
Nate Bowman (Second Team), as the first three All-Americans in program history. On Tuesday, Nissley upgraded his First Team honors to National Player of the Year accolades, also becoming the first National Player of the Year in program history. In the score of Messiah Athletics, Nissley becomes the 21st Individual to be named the Player of the Year in their respective sport.
"This is a huge team honor, but Mason has been fantastic!" said fourth-year head coach
Justin Beachy. "Prior to this season, we haven't even had an All-American prior and to have three guys honored and have the National Player of the year is huge. We wouldn't be heading to the NCAA Tournament and have the National Player of the Year if not for the guys that have come before. We are just building on the foundation that they put down."
The Falcons have been building and Nissley has been at the center of the construction project during his two years on campus. After a quality freshman campaign was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nissley went to work during the 2021 season, putting up some gaudy numbers in the process. He has amassed 328 kills across 57 sets for an all-time, single-season Division III record 5.75 kills per set average. In addition to the out-of-this-world kill totals, Nissley has also been efficient, hitting at a .303 clip over the course of the season.
"Mason was really good for us last year, but he took a huge step for us on and off the court," said Beachy of his All-American outside. "He's stepped into the role we needed him to, both on the court and off the court as a leader. I think he's matured a lot as a player. He's definitely swinging smarter this year. Everyone takes a little while to get used to the speed of the college game and in Mason's case it looks like it took a year. He played a ton over the offseason and now really has every tool in the toolbox when it comes to offensive selection."
Nissley showed he was ready for the 2021 season right out of the gates. In the Falcons' season opener against Misericordia, Nissley went for 18 kills in three sets with a .371 hitting percentage.
When asked when he knew that Nissley was having this type of year, coach Beachy responded, "We knew he was going to be good for us, but it was our first match of the season against Misericordia when he had five or six points a set, where it kind of opened our eyes. That's a lot of points out of one person."
It turned out that his performance against Misericordia was just a sign of things to come. In a doubleheader against Arcadia on the first Saturday of the season, Nissley went for 45 kills across eight sets while hitting over .400 in both matches.
Two weekends later, Nissley put together the most prolific offensive performance in program history, totaling 62 kills across nine sets in a doubleheader against a nationally-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology team. Nissley hit .328 on the day with his kill totals of 35 and 27 in the two matches taking over the top two spots for kills in a single match in Messiah men's volleyball history.
"Mason's gotten more sets than maybe we wanted him to get this season," said Beachy when looking back on Nissley's season. "We've battled some injuries, but he's hitting at a high percentage so it's worked out well. With injuries early, we knew we were going to have to lean on him a lot this season."
While the Falcons have leaned on Nissley heavily this year, he's been able to perform. In his 16 matches played this season, Nissley has nine performances with at least 20 kills. Prior to this season, Messiah had only ever had six such performances in program history.
"When he's good, he's really good," said Beachy, when asked how to defend him. "Unless you have really big size and athleticism, you're going to have a hard time stopping him. He's been slowed down a few times by teams that fit that mold, but when he becomes a defense's focus the rest of our offense really opens up."
Messiah's middles have been the benefactor of the defensive commitment to Nissley.
Nate Bowman has put up fantastic numbers this season as
Marshall Nixon, despite missing a portion of the season, has been strong in his time on the floor.
Setting Nissley all season long has been senior
Matt Knab, who earned First Team All-American honors alongside Nissley on Monday.
"
Matt Knab could have been National Player of the Year as well," said Beachy. "The way he facilitates the offense and what he has done for our team from a leadership standpoint has been huge for us. Mason isn't the Player of the Year without Matt setting him all year. I thought they were One and Two in the conference, but Matt deserves a ton of credit."
Nissley, Knab, and the Falcons are back on the court on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Salem, Va. for the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against the Fontbonne University Griffins at noon.
