ELMIRA, N.Y. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released its 2023 All-Region teams on Tuesday afternoon, with Alberto Mauricio ’25 becoming the first player in program history to earn the honor on the North Region squad. The AVCA, which has been selecting All-American teams since the 2004 season, began its All-Region honors during the 2020 season.
A 2022 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and 2023 United Volleyball Conference (UVC) First-Teamer, Maurcio was instrumental in helping the Soaring Eagles earn back-to-back UVC Tournament berths for the first time in program history, and was the Division III Men’s Volleyball statistical champion in kills per set after posting a 4.92 mark this season.
A native of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, Mauricio led the UVC and finished third in the country in points per set (5.47), coming just 1/100th of a point shy of second, and behind Jarrett Anderson of Springfield, who led the category.
The Purple & Gold were in the national ranking discussion for nearly the entirety of the season after beginning the 2023 campaign 7-1 where it posted a five-set victory over #10 nationally-ranked NYU. Against the Violets, Mauricio set a career-best in kills (31), as the Soaring Eagles were first mentioned in the national poll.
In addition to his outstanding attacking numbers, Mauricio ranked 6th in the UVC this season in digs per set (2.08) and seventh in service aces per set (0.37).
Outside of his national and conference rankings, Mauricio’s 359 kills this season placed him #9 in single-season kills in program history. His 626 total kills in his first two seasons donning the Purple & Gold ranks 7th in all-time program history for a career, while his kills per set mark beat out former EC All-American Erik Griffin’s ’16 (4.26) mark by 0.66 per set.
Mauricio was one of 12 other UVC student-athletes to earn AVCA North All-Region honors, with the team comprising of 14 individuals. The complete list of North Region recipients can be seen below.
| Name | School | Pos. | Yr. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Bigford | St. John Fisher | OH | Gr. |
| Gautham Dasari | New York University | OH | Sr. |
| Andrew Kim | Vassar College | OH | Sr. |
| Jacob Kim | Vassar College | S | Jr. |
| Matisse Lee-Maarek |
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