MCVL, U.S.A. — The Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) rolled out its 2026 All-MCVL selections and Major Award winners on Thursday afternoon.
Baldwin Wallace, who has spent much of the 2026 season ranked in the AVCA poll, received major award recognition for both Jacob Esteves and Ethan Gundrum. Esteves was named the Offensive Player of the Year while Gundrum earned both Rookie of the Year and Setter of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Peyton Koszelak, of Mount Union, was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season. Calvin's Aaron Sagraves, who led the Knights to a three-seed in the MCVL Tournament the program's first-ever postseason appearance, was named Coach of the Year. In total, a combined 22 student-athletes received recognition for their outstanding play this season.
Esteves, a junior outside hitter, delivered a breakout season for the Yellow Jackets in his third year in Brown & Gold. He finished the regular season as the MCVL-leader in kills with 326 and kills per set, averaging 3.93. The average ranks 11th-best nationally and his league-leading 4.41 points per set are 14th-best in the nation. The Wickliffe, Ohio, native racked up 121 of his kills in conference play and his .342 attacking percentage in MCVL competition is the most among all pin-hitters in the league.
Gundrum, who provided a majority of the assists to his running-mate Esteves, burst onto the scene in his freshman season for Baldwin Wallace. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native led the MCVL by a wide margin with his 10.89 assists per set, which is also the most-nationally by any freshman in Division III. The Yellow Jackets' high-powered attack was facilitated by Gundrum as BW ranked tops in the MCVL with 12.75 kills per set, which is seventh-best in the nation.
Koszelak, a junior, continues to display his ability as one of the best defensive players in all of Division III. The Eden, N.Y., native led the MCVL with 3.64 digs per set and racked up 397 digs overall, 140+ digs more than the next player in the league table. Additionally, his 3.64 digs per set are third-best nationally while his 397 digs overall are the most in the country. He becomes the first player to earn back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors since Trine's Hunter Haas earned four-straight DPOY nods from 2021-24.
Sagraves, in his first season at the helm of Calvin Men's volleyball, led the Knights to new heights in 2026. Under Sagraves' watch, Calvin posted a 20-4 overall record, including a 7-2 mark in MCVL play, and qualified for the MCVL tournament for the first time in program history. It is just the program's third year of official competition. The Knights had a 10-2 record at home this season and locked up the third seed with their only defeats in league play coming on the road to the co-league champions, Trine and Wittenberg.
Joining Esteves, Gundrum and Koszelak as First Team All-MCVL selections, Trine's Karl Both and Johnson-Kuhao Ho'Okano-Pelekai each received deserved recognition. This duo helped anchor the Thunder, who notched a share of their first-ever regular season league crown.
Eli Halverson, of top-seeded and co-regular season champion Wittenberg, also earned a spot on the First Team. Wabash's Bawibawi Thang and Calvin's Gabriel Laughlin rounded out the eight First Team All-League selections.
A complete list of the major award winners and All-MCVL squads is below.
MCVL Offensive Player of the Year
Jacob Esteves, Baldwin Wallace
MCVL Defensive Player of the Year
Peyton Koszelak, Mount Union
MCVL Rookie of the Year
Ethan Gundrum, Baldwin Wallace
MCVL Setter of the Year
Ethan Gundrum, Baldwin Wallace
MCVL Coach of the Year
Aaron Sagraves, Calvin
MCVL All-League Teams
First Team (8)
Johnson-Kuhao Ho'Okano-Pelekai, Trine
Jacob Esteves, Baldwin Wallace
Eli Halverson, Wittenberg
Karl Both, Trine
Bawibawi Thang, Wabash
Peyton Koszelak, Mount Union
Ethan Gundrum, Baldwin Wallace
Gabriel Laughlin, Calvin
Second Team (8)
Nick Bultje, Calvin
Reese Monnin, Wittenberg
Michael Yurk, Wittenberg
Daniel Rua, Calvin
John Mikrut, Trine
Colby Whiteside, Baldwin Wallace
Brady Gudauskas, Calvin
Sam Landers, Adrian
Honorable Mention (6)
Dalton Lutes, Trine
Zach Newton, Wittenberg
Luke Pemberton, Mount Union
Tyler Schunk, Baldwin Wallace
Carson Bell, Adrian
Carson Reed, Mount St. Joseph