Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament to begin Wednesday

The Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year will begin Wednesday, giving fans from around the nation the opportunity to determine the best college men’s volleyball player during the 2011 season.

Off the Block has created a six-round 64-player bracket tournament matching up the best men’s volleyball players. Now it’s up to the fans through online voting to determine who should be the winner of each match-up.

Every round will last one day with the polls closing at 11 p.m. (EST). The player with the most votes when the polls close will advance to the next round.

Fans can vote throughout the tournament at the Off the Block website, offtheblockblog.wordpress.com.

Several volleyball organizations give a National Player of the Year award at the end of each season. However, the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year is the only player of the year award solely determined by the fans.

Off the Block selected and seeded the tournament field using several factors, including a player’s performance during the season, all-conference and All-American honors, level of competition played throughout the season and how the player’s team fared.

Each team in the EIVA, MIVA, MPSF and the Conference Carolinas received one automatic bid to the tournament.

Players selected to the tournament were placed into four regions. Each region — the Matt Anderson Region, the Jayson Jablonsky Region, the Sean Rooney Region and the Kawika Shoji Region — was named after a former winner of the AVCA National Player of the Year award who is currently on the initial roster for the U.S. National Men’s Volleyball Team.

Below is a schedule of the tournament and first-round matches. A PDF version of theOff the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year bracket can also be viewed by clicking here

Tournament schedule
First round — Wednesday, May 18
Second round — Thursday, May 19
Regional semifinals — Friday, May 20
Regional finals — Saturday, May 21
Semifinals — Sunday, May 22
Championship — Monday, May 23
*Polls close at 11 p.m. (EST) for every round

Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year first round

Sean Rooney Region
No. 1 seed Murphy Troy, USC outside attacker vs.
No. 16 seed Eric Edelman, Pfeiffer middle attacker

No. 2 seed Brad Lawson, Stanford outside attacker vs.
No. 15 seed Matt Jones, Harvard outside attacker

No. 3 seed Corey Yoder, UC Irvine outside attacker vs.
No. 14 seed Chris Vrooman, Juniata outside attacker

No. 4 seed Antwain Aguillard, Long Beach State middle attacker vs.
No. 13 seed Joseph Smalzer, Loyola outside attacker

No. 5 seed Edgardo Goas, Penn State setter vs.
No. 12 seed Aaron Flick, Lewis middle attacker

No. 6 seed Henry Cassiday, USC libero vs.
No. 11 seed Scott Slaughter, UCSB middle attacker

No. 7 seed Maurice Torres, Pepperdine outside attacker vs.
No. 10 seed Steven Shandrick, USC middle attakcer

No. 8 seed Brandon Joyner, George Mason setter vs.
No. 9 seed Joshua Walker, Hawai’i outside attacker

Kawika Shoji Region
No. 1 seed Jonas Umlauft, Hawai’i outside attacker vs.
No. 16 seed Brady Smith, NJIT libero

No. 2 seed Riley McKibbin, USC setter vs.
No. 15. Angel Dache, Mount Olive outside attacker

No. 3 seed Steve Kehoe, Ohio State setter vs.
No. 14 seed Chad Mercado, Lees-McRae outside attacker

No. 4 seed Mike Bunting, Loyola outside attacker vs.
No. 13 seed Enzo Mackenzie, Sacred Heart outside attacker

No. 5 seed Anders Nelson, Ball State middle attacker vs.
No. 12 seed Jeff Zornig, Rutgers-Newark setter

No. 6 seed Vince Devany, UC Santa Barbara setter vs.
No. 11 seed Connor Mortland, NYU setter

No. 7 seed Wes Dunlap, UCLA middle attacker vs.
No. 10 seed Greg Facone, Springfield middle attacker

No. 8 seed John Klanac, Ohio State outside attacker vs.
No. 9 seed Tri Bourne, USC outside attacker

Matt Anderson Region
No. 1 seed Joe Sunder, Penn State outside attacker vs.
No. 16 seed Scott Schweihofer, Limestone outside attacker

No. 2 seed Jeff Menzel, UC Santa Barbara outside attacker vs.
No. 15 seed Kyle Volstad, Quincy middle attacker

No. 3 seed Dennis Del Valle, Penn State libero vs.
No. 14 seed Taylor Hughes, Pacific outside attacker

No. 4 seed Taylor Sander, BYU outside attacker vs.
No. 13 seed Trent Burns, Grand Canyon libero

No. 5 seed Tony Ciarelli, USC outside attacker vs.
No. 12 seed Jim Baughman, Long Beach State outside attacker

No. 6 seed Darryl Shank, IPFW outside attacker vs.
No. 11 seed Nejc Zemljak, Hawai’i setter

No. 7 seed Spencer McLachin, Stanford outside attacker vs.
No. 10 seed Jordan DuFault, UC Irvine outside attacker

No. 8 seed Austin Pappas, Rutgers-Newark outside attacker vs.
No. 9 seed Jay Petty, Lewis outside attacker

Jayson Jablonsky Region
No. 1 seed Futi Tavana, BYU middle attacker vs.
No. 16 seed Jeff Stapleton, Princeton outside attacker

No. 2 seed Carson Clark, UC Irvine outside attacker vs.
No. 15 seed Greg Faulkner, Cal State Northridge middle attacker

No. 3 seed Erik Shoji, Stanford libero vs.
No. 14 seed Joel Salva, King College setter

No. 4 seed Robb Stowell, BYU outside attacker
No. 13 seed John Wappler, St. Francis libero

No. 5 seed Andy McGuire, UC Santa Barbara libero vs.
No. 12 seed J.D. Gasparovic, Ball State middle attacker

No. 6 seed Shawn Sangrey, Ohio State outside attacker
No. 11 seed Alberto Bravo, Springfield outside attacker

No. 7 seed Javier Caceres, Pacific libero vs.
No. 10 seed Phil Bannan, UC San Diego setter

No. 8 seed Cullen Irons, UC Santa Barbara outside attacker
No. 9 seed Mark Jones, George Mason outside attacker