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Sixty-five players have been selected for the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament field.
The Fan Choice Player of the Year recognizes the best individual performances from NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the season and gives volleyball fans from around the world the chance to determine who was the best player.
The contest is a bracket-style seven-round tournament matching up the nation’s best players against each with the winner being determined through online voting on the Off the Block website, offtheblockblog.com.
The tournament will begin at 12:01 a.m. (EST) Tuesday with the play-in match between Penn State middle attacker Aaron Russell and UCLA outside attacker Gonzalo Quiroga.
The 32 first-round matches will then begin on Wednesday and Thursday.
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.
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, the Conference Carolinas and teams in the process of transition from the NAIA to Division II received one automatic bid to the tournament. Off the Block also award 30 at-large bids to complete the 65-player field.
Players selected to the tournament were placed into four regions. Each region — the Matt Anderson Region, the Ryan Millar Region, the Reid Priddy Region and the Clay Stanley Region — was named after a member of the U.S. National Men’s Volleyball Team, which will compete at the upcoming Olympics in London.
This is the second year of the Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year. Loyola outside attacker Mike Bunting won the 2011 Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year as more than 15,000 votes were cast throughout the event.
Below is a schedule of the tournament and the first-round matches.
Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament schedule
Tuesday, May 22: Play-in match
Wednesday, May 23: First-round of Matt Anderson and Ryan Millar regions
Thursday, May 24: First-round of Clay Stanley and Reid Priddy regions
Firday, May 25: Second-round of Matt Anderson and Ryan Millar regions
Saturday, May 26: Second-round of Clay Stanley and Reid Priddy regions
Sunday, May 27: Regional semifinals
Tuesday, May 29: Regional finals
Wednesday, May 30: National semifinals
Thursday, May 31: National championship
*Polls close at 11 p.m. (EST) for every round
CLAY STANLEY REGION
No. 1 seed Tony Ciarelli — USC vs.
No. 16 seed Zach McCalla — Barton
No. 8 seed Javier Caceres — Pacific vs.
No. 9 seed Josh Taylor — Pepperdine
No. 4 seed Wes Dunlap — UCLA vs.
No. 13 seed Jack Mitchell — Lindenwood
No. 5 seed Joseph Smalzer — Loyola vs.
*No. 12 seed Aaron Russell — Penn State
*No. 12 seed Gonzalo Quiroga — UCLA
*Play-in match
No. 3 seed Erik Shoji — Stanford vs.
No. 14 seed Adam Miracle — Mount Olive
No. 6 seed Edgardo Goas — Penn State vs.
No. 11 seed Trent Burns — Grand Canyon
No. 7 seed Joe Kauliakamoa — BYU vs.
No. 10 seed Quentin Moore — Pfeiffer
No. 2 seed Kevin Tillie — UC Irvine vs.
No. 15 seed Aaron McCalmont — Cal Baptist
RYAN MILLAR REGION
No. 1 seed Taylor Sander — BYU vs.
No. 16 seed Brandon Roer — King
No. 8 seed Alex Kane — St. Francis vs.
No. 9 seed Brian Cook — Stanford
No. 4 seed Evan Barry — Stanford vs.
No. 13 seed Taylor Hughes — Pacific
No. 5 seed Steven Shandrick — USC vs.
No. 12 seed Matt Gallik — Lewis
No. 3 seed Thomas Amberg — UCLA vs.
No. 14 seed Michael Kvidahl — George Mason
No. 6 seed Cody Kessel — Princeton vs.
No. 11 seed Matt Leske — Ball State
No. 7 seed Ivan Matos — IPFW vs.
No. 10 seed Miles Evans — UC Santa Barbara
No. 2 seed Futi Tavana — BYU vs.
No. 15 seed Scott Warren — Limestone
REID PRIDDY REGION
No. 1 seed Shawn Sangrey — Ohio State vs.
No. 16 seed Austin Pappas — Rutgers-Newark
No. 8 seed Russell Lavaja — BYU vs.
No. 9 seed Brady Smith — NJIT
No. 4 seed Micah Christenson — USC vs.
No. 13 seed Nick Hunt — Sacred Heart
No. 5 seed BJ Boldog — Lewis vs.
No. 12 seed Julius Hoefer — Cal State Northridge
No. 3 seed Jay Petty — Lewis vs.
No. 14 seed Sean Daley — Pacific
No. 6 seed Jeremy Dejno — UC Irvine vs.
No. 11 seed Matt West — Pepperdine
No. 7 seed Matt Jones — Harvard vs.
No. 10 seed Peter Jasaitis — Loyola
No. 2 seed Kyle Caldwell — UCLA vs.
No. 15 seed Dan McDonnell — UC Irvine
MATT ANDERSON REGION
No. 1 seed Carson Clark — UC Irvine vs.
No. 16 seed Steven Battaglia — Quincy
No. 8 seed Ben Ponnet — Grand Canyon vs.
No. 9 seed Piotr Dabrowski — George Mason
No. 4 seed Joe Sunder — Penn State vs.
No. 13 seed Carl Eberts — UC San Diego
No. 5 seed Henry Cassiday — USC vs.
No. 12 seed Taylor Crabb — Long Beach
No. 3 seed Maurice Torres — Pepperdine vs.
No. 14 seed Efrain Negron — Lees-McRae
No. 6 seed Steven Hunt — Hawai’i vs.
No. 11 seed Robert Feathers — USC
No. 7 seed Mike Bunting — Loyola vs.
No. 10 seed Robb Stowell — BYU
No. 2 seed Brand Lawson — Stanford vs.
No. 15 seed D.J. White — Harvard