USC’s Yoder named Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week

Outside attacker Lucas Yoder after helping lead No. 11 USC to upset a top-10 nationally ranked team during the weekend is now picking up the first national award of his college career.

Off the Block announced Monday that Yoder was named the season’s inaugural recipient of the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.

Yoder starting the season opener as a true-freshman had a team-high 16 kills and .609 attacker to lead USC to a four-game non-conference victory against No. 7 Loyola on Saturday. The outside attacker also had five digs and was among the Trojans’ leaders with three blocks against the Ramblers.

Yoder, the son of the late former USC All-American David Yoder, was ranked among the nation’s top-five high school recruits by Volleyball Magazine. In addition, Yoder during the summer won a bronze medal for the United States at the FIVB U-19 Beach World Championship.

The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week is presented to the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball freshman who had the most outstanding performance during the week.

The winner is announced every Monday during the regular season on the Off the Block website, offtheblockblog.com.

Each of the four NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball conferences have an opportunity each week to nominate one player for the National Freshman of the Week. In addition, fans and teams can nominate a player for the National Freshman of the Week by tweeting their nominee to the official Twitter account of Off the Block, @offtheblock11.

This new college men’s volleyball award will also lead up to the Freshmen All-American Team. The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Freshmen All-American Team will be presented at the of the regular season and selected by nationwide voting committee of coaches and media members.

Off the Block is a website that started in January 2011 and has become among the national leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage. Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2014 Freshmen All-American Team and National Freshman of the Week and produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB and U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.