Follow
A freshman who helped his team clinch a share of a conference regular season championship is now picking up a national weekly award.
Off the Block announced Monday that Loyola middle attacker Owen McAndrews was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
McAndrews had a team-high six blocks while adding a career-high 14 kills on a .650 percentage in comeback five-game victory against Ball State on Thursday. The freshman also led all players with three aces to help the Ramblers rally from a two-game deficit in the conference match.
Along with performance against Ball State, McAndrews finished with a match-high five blocks as Loyola swept IPFW on Saturday to clinch a share of the MIVA regular season regular season championship. In addition, the victory secured the Ramblers the No. 1 seed and home court advantage for the upcoming MIVA Tournament
This is the second time this season that McAndrews has earned Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Year honors.
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.
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.
Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week honorable mentions
Thomas Hodges, Pacific opposite — Hodges had a match-high 17 kills in a near upset against No. 3 Pepperdine on Saturday. The freshman also lead all players with 16 kills in a loss against No. 7 USC on Friday.
Tanner Howard, UC San Diego libero — Howard finished with a match-high 19 digs in a five-game loss to Cal State Northridge on Saturday. It was also the most digs for a UC San Diego player in a single match during the last two years.
Junior Oboh, Princeton middle attacker — Oboh led Princeton with six blocks in a four-game conference road victory against St. Francis on Saturday. In addition, Oboh had five kills and three blocks in a three-game loss to first-place Penn State on Friday.
Roberto Perez Vargas, Erskine outside attacker — Vargas had 39 combined kills in two matches last week, including a match-high 21 kills in a five-game loss to Pfeiffer on Tuesday. The freshman also added 18 kills in a non-conference win against Coker on Thursday.