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A freshman is receiving a national award after having a match-high 20 kills in a conference road victory.
Off the Block announced Monday that CSUN outside attacker Dimitar Kalchev was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
Kalchev finished with 20 kills on a .382 attack percentage and added seven digs as No. 11 CSUN defeated USC in five games on Wednesday. The outside attacker also had nine kills and a season-high seven blocks in a five-game loss to Cal Baptist on Friday.
This is the second time this season that a Matador has earned National Freshman of the Month honors. CSUN freshman setter Sam Porter received the national award in January.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week is presented each week during the regular season to the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball freshman who had the most outstanding performance. 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 2016 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
Vasilis Mandilaris, Barton — Mandilaris finished with a match-high 16 kills on a .464 attack percentage and added two aces as Barton defeated Mount Olive in four games on Wednesday. He also led all players with 15 kills on a .583 attack percentage as Barton swept Alderson Broaddus on Saturday.
TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State — DeFalco had a match-high 15 kills as No. 1/2 Long Beach State swept USC on Friday. In addition, DeFalco had 17 kills in a four-game victory against Cal Baptist on Wednesday.
Adam Wessel, Ball State — Wessel finished with a match-high 13 digs as No. 13 Ball State swept IPFW to remain undefeated in conference play.
Will Schwob, Grand Canyon — Schwob had both a team-high 14 kills on a .591 attack percentage and nine digs in a four-game victory against Quincy on Friday. He also had eight kills as Grand Canyon lost to Quincy on Saturday to split the two-match conference series.
Julian Moses, Lewis — Moses had 10 kills on a .417 attack percentage in a four-game victory against McKendree on Thursday. He also finished with a team-high seven kills and three aces in a three-game loss to No. 9/10 Ohio State on Saturday.
Blake Lesson, Ohio State — Lesson finished with eight kills and zero attack errors on a .615 attack percentage and led Ohio State with two blocks in a sweep against No. 14 Lewis on Saturday. The middle attacker also had five blocks as No. 9/10 Ohio State on the road swept No. 5/6 Loyola on Friday.
Trevor Dow, Harvard — Dow had five kills and zero errors on a .625 attack percentage to help Harvard sweep No. 15 St. Francis on Saturday. He also hit more than .600 with six kills and added a team-high four blocks in a three-game loss to No. 7/7 Penn State on Friday.
Dante Chakravorti, UC Irvine — Chakravorti had a match-high 49 assists and guided the offense to a .315 attack percentage as No. 12 UC Irvine upset No. 2/1 UCLA in five games on Thursday.