Follow
The bracket is set and 64 players have been selected for the annual Off the Block/Sprinbak, Inc. Fan Choice National Player of the Year tournament.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Fan Choice National 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.
This annual contest is a bracket-style, five-round tournament pairing the nation’s best players against each other with the winner being determined through online voting on the Off the Block website at offtheblockblog.com/playerofyear.
The tournament will begin with 16 first-round matches on Wednesday and the other 16 first-round matches will take place on Thursday.
Each round will last one day with the online polls closing at 10 p.m. (CST), except for the regional finals and championship round. The player with the most votes when the polls close will advance to the next round.
The regional finals will have a two-day voting period on Sunday and Monday. The championship round will feature the four regional champions going up against each other in an online poll on June 7-10.
An individual will be allowed to vote only one time per hour for each match during the tournament.
Several volleyball organizations give a National Player of the Year award at the end of each season. However, the 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 making the postseason in the EIVA, MIVA, MPSF and the Conference Carolinas received an automatic player bid to the tournament. Off the Block also awarded 32 at-large bids to complete the 64-player field.
Players selected to the tournament were placed into four regions.
In honor of this being an Olympic year, Off the Block is honoring the 20-year anniversary of the 1996 U.S. Men’s National Team by naming each region after a player on that team. The four regions are the Bob Ctvrtlik region, the Jeff Stork region, the Ethan Watts region and the Brett Winslow region
This is sixth year of the Fan Choice Player of the Year. Previous winners include Loyola outside attacker Mike Bunting in 2011, Ball State middle attacker Matt Leske in 2012, IPFW outside attacker Eddie Rivera in 2013, the BYU outside attacker Taylor Sander in 2014 and Coker opposite Artur Cabral last year.
Below is a schedule of the tournament and the first-round matches.
Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Fan Choice Player of the Year tournament schedule
Wednesday, June 1: First round for Jeff Stork and Ethan Watts regions
Thursday, June 2: First round for Brett Winslow and Bob Ctvrtlik regions
Friday, June 3: Regional quarterfinals
Saturday, June 4: Regional semifinals
Sunday, June 5 to Monday, June 6: Regional finals
Tuesday, June 7 to Friday, June 10: Championship round
*Polls close at 10 p.m. (CST) for every round
JEFF STORK REGION
ETHAN WATTS REGION
BOB CTVRTLIK REGION
BRETT WINSLOW REGION