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BYU opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez lived up to all the preseason hype and has already earned his first national award one week into his college career.
Off the Block announced Monday that Fernandez was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
Fernandez in his college debut led all players with 23 kills as No. 3 BYU lost to No. 13 Loyola in five games on Friday. The preseason selection for the Bryan Ivie Award watch list also had 12 kills on a .409 attack percentage and added five blocks in a four-game victory against No. 6 Lewis on Saturday.
This is the first time a BYU player has earned National Freshman of the Week honors since outside attacker Brenden Sander in 2015.
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 the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.
Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2017 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.