The national accolades continue for BYU opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez.
Off the Block announced Monday that Fernandez was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
Fernandez had a match-high 18 kills while hitting .517 and added eight digs as No. 6/6 BYU swept No. 14 UC Santa Barbara in the finale of their two-match series on Saturday. The opposite also led all players with 12 kills and two aces in a three-game loss on Friday to begin the non-conference series.
This is the second time that Fernandez has been named the National Freshman of the Week. In addition, Fernandez entered the weekend third in the MPSF and in the nation’s top 10 with a 3.52 kills per game average.
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 five 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.
National Freshman of the Week honorable mentions
Tomas Gago — Gago had a season-high eight kills and zero attack errors while hitting .727 and led Fort Wayne with five blocks in a four-game loss to No. 9/9 Penn State on Saturday. The middle attacker also had five kills and four blocks in a four-game victory against St. Francis on Saturday.
Alvaro Gimeno, NJIT — Gimeno led all players with 12 kills and had a season-high five aces in sweep against Belmont Abbey on Saturday.
Jake Hanes, Ohio State — Hanes finished with a match-high 14 kills on a .458 attack percentage along with three aces and five blocks in a road sweep against George Mason on Saturday. He also led all players with 12 kills and two aces in a sweep versus Charleston on Friday.
Wyatt Harrison, UC San Diego — Harrison had 12 kills on a .588 attack percentage in a four-game loss to Stanford on Saturday. He also had nine kills and three aces in a non-conference sweep against Princeton on Wednesday.
Jaylen Jasper, Stanford — Jasper had 14 kills on a .333 attack percentage and added two aces in a four-game road victory against UC San Diego on Saturday.
Tyler Mitchem, Lewis — Mitchem had seven kills on a .727 attack percentage and added three blocks in a sweep against No. 13 USC on Friday.
Robert Mullahey, Pepperdine — Mullahey had 35 assists guided the Pepperdine offense to a .365 attack percentage in a sweep against Princeton on Saturday.
Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine — Schneidmiller had 12 kills on a .417 attack percentage in a four-game loss to No. 2/2 UCLA on Saturday. He also had nine kills and added six digs in a sweep versus Stanford on Friday.
Luke Visgitis, Mount Olive — Visgitis led all players with a season-high seven blocks and added five kills on a .625 attack percentage in a sweep against Limestone on Friday.