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Even missing time on the court with an injury did not prevent Stanford opposite Jaylen Jasper from winning a college men’s volleyball national award.
Off the Block announced Monday that Jasper was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
Jasper led all players with a season-high 27 kills on a .535 attack percentage and added four blocks in a four-game non-conference victory against UC San Diego on Friday. The opposite also had five kills and hit .375 in the opening game versus No. 3/4 UC Irvine before suffering an injury and missing the rest of the three-game loss on Saturday.
This is the first time Jasper has earned the National Freshman of the Week. In addition, Jasper is the first Stanford player since Kyle Dagostino in 2015 to win the national award.
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 2018 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
Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU — Fernandez finished with a combined 38 kills in three matches at the Outrigger Invitational, including 19 kills on a .419 attack percentage in a five-game win against No. 11 Penn State on Thursday. He also had a season-high five aces as No. 2/2 BYU beat No. 4/3 BYU in four games on Saturday to win the tournament championship.
Felipe de Brito Ferreira, BYU — Ferreira totaled 16 blocks in three victories at the Outrigger Invitational. In BYU’s final two matches of the tournament against No. 8/8 Lewis and No. 2/2 Hawai’i, the middle attacker also had a combined 14 kills and zero attack errors while hitting .824.
Tomas Gago, Fort Wayne — Gago had 11 kills on a team-high .529 attack percentage as Fort Wayne upset No. 3/4 UC Irvine in five games on Wednesday. The middle attacker also contributed six kills and three blocks in a sweep against No. 14 Concordia-Irvine on Saturday.
Wyatt Harrison, UC San Diego — Harrison had 12 kills on a .435 attack percentage in a four-game victory against USC on Wednesday. He also had both a team-high 10 kills on a .533 attack percentage and three aces in a four-game loss to Stanford on Friday.
Joe Kelly, Princeton — Kelly had a season-high 53 assists as he guided the Princeton offense to a .311 attack percentage in a five-game comeback victory against NJIT on Friday. He also had a team-high nine digs and added four blocks in four-game win versus the Highlanders to complete the home-and-home series sweep.
Logan Kerley, Lincoln Memorial — Kerley had a combined 45 digs in three matches last week, including a season-high 20 digs in a five-game loss to Erskine on Saturday. The libero also had a match-high 15 digs as Lincoln Memorial beat Emmanuel in five games on Friday.
Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine — Schneidmiller finished with a team-high 10 kills on a .600 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 10/10 Ball State on Thursday. He also had seven kills and zero attack errors on a .778 attack percentage while adding a match-high three aces in a sweep versus Stanford on Saturday.
Garrett Zolg, Loyola — Zolg guided the offense to a .355 attack percentage and had a match-high two aces as No. 6/6 Loyola sweep No. 7/7 Pepperdine on Saturday. The setter also had a match-high 15 digs and helped Loyola hit .260 in a four-game loss to No. 14 Concordia-Irvine on Thursday.