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Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.
Lincoln Memorial’s Evan Cory, UCLA’s Daenan Gyimah, Belmont Abbey’s Collin Lockwood, Long Beach State’s Josh Tuaniga and Pepperdine’s David Wieczorek were all selected for the Off the Block National Position Player of the Week Awards.
The National Position Player of the Week Awards recognize the libero, middle attacker, opposite, outside attacker and setter who had the best performances in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the week.
The Off the Block staff determines each award recipient. In addition, the winners are announced every Monday during the regular season on the Off the Block website, offtheblockblog.com.
While there are other weekly national awards in college men’s volleyball, these are the only position-based weekly awards. Off the Block at the end of the season also presents the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, Bryan Ivie Award to the nation’s top opposite, the Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker, the Ryan Millar Award to the nation’s top middle attacker and the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.
National Position Player of the Week Awards
Off the Block National Setter of the Week: Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Off the Block National Opposite of the Week: Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial
Off the Block National Outside Attacker of the Week: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week: Daenan Gyimah, UCLA
Off the Block National Libero of the Week: Collin Lockwood, Belmont Abbey
Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Tuaniga guided offense to a season-high .514 attack percentage and had a match-high five digs as No. 1/1 Long Beach State swept Penn State on Friday at the AVCA Showcase. He also led Long Beach State to a .475 attack percentage in a sweep versus Ohio State on Saturday in the non-conference tournament finale.
Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial
Cory had a combined 58 kills and eight aces in three matches last week, including more than 20 kills in two of the matches. The junior had both a season-high 26 kills and nine digs in a five-game loss to King on Tuesday and then had 21 kills in a four-game victory against Erskine on Saturday. In addition, Cory finished with 11 kills and zero attack errors while hitting .579 as Lincoln Memorial swept Coker on Friday.
David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Wieczorek finished with 14 kills and zero attack errors on a season-high .737 attack percentage and added three aces as No. 5/5 Pepperdine swept No. 9/9 Stanford in Friday to remain undefeated in conference play. The All-American also had a season-high five aces and led Pepperdine with 12 kills while hitting .435 in a sweep against No. 7/8 BYU on Wednesday.
Daenan Gyimah, UCLA
Gyimah led all players with a career-high 25 kills on a .553 attack percentage and added three blocks as No. 4/4 UCLA playing without multiple starters because of injuries beat No. 9/9 Stanford in five games on Thursday. He also contributed eight kills while hitting .500 and had three aces in a four-game victory against No. 7/8 BYU on Saturday.
Collin Lockwood, Belmont Abbey
Lockwood had a season-high 12 digs to help Belmont Abbey upset St. Francis in four games on Saturday. The sophomore also finished with eight digs in a four-game loss to Mount Olive Friday.