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Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.
Hawai’i’s Patrick Gasman and Stijn van Tilburg, USC’s Chris Hall, Mount Olive’s Joel Roberts, Ball State’s Matt Szews were selected on Monday 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: Chris Hall, USC
Off the Block National Opposite of the Week: Matt Szews, Ball State
Off the Block National Outside Attacker of the Week: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week: Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Off the Block National Libero of the Week: Joel Roberts, Mount Olive
Chris Hall, USC
Hall finished with 36 assists and guided the offense to a .493 attack percentage as No. 11 USC swept undefeated No. 1/1 Long Beach State on Saturday. The setter also contributed a three digs and a block in the Trojans’ first win against a No. 1 ranked team since 2013.
Matt Szews, Ball State
Szews had a season-high 21 kills on a .327 attack percentage while adding three aces and eight digs as No. 15 Ball State upset No. 7/6 Lewis in five games on Saturday. He also had a match-high 14 kills along with seven digs in a three-game loss to No. 10/10 Loyola on Thursday.
Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
van Tilburg had a combined 42 kills in three victories at the BYU Invitational, including a season-high 18 kills and zero errors on a .750 attack percentage in a sweep against McKendree on Thursday. He also had 13 kills while hitting .500 and three aces as No. 2/2 Hawai’i swept No. 8/7 BYU on Saturday finish the non-conference tournament undefeated.
Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Gasman had a season-high 10 kills and zero errors on a .909 attack percentage while adding a match-best five blocks as No. 2/2 Hawai’i swept No. 8/7 BYU on Saturday to remain undefeated this season. He also had a combined nine kills and six kills while hitting .600 in sweeps against McKendree on Thursday and Princeton on Friday.
Joel Roberts, Mount Olive
Roberts had a combined 21 digs in two five-game conference victories, including a match-high 14 digs against Limestone on Friday. He also had a team-high 12 digs in a three-game loss to Harvard last Tuesday.