Off the Block announces winners of National Position Player of Week Awards

Photo courtesy of Hawai’i athletics

Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.

Princeton’s George Huhmann, Pepperdine’s David Wieczorek, McKendree’s Wyatt Dimke, and Hawai’i’s Gage Worsley and Joe Worsley 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.

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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: Joe Worsley, Hawai’i
Off the Block National Opposite of the Week: George Huhmann, Princeton
Off the Block National Outside Attacker of the Week: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week: Wyatt Dimke, McKendree
Off the Block National Libero of the Week: Gage Worsley, Hawai’i

Joe Worsley, Hawai’i
Worsley had 52 assist and guided the offense to a .351 attack percentage as No. 1/1 Hawai’i beat No. 3/3 UC Santa Barbara in four games on Saturday to complete the two-match series sweep and remain undefeated for the season. He also had a match-high nine digs and helped the Rainbow Warriors hit .282 in the series-opening sweep against the Gauchos on Friday.

George Huhmann, Princeton
Huhmann led all players with a season-high 28 kills on a .471 attack percentage and added three blocks in a five-game victory against its rival Harvard on Friday. He also had both a match-high 12 kills on a .429 attack percentage and four blocks as Princeton swept Sacred Heart on Saturday. With these two victories, Princeton needs one more win to clinch the program’s first EIVA regular season championship.

David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Wieczorek led all players with 18 kills while hitting a career-best .739 and added a match-high seven digs as No. 4/4 Pepperdine swept No. 14 Concordia-Irvine on Saturday to clinch the MPSF regular season title. He also had a match-high 13 kills on a .571 attack percentage along with two aces in a sweep against No. 6/7 USC on Thursday.

Wyatt Dimke, McKendree
The sophomore had 28 kills, 12 blocks, and seven digs in a pair of matches that went five games. He hit a combined .535 in those two matches. His 15 kills versus Ball State on Thursday was a season-high, and his eight block assists against the Cardinals was a career-high. McKendree secured a postseason home match for the first time in program history after defeating No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday.

Gage Worsley, Hawai’i
Worsley finished with a match-high 11 digs in a four-game victory against No. 3/3 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. He also had a match-high nine digs as No. 1/1 Hawai’i swept UC Santa Barbara on the series opener on Friday and now enter the final week of the regular season as the only undefeated team in the nation.