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Within two years, Hawai’i opposite Rado Parapunov went from a freshman battling for a spot in the starting lineup to now being the best at his position.
Off the Block announced Friday that a nationwide voting committee selected Parapunov as the recipient of the 2019 Bryan Ivie Award.
The Bryan Ivie Award, which is named after the former USC All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best opposite in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Parapunov entering the NCAA Tournament with a 4.14 kills per game average and a .432 attack percentage was the only player in the nation’s top 10 for both of those offensive categories. He also had three consecutive Big West matches with at least 20 kills, including having 20 kills and hitting .552 in a sweep of UC Santa Barbara on April 5.
Along with offensive performance, Parapunov was eighth in the country averaging 0.48 aces per game and helped the Rainbow Warriors earn the No. 1 overall seed to the NCAA Tournament.
The voting committee for the Bryan Ivie Award was comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the Bryan Ivie Award. A tie in the voting resulted in four finalists for the award this season.
Parapunov received 49 votes — 18 more votes than the runner-up Long Beach State opposite Kyle Ensing. BYU opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez and Barton opposite Angelos Mandilaris. Each finished tied for third place with 11 votes.
This is the fourth year that Off the Block has presented the Bryan Ivie Award. Previous winners of the award include former Pepperdine All-American opposite Parker Kalmbach in 2015, former BYU All-American opposite Ben Patch in 2016, Hawai’i All-American Stijn van Tilburg in 2017 and Ensing last season.
The Bryan Ivie Award is one of several end of season awards presented by Off the Block. Among the other national awards includes the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker, the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero and the Ryan Millar Award to the nation’s top middle attacker.
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.
2019 Bryan Ivie Award voting results
1. Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i — 49 points
2. Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State — 31 points
T-3. Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU — 11 points
T-3. Angelos Mandilaris, Barton — 11 points
5. Michael Wexter, Pepperdine — 9 points
6. Hayden Wagner, George Mason — 6 points
7. Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial — 4 points
T-8. George Huhmann, Princeton — 1 point
T-8. Ryan Moss, USC — 1 point