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The Bryan Ivie Award is annually given to the nation’s best opposite in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
The Bryan Ivie Award, which is named after the former USC All-American and U.S. Olympian, and is selected by a nationwide voting committee of college men’s volleyball coaches and media members.
Check out who made Off the Block’s preseason watch list for the Bryan Ivie Award for 2020.
Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial
Cory was named the Off the Block Independent Team player of the year last year after leading the Railsplitters to the IVA tournament championship. He led Lincoln Memorial last year with 336 kills, 50 aces, 137 digs. His 57 aces and 0.64 ranked tops last year nationally among opposites. In three years, he has tallied 871 kills good for a 3.30 kills per game average, and 108 aces good for a 0.41 aces per game average.
Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU
Garcia Fernandez has been named to the All-American Second Team in both years he’s played in Provo. He led the team with 0.352 aces per game, 9.70 attacks per game (No. 3 nationally), 1.49 digs per game, 4.29 kills per game (No. 4 nationally), and 5.03 points per game (No. 6 nationally). In his career, he’s started in all 53 matches he played in, and has double-digit kills in all but seven of those matches. In 2019, he had a 31 kills in a match versus Concordia, which was the most by a MPSF player last year.
George Huhmann, Princeton
Officially listed a combination middle attacker/opposite, we are going with opposite for purposes of our preseason watch lists as both he was listed as such on the 2019 EIVA First-Team (also Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year) and 2019 NCAA Honorable Mention Team. Huhmann’s 0.344 attack percentage ranks third among returning opposites. Huhmann also led the Tigers with 0.853 blocks per game, 3.41 kills per game, and 4.18 attacks per game last year. His 28 kills in a match versus Harvard last year were the most by a EIVA player last year. He has 991 kills and a 0.325 attack percentage in his three seasons so far.
Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
Jasper will be counted on to carry more of the offensive production with the graduation of outside attacker Jordan Ewert. He has been tabbed with All-American Honorable Mention honors in both years on the Farm. Jasper led the 2019 Stanford team with 0.233 aces per game, 8.00 attacks per game, 3.70 kills per game, and 4.20 points per game. For his career, he has 683 kills good for a 3.81 kills per game average.
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
In addition to receiving All-American Honorable Mention honors last year, Mandilaris is the reigning back-to-back ConfCarolinas Offensive Player of the Year. He is had the most kills per game last year among returning opposites with 4.40 kills per game. His 32 kills in a match versus Belmont Abbey last year was the most by a player last year in a single match, while his seven aces versus Emmanuel on January 25 was the second-most by a player in a single match last year. The Greek native led the 2019 Barton team in kills per game, attacks per game, and attack percentage. He had at least eight kills in all but two matches in his three-year career so far. For his career he has 1,143 kills (3.97 kills per game), 122 aces, and a 0.329 attack percentage.
Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
The reigning Bryan Ivie Award winner was named to the All-American First-Team last year and being receiving honorable mention honors the year before. He was also Off the Blocks’ International Player of the Year in addition to being named to the 2019 NCAA all-tournament team. Parapunov’s 4.07 kills per game ranked No. 7 last year nationally, and tops in the Big West, while his 0.457 aces per game and 0.420 attack percentage ranked No. 9 and No. 5 nationally respectively. Last year, Hawai’i led the nation with 14.11 kills per game and a NCAA-record 0.435 attack percentage. He has seven matches with 20+ kills for his career, which also features 785 kills (3.40 kills per game) and a 0.343 attack percentage.
Zach Schnittker, McKendree
The senior was named to All-MIVA Second Team last year after leading the Bearcats with 2.43 kills per game 0.277 aces per game. McKendree ranked in the top ten nationally last year with 2.41 blocks per game and 9.24 digs per game. McKendree’s 2019 year was a first for several feats in program history – they beat Ohio State for the first time ever, they hosted a MIVA tournament match for the first time ever, and their win over then-No. 8 BYU marked their win versus highest-ranked opponent ever.
Hayden Wagner, George Mason
Wagner has received All-American Honorable Mentions nods the previous two seasons. His 20 kills in a match versus Purdue Fort Wayne last year was tied for third-most by player in a three-game match. His 4.26 kills per game last year were good No. 5 nationally, and tops in the EIVA. He had double-digit kills in all but two matches last year, and has six matches with 20+ kills to his credit for his career. The senior 730 kills for his career, good for a 3.39 kills per game average.
Omari Wheeler, Quincy
The senior had a career-best, 3.84 kills per game last year, which ranked No. 10 in the nation, and No. 2 in the MIVA. Wheeler’s 9.74 attacks per game ranked No. 2 nationally last year, and represented 31% of Quincy’s total attacks. His 334 kills represented 33% of the Hawks’ kills last year. Wheeler was named to the 2019 All-MIVA Second-Team last year.