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Off the Block announced on Monday the recipients of the National Position Player of the Week Awards and the National Freshman of the Week.
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. In addition, the National Player of the Week is presented to the top freshman from the week in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
The Off the Block staff determines each award recipient. The winners are announced every week 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 and freshman-based weekly awards.
Off the Block at the end of the season 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. It also presents the Freshmen All-American Team at the end of the regular season.
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.
Off the Block Weekly National Award recipients
National Setter of the Week: Quinn Isaacson, Ball State
National Opposite of the Week: Cal Fisher, Penn State
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
National Libero of the Week: Michal Podgorzak, Limestone
National Freshman of the Week: Griffin Fieseler, NJIT
National Setter of the Week: Quinn Isaacson, Ball State
Isaacson guided the offense to more than a .300 attack percentage in both of No. 15 Ball State’s victories against in-state rival Purdue Fort Wayne during the weekend. The setter also had a match-high 12 digs in the four-game victory to open the series on Friday.
National Opposite of the Week: Cal Fisher, Penn State
Fisher finished with a match-high 15 kills on a .591 attack percentage and added two aces in a sweep against Saint Francis on Thursday. He also contributed 14 kills in a five-game victory on Saturday to complete the two-match series sweep.
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State
Pasteur ended with a match-high 20 kills and added three blocks as Ohio State upset No. 3/4 Lewis in four games on Friday. The freshman also the Buckeyes with both 11 kills and 11 digs in a series- finale loss to Lewis.
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
Mitchem had a match-high nine blocks while contributing 12 kills and zero errors on a .600 attack percentage in a four-game loss to Ohio State on Friday. He also had nine kills on a .571 attack percentage and added four blocks as No. 3/4 Lewis swept Ohio State in the rematch on Saturday.
National Libero of the Week: Michal Podgorzak, Limestone
Podgorzak finished with a match-high 20 digs as Limestone defeated Emmanuel in four games on Tuesday. He also led all players with a career-high 25 digs in a five-game loss to Queens on Thursday.
National Freshman of the Week: Griffin Fieseler, NJIT
Fieseler led the NJIT offense to a .370 attack percentage in a series-opening sweep against Sacred Heart on Thursday. In addition, Fieseler helped the Highlanders hit .391 and had a team-high five digs to complete the two-match series sweep on Friday.