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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: Jakob Thelle, Hawai’i
National Opposite of the Week: Cole Ketrzynski, UCLA
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Jackson Gilbert, North Greenville
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Austin Wilmot, Pepperdine
National Libero of the Week: Timothy McIntosh, Sacred Heart
Co-National Freshman of the Week: Vicente Ibarra, Purdue Fort Wayne
Co-National Freshman of the Week: Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
National Setter of the Week: Jakob Thelle, Hawai’i
Thelle had 41 assists and guided the offense to a .402 attack percentage as No. 2/1 Hawai’i defeated No. 8/8 UC Irvine in four games Sunday. He also added three digs and two blocks in the season-opening win.
National Opposite of the Week: Cole Ketrzynski, UCLA
Ketrzynski led all players with a season-high 21 kills on a .318 attack percentage in a four-game victory against its crosstown rival USC on Saturday. In addition, Ketrzynski had both a match-high 18 kills and three aces in another four-game win versus the Trojans on Thursday.
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Jackson Gilbert, North Greenville
Gilbert finished with both a match-high 20 kills and three aces in a four-game upset victory versus Mount Olive on Saturday. He also led all players with 14 kills and added two aces in a sweep against Barton — the Crusaders’ second all-time win against the Bulldogs.
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Austin Wilmot, Pepperdine
Wilmot had a combined 14 blocks in a two-match series sweep against Stanford, including a season-high eight blocks in the series-opening win Friday.The middle attacker also had nine kills on a .500 attack percentage in that victory.
National Libero of the Week: Timothy McIntosh, Sacred Heart
McIntosh, a finalist for the 2020 Erik Shoji Award, led all players with a season-high 18 digs in a four-game loss to No. 12 Penn State on Sunday.
Co-National Freshman of the Week: Vicente Ibarra, Purdue Fort Wayne
Ibarra had back-to-back matches with more than 20 kills in a weekend series against No. 4/4 Lewis. The outside attacker had 21 kills on a .333 attack percentage in a four-game loss on Friday and then had 22 kills while hitting .349 in a five-game loss on Saturday.
Co-National Freshman of the Week: Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
Siapanis contributed 15 kills and had a match-high 10 digs in a five-game upset victory against No. 11/7 Loyola on Saturday. He also had a team-high 11 kills on a .389 attack percentage in a sweep versus the Buckeyes on Sunday.