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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: Cole Bogner, Penn State
National Opposite of the Week: Hilir Henno, UC Irvine
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Parker Van Buren, Loyola
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
National Libero of the Week: Tristan Schraudner, Mount Olive
National Freshman of the Week: Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
Cole Bogner, Penn State
Bogner had 35 assists and guided the offense to a .463 attack percentage as No. 4/4 Penn State swept No. 6/6 Grand Canyon to open a two-match series on Thursday. The setter also had three aces and helped the Nittany Lions hit .386 in a series finale sweep on Saturday.
Hilir Henno, UC Irvine
Henno led all players with 18 kills on a .457 attack percentage and added six blocks in a four-game victory against No. 12/10 Stanford on Saturday. The freshman also had both a match-high 14 kills and three aces as No. 15 UC Irvine swept Harvard on Thursday.
Parker Van Buren, Loyola
Van Buren finished with a match-high 17 kills on a .593 attack percentage in a sweep against Saint Francis on Friday. The outside attacker also led Loyola with 15 kills on a .407 attack percentage and added eight blocks in a four-game victory against NJIT.
Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
Mitchem had a combined 32 kills on a .640 attack percentage in three victories last week, including a team-high 14 kills in a four-game win against NJIT on Saturday. The middle attacker also had three aces versus NJIT and a match-high seven blocks against Saint Francis on Saturday.
Tristan Schraudner, Mount Olive
Schraudner finished with a match-high 17 digs and had one reception error as Mount Olive defeated George Mason in five games on Saturday.
Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
Nikolov had both a match-high four aces and six digs along with eight kills on a .385 attack percentage in a sweep against Harvard on Saturday.