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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: A.J. Lewis, Lindenwood
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Kaleb Jenness, Ball State
Co-National Middle Attacker of the Week: Guy Genis, UCLA
Co-National Middle Attacker of the Week: Donovan Todorov, UC Santa Barbara
National Libero of the Week: Nicklas Eichenberger, Emmanuel
National Freshman of the Week: Parker Van Buren, Loyola
Cole Bogner, Penn State
Bogner had 41 assists and guided the offense to a season-best .500 attack percentage as Penn State swept Saint Francis to remain undefeated in conference play.
A.J. Lewis, Lindenwood
Lewis led all players with a career-high 29 kills on a .478 attack percentage and added three aces as Lindenwood upset Lewis in five games on Friday. The opposite also had 14 kills in a three-game loss to McKendree on Saturday.
Kaleb Jenness, Ball State
Jenness tied a single-match program record with 31 kills on a .636 attack percentage and added 10 digs in a five-game victory against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday. The outside attacker also had team-high 18 kills on a .325 attack percentage along with four blocks in a loss to Loyola on Saturday.
Guy Genis, UCLA
Genis had 11 kills on a .667 attack percentage and a team-high five blocks in a five-game victory against Long Beach State on Saturday.
Donovan Todorov, UC Santa Barbara
Todorov had a combined 15 kills on a .560 attack percentage in a two-match series sweep against BYU, including having 11 kills and hitting .667 in the series finale. The middle attacker also had a combined eight blocks in the non-conference series.
Nicklas Eichenberger, Emmanuel
Eichenberger had a match-high 20 digs in a four-game victory against Edward Waters on Friday. In addition, the libero had a team-high 10 digs in a four-game loss to Erskine.
Parker Van Buren, Loyola
Van Buren led all players with both 27 kills on a .431 attack percentage and five blocks as Loyola defeated Ohio State in five games. The outside attacker also had a match-high 22 kills in a four-game road victory against Ball State.