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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: Bartosz Slawinski, BYU
National Opposite of the Week: Angelos Mandilaris, Ball State
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Will Rottman, Stanford
National Co-Middle Attacker of the Week: Merrick McHenry, UCLA
National Co-Middle Attacker of the Week: Guilherme Voss, Hawai’i
National Libero of the Week: Noah Melendez, King
National Freshman of the Week: Parker Van Buren, Loyola
Bartosz Slawinski, BYU
Slawinski had 36 assists and guided the BYU offense to a .569 attack percentage in a series-opening sweep against Concordia-Irvine on Friday. The setter also helped the team hit .330 and had a match-high nine digs as BYU defeated Concordia-Irvine in four games on Saturday to complete the series sweep.
Angelos Mandilaris, Ball State
Mandilaris had a match-high 21 kills on a .432 in a four-game victory against NJIT on Friday, including having three kills in the fourth-game overtime. The opposite also had 10 kills on a .318 attack percentage and two aces in a sweep against Princton on Saturday.
Will Rottman, Stanford
Rottman finished with both a match-high four aces and 18 kills on a .412 attack percentage as Stanford upset UCLA in five games on Friday. The outside attacker also had a team-high 16 kills and added eight digs in a four-game loss to UCLA on Saturday.
Guilherme Voss, Hawai’i
Voss led all players with a season-high 12 blocks and added six kills in a four-game victory against Lewis on Saturday. The middle attacker also had six kills and zero errors on a .667 attack percentage in the series-opening sweep against Lewis on Thursday.
Merrick McHenry, UCLA
McHenry had a match-high 17 kills on a .625 attack percentage as UCLA defeated Stanford in four games on Saturday. The middle attacker also had seven kills and hit .600 in a five-game loss to Stanford on Friday.
Noah Melendez, King
Melendez had a match-high 19 digs and added a kill on the decisive fifth game as King defeated Charleston on Saturday. The libero also led all players with seven digs in a sweep against Tusculum on Thursday.
Parker Van Buren, Loyola
Van Buren led all players with a season-high 31 kills on a .521 attack percentage in a four-game victory against Daemen on Sunday. The outside attacker also had nine digs and three blocks in the non-conference win.