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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: Miles Partain, UCLA
National Opposite of the Week: Julian Meissner, NJIT
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Eric Visgitis, Mount Olive
National Libero of the Week: Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
National Freshman of the Week: Kaelen Ingram, Edward Waters
Miles Partain, UCLA
Partain finished with 32 assists and guided the offense to a .364 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 5/6 USC on Thursday. The setter also had a match-high nine digs and helped the team hit .384 in a five-game victory on Saturday to complete the home-and-home two-match series sweep versus its in-state rival.
Julian Meissner, NJIT
Meissner had both a match-high five aces and 12 kills on a .526 attack percentage as NJIT swept Harvard on Saturday. The opposite had nine kills and zero errors on a .692 attack percentage in a sweep against Sacred Heart on Friday.
Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
Nikolov had a match-high 23 kills on a .333 attack percentage and three aces in a four-game victory against No. 4/4 Hawai’i on Friday. The outside attacker also led all players with 18 kills on a .484 attack percentage and added a season-high 12 digs in another four-game victory against the Rainbow Warriors on Saturday.
Eric Visgitis, Mount Olive
Visgitis had a match-high eight blocks and 10 kills on a .429 attack percentage in a five-game victory against Erskine on Saturday. The middle attacker also had eight kills and zero errors on a .444 attack percentage in a sweep against Emmanuel on Friday and nine kills on a .467 attack percentage in a sweep against Barton on Tuesday.
Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
Briggs finished with a match-high 17 digs and had zero reception errors in a four-game victory versus No. 4/4 Hawai’i on Friday. The libero also had a match-high 16 digs as No. 2/1 Long Beach State beat Hawai’i in four games on Saturday to complete the two-match series sweep.
Kaelen Ingram, Edward Waters
Ingram had a team-high 12 kills and hit .333 in a four-game victory against Central State on Friday to move into a tie for first place in the SIAC. The outside attacker also had four kills and zero errors on a .400 attack percentage in a sweep against Kentucky State on Saturday.