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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: Jack Sarnowski, King
National Opposite of the Week: Samuel Clark, Ohio 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: Troy Gooch, Purdue Fort Wayne
National Freshman of the Week: Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
Jack Sarnowski, King
Sarnowski had 51 assists and guided the offense to a .345 attack percentage as King defeated Mount Olive in four games on Saturday to clinch the No. 2 seed for the ConfCarolinas Tournament and a bye to the semifinals. The setter also helped King hit a season-high .500 in a sweep against Barton on Friday.
Samuel Clark, Ohio State
Clark finished with 15 kills on a .407 attack percentage and added six digs as Ohio State upset No. 11/10 Loyola in three games on Saturday. The opposite also had a team-high 21 kills on a .400 attack percentage in a five-game victory against Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday.
Will Rottman , Stanford
Rottman had a match-high 32 kills on a .391 attack percentage in a five-game victory against BYU on Saturday, including nine kills in the decisive game that went to overtime. The outside attacker also had 18 kills and hit .680 in a sweep against BYU to open the two-match series on Friday.
Merrick McHenry, UCLA
McHenry had a match-high seven blocks and added seven kills on a .357 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 8/8 Pepperdine on Thursday. The middle attacker also had 10 kills and zero errors on a .769 attack percentage along with four blocks in another sweep against Pepperdine on Saturday.
Guilherme Voss, Hawai’i
Voss had 12 kills on a .417 attack percentage and a match-high four blocks as No. 4/5 Hawai’i defeated No. 5/6 UC Santa Barbara in five games on Saturday to complete a two-match series sweep. The middle attacker also had six kills and a team-high four blocks in a series opening sweep on Friday.
Troy Gooch, Purdue Fort Wayne
Gooch led all players with a season-high 20 digs in a four-game loss to No. 7/4 Ball State on Saturday. The libero also had a match-high 14 digs in a five-game loss to Ohio State on Thursday.
Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State
Nikolov finished with a match-high 12 kills on a .611 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 10 UC San Diego on Friday. The outside attacker also had both a match-high six aces and 17 kills on a .324 attack percentage in a five-game loss to the Tritons on Saturday.