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A national award named in honor of a two-time National Player of the Year recipient will be introduced to college men’s volleyball starting next season.
Off the Block announced Friday that it will present in 2015 the inaugural Bryan Ivie Award, which will be awarded to the best opposite in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
The Bryan Ivie Award will be the first national position-based award in college men’s volleyball history given to an opposite. The naming of this award after a former standout college men’s volleyball player was done in effort to preserve and honor the sport’s history.
Ivie in four seasons at USC was a three-time All-American and helped lead the Trojans to the 1998 and 1990 NCAA championships. The USC Hall of Famer and school record-holder for career kills also was selected as the National Player of the Year in 1990 and 1991 — becoming one of the few players in college men’s volleyball history to win the award twice.
Along with his college career, Ivie was a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team for the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. In addition, he was named to the USA Volleyball 75th Anniversary All-Era Team.
The Bryan Ivie Award will be one of three position-based national awards presented by Off the Block in the upcoming season.
Off the Block last season presented the inaugural Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter. It also will debut in 2015 the National Outside Attacker of the Year.
Several volleyball organizations present end-of-season awards ranging from All-American Teams to the National Player of the Year. However, Off the Block is the first volleyball organization to present national awards based on a specific position
All three national award winners will be determined at the end of the regular season by a nationwide voting committee comprised of coaches and media members.
The top-three vote-getters for each award will be named finalists. The player receiving the most votes for each award will be announced as the winner.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that has become among the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.