Finalists announced for Off the Block National Player of Month

Photo by Jay Sowers

Off the Block selected the finalists, and now it is up to the fans to determine who should be the college men’s volleyball National Player of the Month.

The Off the Block National Player of the Month recognizes the best individual performances from NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players during the month and gives volleyball fans from around the world the chance to determine who was the best player.

The National Player of the Month is a two-round tournament with the fans deciding the winner through online voting on the Off the Block website.

Finalists in the first round are placed into one of five ballots based on their position. The five winners on the position ballots will advance to the championship round, along with the runner-up who received the most votes.

The online poll for the first round is now open and closes at 10 p.m. (CST) Friday. The championship round will be a two-day voting event with the polls closing at 10 p.m. (CST) Sunday.

While there are several weekly awards in college men’s volleyball, this is the only monthly national award presented in the sport. It is also one of the two nationally awards determined solely by the fans.

Check out the finalists below for the National Player of the Month in January. Individuals can vote using at the poll below or by visiting offtheblockblog.com/playerofmonth.

Setter Division

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Paul Bischoff, Stanford
Bischoff ended the month leading the MPSF and fourth in the nation with a 10.70 assists per game average and guided the Stanford offense to the sixth-best attack percentage in the nation at .340. He also has at least five digs in six consecutive matches, including a season-high nine digs along with six kills in a four-game victory against Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday.

Dante Chakravorti, UC Irvine
Chakravorti is sixth in the country with a 10.31 assists per game average and had more than 50 assists in two matches during January. UC Irvine had more than a .300 attack percentage in five matches this month. Defensively, Chakravorti had more than five digs in six matches.

Micah Ma’a, UCLA
Ma’a is fifth in the nation with a 10.58 assists per game average as UCLA ended the month with nation’s third-best attack percentage at .366. The setter also leads the MPSF and is third in the nation with a 0.77 aces per game average, including having four aces in a loss to No. 1 Long Beach State on Jan. 19.

Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Tuaniga guided the 49ers offense to a .408 attack percentage — second-best in the nation during the first month of the season. He also is third in the nation averaging 10.77 assists per game and had a season-high five aces in a victory against USC to help the defending NCAA champions end the month undefeated.

Joe Worsley, Hawai’i
Worsley guided the Rainbow Warriors to a nation-best .493 attack percentage in January. The setter also was second in the nation averaging 10.89 assists per game during the Rainbow Warriors’ three matches this month and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Warrior Classic.

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Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Zolg had a nation-best 10.90 assists per game average as he guided the Ramblers offense to a MIVA-best .350 attack percetentage. He also had more than five digs in five matches and helped Loyola win two matches against top-10 ranked teams in January.

Opposite Division

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Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial
Cory ended the month second in the nation with a 0.83 aces per game average and in the country’s top 15 averaging 3.92 kills per game. He also had double-digit kills in all but one of Lincoln Memorial’s matches in January, including a season-high 19 kills while hitting .607 in a sweep against Limestone at the Off the Block Grow the Game Challenge.

Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU
Fernandez leads the MPSF and is third in the nation with a 4.69 kills per game average. He also had a season-high 27 kills while hitting .413 in a five-game road victory against Penn State on Jan. 18 to help BYU finish the month undefeated.

Jake Hanes, Ohio State
Hanes leads the NCAA through the first month of the season with a 5.32 kills per game average and is in the nation’s top 15 hitting .405. He also had three consecutive matches with at least 20 kills, including a season-high 24 kills and four aces in a four-game victory against Penn State.

Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
Jasper is eighth in the nation with a 4.04 kills per game average and had at least one ace in all but one match during January. He also had double-digit kills in each of Stanford’s matches against NCAA Division I-II opponents as the Cardinal ended the month 6-1 against nationally ranked teams.

Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Mandilaris is in the nation’s top 15 averaging both 3.96 kills per game and 0.60 aces per game. He also had 15 kills in an upset victory against USC en route to being named the Most Valuable Player of the Off the Block Grow the Game Challenge and helping Barton win the tournament championship.

Brandon Rattray, UCLA
Rattray is fourth in the MPSF and in the nation’s top 15 with a 3.92 kills per game average. The transfer from Hawai’i also had a season-high 21 kills while hitting .576 in a four-game victory against UC San Diego on Saturday.

Outside Attacker Division

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Corey Chavers, UC Santa Barbara
Chavers is among the national leaders with a 3.53 kills per game average and had a .343 attack percentage in January. He also had at least 20 kills in two matches, including 20 kills on a season-high .475 attack percentage in an upset victory against Loyola on Saturday.

Michael Fisher, St. Francis
Fisher in his return to the court after missing last season ended the month leading the EIVA and fourth in the nation with a 4.64 kills per game average. He also has three consecutive matches with at least 20 kills, including a season-high 24 kills on a .347 attack percentage in a conference loss to Penn State on Jan. 21.

Christian Janke, Grand Canyon
Janke finished January in the nation’s top 20 with a 3.70 kills per game average and has at least 15 kills in five consecutive matches. The freshman during this streak also had back-to-back matches at the Off the Block Grow the Game Challenge with at least 20 kills as he made the All-Tournament Team.

Kaleb Jenness, Ball State
Jenness is sixth in the MIVA with a 3.14 kills per game average, including having a season-high 22 kills on a .410 attack percentage in a five-game loss to UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 18. The freshman also is among the conference leaders averaging 0.75 blocks per game and had a season-high eight blocks in a five-game victory versus CSUN on Jan. 19.

Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine
Schneidmiller is ninth in the nation with a 4.03 kills per game average and had double-digit kills in all 10 of the Anteaters’ matches during January. He also is among the national leaders with a 0.56 aces per game average. With 22 aces this season, he has already surpassed his total number of aces from his entire freshman season in 2018.

Pelegrin Vargas, Purdue Fort Wayne
Vargas is third in the MIVA and in the country’s top 20 with a 3.67 kills per game average. He also had double-digit kills in six matches this month, including a season-high 23 on a .400 attack percentage in a five-game loss to CSUN on Jan. 18.

David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Wieczorek ended the month in the nation’s top 15 with a 3.83 kills per game average and hit .332. The 2018 MPSF Player of the Year also had two matches with at least 20 kills, including a season-high 22 kills in a loss to UC Irvine on Sunday.

Jack Wyett, USC
Wyett is in the nation’s top 10 averaging 4.00 kills per game and had at least 15 kills in four January matches. He also had both a season-high 19 kills on a .361 attack percentage and 10 digs in an upset victory against UC Irvine on Jan. 23.

Middle Attacker Division

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Pedro Carvalho, Lincoln Memorial
Carvalho has a nation-best 1.79 blocks per game average and has more than five blocks in each of Lincoln Memorial’s last four matches. He also hit at least .400 in five matches during January, including having a season-high nine kills on a .412 attack percentage in a near upset of Grand Canyon on Jan. 20.

Jason Donorovich, Penn State
Donorovich concluded the month fourth in the nation with a .519 attack percentage, including having double-digit kills and hitting more than .400 in back-to-back matches versus BYU and St. Francis. He also is in the nation’s top 10 averaging 1.24 blocks per game and had a season-high nine blocks in a sweep against Lindenwood during the weekend.

Daenan Gyimah, UCLA
Gyimah leads the MPSF and is third in the nation with a .521 attack percentage, including having a season-high 11 kills while hitting .917 in a sweep against McKendree on Jan. 11. He also had multiple aces in three January matches highlighted by a season-high four aces in a season-opening win versus Princeton.

TJ Murray, Lewis
Murray is in the nation’s top 15 with both a 1.20 blocks per game average and a .458 attack percentage. He also had double-digit kills in two matches, including a season-high 11 kills while hitting .562 in a road match against UC Santa Barbara on Friday.

Paul Narup, Loyola
Narup leads the MIVA and is sixth in the nation with a 1.29 blocks per game average. He also is among the national leaders with a .446 attack percentage and had more than five kills in all but two January matches, including a season-high 10 kills in a victory against Pepperdine on Jan. 18.

Libero Division

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Hayden Boehle, UC Santa Barbara
Boehle was one of two players in the nation to have at least 100 digs in January. He also finished the month in the country’s top 10 with a 2.44 digs per game average and had double-digit digs in eight matches.

Addison Enriques, Concordia-Irvine
Enriques concluded the month leading the MPSF and in the nation’s top 15 with a 2.33 digs per game average. He also had a season-high 13 digs in a three-game loss to Hawai’i on Jan. 11.

David Parker, UC Irvine
Parker leads the nation with 102 digs and is third in the country averaging 2.62 digs per game. He also had double-digit digs in six matches during the month, including a season-high 17 digs in a victory against Stanford on Jan. 19.

Joel Roberts, Mount Olive
Roberts is second in the nation averaging 2.78 digs per game. He also has double-digit digs in Mount Olive’s last two matches, including a season-high 16 digs in a sweep against Erskine on Friday.

Michael Simmons, Lewis
Simmons is second in the MIVA and among the national leaders with a 2.41 digs per game average. Among his three double-digit dig performances in January featured a season-high 17 digs in a loss to Pepperdine on Jan. 19.

7 Replies to “Finalists announced for Off the Block National Player of Month”

  1. Let’s go LMU!
    Libero you better keep your eye on is #18 @LMU! He has got some game!
    Go Matt Bridenbaugh

    Ohio State Saturday night 8pm LMU RailSplitters vs Ohio State Buckeyes!

  2. Adriano Enriques has been doing a great job lately. I believe he deserves the award “Libero of the Month”.

Comments are closed.