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Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.
Barton’s Aleksa Brkovic, Concordia-Irvine’s Chandler Gibb, USC’s Ryan Moss, UCLA’s Micah Ma’a and Pepperdine’s Kevin Vaz were selected on Monday for the Off the Block National Position Player of the Week Awards.
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.
The Off the Block staff determines each award recipient. In addition, the winners are announced every Monday 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 weekly awards. Off the Block at the end of the season also 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.
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.
National Position Player of the Week Awards
Off the Block National Setter of the Week: Chandler Gibb, Concordia-Irvine
Off the Block National Opposite of the Week: Ryan Moss, USC
Off the Block National Outside Attacker of the Week: Micah Ma’a, UCLA
Off the Block National Middle Attacker of the Week: Kevin Vaz, Pepperdine
Off the Block National Libero of the Week: Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
Chandler Gibb, Concordia-Irvine
Gibb had 54 assists while guiding the offense to a .355 attack percentage and led all players with a season-high 14 digs as Concordia-Irvine upset No. 10/10 BYU in five games on Thursday. He also helped Concordia-Irvine hit .464 in a four-game upset victory against No. 6/6 Stanford on Saturday.
Ryan Moss, USC
Moss had nine kills and zero attack errors while hitting .474 in a sweep against No. 10/10 BYU on Saturday. He also had 15 kills and seven digs as USC beat No. 6/6 Stanford in five games on Thursday.
Micah Ma’a, UCLA
Ma’a, traditionally a setter but playing at outside attacker because of injuries, finished with a both match-high six aces and 17 kills on a .342 attack percentage and led No. 5/5 UCLA with 12 digs in a four-game victory against Grand Canyon on Sunday. He also had a team-high 13 kills and 10 digs in a road loss to No. 4/4 Pepperdine on Wednesday. With this award, Ma’a becomes the first player to win an Off the Block National Postion Player of the Week Award at two positions during the same season.
Kevin Vaz, Pepperdine
Vaz had seven kills and zero errors on a .778 attack percentage and a match-high seven blocks as No. 4/4 Pepperdine beat No. 5/5 UCLA in four games to move into first place in the MPSF. He also had a season-high eight blocks along with six kills and zero attack errors on a .667 attack percentage in a sweep against Grand Canyon on Friday.
Aleksa Brkovic, Barton
Brkovic had a combined 48 digs in three victories last week, including a season-high 21 digs in a four-game road victory against Mount Olive on Tuesday. He also had a match-high 17 digs as Barton swept Queens on Saturday to secure its fourth consecutive 20-win season.