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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 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 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: Casey McGarry, UC Santa Barbara
National Opposite of the Week: Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Raymond Barsemian, Concordia-Irvine
Co-National MIddle Attacker of the Week: Simon Andersen, Long Beach State
Co-National MIddle Attacker of the Week: Luca Berger
National Libero of the Week: Francisco Comas, McKendree
National Freshman of the Week: Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
Casey McGarry, UC Santa Barbara
McGarry guided the offense to a .458 attack percentage in a sweep against McKendree on Saturday to conclude the UCSB Invitational undefeated. In the tournament opener, McGarry led UC Santa Barbara to a .370 attack percentage and added four digs in a sweep against Concordia-Irvine on Thursday.
Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
Diedrich led all players with a career-high 28 kills on a .438 attack percentage in a season-opening four-game victory against Queens on Friday. He also had 20 kills while hitting .444 as No. 14 Purdue Fort Wayne swept Belmont Abbey on Saturday.
Raymond Barsemian, Concordia-Irvine
Barsemian had back-to-back matches with at least 20 kills this weekend at the UCSB Invitational. The outside attacker finished with a team-high 20 kills and added eight digs as Concordia-Irvine upset No. 13 CSUN in five games on Friday. In addition, Barsemian led all players with 25 kills on a .373 attack percentage in a near upset of No. 4/5 Long Beach State on Saturday.
Simon Andersen, Long Beach State
Andersen finished with 11 kills and zero errors on a .579 attack percentage along with adding four blocks in a five-game victory against Concordia-Irvine on Saturday. He also had a team-high 13 kills while hitting .722 as Long Beach State defeated McKendree in four games on Saturday.
Luca Berger, NJIT
Berger led all players with a career-high 11 blocks as NJIT swept No. 12 USC on Saturday for its first win against a nationally ranked team in three years. The middle attacker also had two blocks along with five kills in a loss to No. 7/5 Stanford on Friday.
Francisco Comas, McKendree
Comas had nine digs as McKendree upset No. 13 CSUN in five games on Thursday. The libero also had a match-high 16 digs in a five-game loss to No. 4/5 Long Beach State on Friday and a match-high seven digs in a loss to No. 5/4 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
Briggs finished with a match-high 12 digs as No. 4/5 Long Beach State defeated Concordia-Irvine to finish undefeated at the UCSB Invitational. The libero earlier in the non-conference tournament had eight digs in a victory against McKendree.