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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: Wil Stanley, BYU
National Opposite of the Week: Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Daniel Wetter, CSUN
National Libero of the Week: Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
National Freshman of the Week: Michael Valenzi, Penn State
National Setter of the Week: Wil Stanley, BYU
Stanley had 33 assists and guided the offense to a .460 attack percentage as No. 2/2 BYU swept No. 4/5 Pepperdine on Saturday to complete a two-match series sweep. He also led the Cougars to a .343 attack percentage and added a match-high seven digs in a four-game victory to open the series.
National Opposite of the Week: Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
Diedrich led all players with a season-high 24 kills on a .636 attack percentage as Purdue Fort Wayne defeated Ohio State in four games on Saturday in the finale of their two-match series. He also had a team-high 14 kills while hitting .619 and added seven digs in a series-opening loss on Friday.
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Sotiris Siapanis, Ohio State
Siapanis had a season-high 23 kills on .465 attack percentage and two aces in a four-game victory against Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday to open a two-match series. The freshman also had 20 kills while hitting a season-high .515 and contributed two aces in a series-finale loss on Saturday.
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Daniel Wetter, CSUN
Wetter had 13 kills and zero errors on a .929 attack percentage as CSUN upset No. 12 UC Irvine in four games on Sunday to conclude the two-match series. The middle attacker had 11 kills while hitting .474 and added a team-high four aces in the series-opening loss on Saturday.
National Libero of the Week: Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
Briggs finished with nine digs as No. 10/9 Long Beach State upset No. 3/3 UC Santa Barbara in four games on Sunday in the finale of a two-match series. The All-American libero also had a team-high 10 digs in the series-opening loss on Saturday.
National Freshman of the Week: Michael Valenzi, Penn State
Valenzi finished with a match-high 15 kills on a .370 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 11 NJIT on Friday to open a two-match series. The outside attacker also had 10 kills while hitting .474 in another sweep against NJIT to conclude the series on Saturday.