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A freshman who helped No. 5/5 Hawai’i beat the nation’s last remaining undefeated team is now earning a national award.
Off the Block announced Monday that Hawai’i outside attacker Stijn van Tilburg was selected as the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week.
van Tilburg had a match-high 21 kills on a .381 attack percentage and added eight digs in a four-game victory against No. 1/1 UCLA on Friday. He also had a 17 kills in a loss versus UCLA on Saturday to split the two-match conference series.
This is the second time this season that van Tilburg has earned this national honor. The outside attacker was named season’s inaugural National Freshman of the Week recipient in January.
The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week is presented each week during the regular season to the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball freshman who had the most outstanding performance. The winner is announced every Monday during the regular season on the Off the Block website, offtheblockblog.com.
Each of the four NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball conferences have an opportunity each week to nominate one player for the National Freshman of the Week. In addition, fans and teams can nominate a player for the National Freshman of the Week by tweeting their nominee to the official Twitter account of Off the Block, @offtheblock11.
Off the Block is a website that started in January 2011 and has become among the national leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.
Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2016 Freshmen All-American Team and National Freshman of the Week and produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, MLB and U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.
Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week honorable mentions
Mitch Perinar, Lewis — Perinar had both a match-high 16 kills on a .625 attack percentage and 11 digs in a sweep against Quincy on Friday. He also had eight kills on a .500 attack percentage in a sweep against Lindenwood on Saturday.
Zach Thompson, McKendree — Thompson had a team-high 14 digs as McKendree defeated IPFW in five games on Saturday. He also led McKendree with 13 digs in a five-game loss to Ball State on Thursday
Vasilis Mandilaris, Barton — Mandilaris finished with a match-high 16 kills on a .480 attack percentage to help Barton sweep Belmont Abbey on Friday.
Micah Ma’a, UCLA — Ma’a finished with 18 kills on a .500 attack percentage and helped guide UCLA’s offense to a .374 attack percentage in a five-game win against No. 5/5 Hawai’i on Saturday. The setter also had a team-high nine kills and 23 assists in the season-opening loss to Hawai’i on Friday.
Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State — Ensing led No. 2/3 Long Beach State with 14 kills and eight digs while adding five blocks in a four-game victory against No. 6/4 Stanford on Friday. In addition, Ensing had a match-high six blocks along with 12 kills as Long Beach State swept No. 9/9 Pepperdine on Saturday.
Arturo Iglesias, Cal Baptist — Iglesias guided the Cal Baptist offense to a .312 attack percentage and had 46 assists in an upset victory against No. 11 Cal Baptist on Wednesday. The setter also had 53 assists as Cal Baptist hit .419 in a conference victory against UC San Diego on Friday.