Finalists announced for OTB/Springbak National Player of Month

Off the Block selected the 30 finalists, and now it is up to the fans to determine who should win the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Player of the Month.

The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Player of the Month award 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.

Fans will determine the winner of the National Player of the Month award through online voting on the Off the Block website. The online poll is now open and closes at 11:59 p.m. (EST) Thursday.

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.

Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the National Player of the Month and the Fan Choice National Player of the Year at the end of the season. Springbak, Inc. 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.

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

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Nolan Albrecht, Belmont Abbey — Albrecht had a nation-best five matches with more than 20 kills in March. The outside attacker also hit at least .300 in every match this month, including having season-high 33 kills on a .391 attack percentage and 18 digs in a loss to King on March 7.

Austin Arcala, Sacred Heart — Arcala finished with double-digit kills in three of his team’s five matches this month. He also a season-high 22 kills on a .459 attack in a sweep against Harvard on Saturday to help Sacred Heart move into third place in the EIVA.

Jake Arnitz, UCLA — Arnitz finished with double-digit kills in five matches during March. He also had a match-high 16 kills on a .400 attack percentage as No. 2/3 UCLA swept No. 4/5 Long Beach State on Saturday to move into a tie for first place in the MPSF.

Alex Barbosa, Emmanuel — Barbosa finished the month with double-digit kills in five matches. He also had a match-high 24 kills on a .408 attack percentage and a season-high 14 digs in a victory against King on March 4.

Stephen Braswell, St. Francis — Braswell had double-digit kills in five of St. Francis’ six matches during March to help the team end the month in third place in the EIVA. He also had a season-high 20 kills in an upset victory against No. 10/10 Penn State on March 18 and was named the National Player of the Week.

Royce Clemens, Penn State — Clemens finished the month with double-digit digs in five matches. The freshman libero also had a season-high 17 digs in a five-game non-conference victory against No. 13 Lewis on Friday.

TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State — DeFalco had double-digit kills in all seven of Long Beach State’s matches during March. He also had two matches with at least 20 kills, including a match-high 25 kills on a .417 attack percentage in a four-game victory against No. 13 Lewis.

Fabio Diniz, Pfeiffer — Diniz had a season-high seven blocks in both a sweep against North Greenville on March 2 and a non-conference loss to George Mason on March 19. He also had at least five kills in all four of Pfeiffer’s matches this month, including a season-high 17 kills in a victory against King on March 24.

Jabarry Goodridge, NJIT — Goodridge had three matches with at least 25 kills in March, including a career-high 30 kills on a .532 attack percentage in a five-game victory against Princeton last week. He also had double-digit kills and more than a .300 attack percentage in every conference match this month to help NJIT move into second place in the EIVA.

Peter Hutz, Loyola — Hutz guided the Loyola offense to more than a .325 attack percentage in three matches during March. He also had at least 50 assists in three matches, including having 50 assists and nine digs in a win against No. 10/10 Penn State on Saturday.

Jeff Jendryk, Loyola — Jendryk lead all players with a career-high 24 kills on a .512 attack percentage in a loss to St. Francis on Friday for his second match in March with double-digit kills. He also had four consecutive matches with at least four blocks this month to help No. 12 Loyola move into third place in the MIVA.

Miles Johnson, Ohio State — Johnson finished the month with double-digit kills in six matches. He also had a season-high 23 kills on a .476 attack percentage in a non-conference victory against No. 10/10 Penn State to help Ohio State earn the No. 1 ranking in the national coaches poll.

Dimitar Kalchev, CSUN — Kalchev had five matches with double-digit kills, including 17 kills in an upset victory against No. 4/5 Long Beach State on March 19. The freshman also had 13 digs in that match — his second match in March with double-digit digs.

Conrad Kaminski, Stanford — Kaminski had at least five blocks in all four of Stanford’s matches during March, including a match-high 10 blocks in a victory against USC on Thursday. He also twice had double-digit kills in a match with 15 kills coming in a loss to No. 6/6 Pepperdine.

Marko Kostich, Harvard — Kostich guided the Harvard offense to more than a .325 attack percentage in three of the team’s four matches this month. He also had a season-high five kills and added six blocks in a non-conference loss against No. 15 Cal Baptist on March 14.

Gerrard Lipscombe, Grand Canyon — Lipscombe had double-digit kills in seven matches during March and two matches with more than 20 kills. In addition, Lipscombe had a both season-high 26 kills and 12 digs in a loss to IPFW on March 18.

Mike Michelau, Erskine — Michelau had four consecutive matches with at least 20 kills and finished every match in March with double-digit kills. He also hit more than .400 in four matches, including having a match-high 21 kills on a .533 attack percentage in a sweep against King on March 1.

Ben Patch, BYU — Patch had at least 14 kills in each of BYU’s six matches during March and hit at least .600 three times. In addition, Patch was named the National Player of the Week after having a match-high 22 kills on a .700 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 8/9 Hawai’i on March 2.

Wyatt Patterson, McKendree — Patterson hit at least .300 in all eight matches he played in this month, had at least five block four times and had double-digit kills three times. He also twice finished matches with zero attack errors, including having a season-high 19 kills in a victory against Barton on March 8.

Michael Saeta, UC Irvine — Saeta after moved from setter to opposite had double-digit kills in six matches during March. He also twice had a career-high 24 kills in non-conference matches against No. 13 Lewis and George Mason.

Joao Victor Santos, Coker — Santos had double-digit kills in all five matches during March, including 18 kills in a non-conference victory against North Greenville. The freshman also had a season-high six aces in a sweep against Emmanuel.

Jeff Sprayberry, King — Sprayberry had double-digit kills in nine matches during March, including a season-high 29 kills on a .338 attack percentage in a five-game victory against Belmont Abbey on March 7. He also finished the month having more than 20 kills in three matches.

Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State — Szerszen had at least 14 kills in all seven of Ohio State’s matches during March, including a season-high 26 kills in a road victory against then-No. 1/1 Long Beach State on March 12. He also had more than a .400 attack percentage three times and two matches with four aces as he helped the Buckeyes finish the month in first place in the MIVA.

Matt Tarantino, Pepperdine — Tarantino had at least 20 kills while hitting more than .300 in upset victories against No. 3/1 BYU and No. 5/4 Stanford earlier this month. He also had at least 15 kills in every match during March as Pepperdine finished the month in fifth place in the MPSF.

Pierre Tang-Taye, Barton — Tang-Taye had double digit kills in three of Barton’s four matches in March. He also had a match-high 18 kills in a five-game victory against first-place Erskine on March 3.

Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State — Tuaniga led the 49ers offense to at least a .300 attack percentage in five matches during March. He also helped guide Long Beach State to a month-best .425 attack percentage in a sweep against UC Santa Barbara last week to help the 49ers remain in contention for a MPSF regular season title.

Bobby Walsh, Lewis — Walsh had at least a .500 attack percentage in four matches during March and had double-digit kills twice. The middle attacker also had four matches with at least five blocks, including back-to-back seven block matches against St. Francis and No. 10/10 Penn State last week.

Matt Walsh, Ball State — Walsh had more than five blocks in four matches during March. The middle attacker also had at least eight kills while hitting more than .500 in three matches, including a season-high 13 kills in a non-conference victory against No. 14 UC Irvine on March 20.

Jack Wilson, George Mason — Wilson had at least 20 kills in all three matches that he started this month. In addition, Wilson finished with 27 kills on a .316 attack percentage in a five-game victory against NJIT on March 4.

Joe Worsley, Hawai’i — Worsley after being inserted into the starting lineup helped Hawai’i go 4-1 in its last five matches and guided the Rainbow Warriors offense to more than a .300 attack percentage in three of those matches. The setter was also named the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week after he had 59 assists and Hawai’i hit .475 in a five-game victory against No. 14 UC Irvine on Saturday.