Off the Block, Molten unveil National Position Player of Week Awards

Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.

Off the Block announced Monday afternoon that Grand Canyon’s Ashton King, Pepperdine’s Robert Mullahey, Barton’s Wilfredo Rivera Hawai’i’s Stijn van Tilburg and George Mason’s Hayden Wagner were selected for the Off the Block/Molten 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.

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Molten is the official volleyball supplier of the NCAA and is the 2018 sponsor of the National Position Player of the Week Awards.

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/Molten National Setter of the Week: Robert Mullahey, Pepperdine
Off the Block/Molten National Opposite of the Week: Hayden Wagner, George Mason
Off the Block/Molten National Outside Attacker of the Week: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
Off the Block/Molten National Middle Attacker of the Week: Ashton King, Grand Canyon
Off the Block/Molten National Libero of the Week: Wilfredo Rivera, Barton

Off the Block/Molten National Setter of the Week: Robert Mullahey, Pepperdine
Mullahey had 36 assists and guided the offense to a season-high .455 attack percentage as No. 10/8 Pepperdine swept No. 2/2 UCLA on Friday. The setter also had both a season-high eight digs and five blocks in a five-game victory against No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday.

Off the Block/Molten National Opposite of the Week: Hayden Wagner, George Mason
Wagner finished with a match-high 20 kills on .485 attack percentage and added three aces in a road sweep against No. 7/10 Penn State on Friday. The sophomore also had 11 kills and two aces to help George Mason beat St. Francis in four games on Thursday and move into first place in the EIVA.

Off the Block/Molten National Outside Attacker of the Week: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
van Tilburg led No. 3/3 Hawai’i with a combined 48 kills in a two-match Big West weekend series against No. 5/5 UC Irvine, including having a career-high 27 kills while hitting .458 the series-finale loss on Sunday. The All-American also had a match-high 21 kills on a .372 attack percentage and added five digs in the four-game victory against the Anteaters on Friday.

Off the Block/Molten National Middle Attacker of the Week: Ashton King, Grand Canyon
King led Grand Canyon with both a season-high 17 kills on a .583 attack percentage and nine blocks in a five-game road victory against USC on Saturday. In addition, King had a team-high 13 kills while hitting .545 in a three-game loss to Concordia-Irvine on Thursday.

Off the Block/Molten National Libero of the Week: Wilfredo Rivera, Barton
Rivera had 39 combined digs in three conference victories, including a season-high 20 digs in a five-game victory against Mount Olive on Wednesday. The libero also had a match-high 15 digs as Barton swept King on Saturday to move into sole possession of first place in the ConfCarolinas.