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Five college men’s volleyball players have earned national awards for being the best at their position.
Off the Block announced Monday afternoon that Long Beach State’s TJ DeFalco, Erskine’s Antonio Delgado, Pepperdine’s Colby Harriman, Lewis’ Tyler Mitchem and Loyola’s Garrett Zolg were selected for the Off the Block 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.
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
National Setter of the Week: Garrett Zolg, Loyola
National Opposite of the Week: Colby Harriman, Pepperdine
National Outside Attacker of the Week: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
National Libero of the Week: Antonio Delgado, Erskine
National Setter of the Week: Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Zolg had 53 assists while guiding the offense to a .357 attack percentage and defensively added a match-high 16 digs as No. 6/6 Loyola beat No. 14 Fort Wayne in five games on Friday. The setter also led Loyola with 12 digs and contributed two aces in a four-game loss to Ball State on Saturday.
National Opposite of the Week: Colby Harriman, Pepperdine
Harriman led all players with a career-high five aces and added 16 kills in a five-game conference victory against No. 15 USC on Saturday. In addition, Harriman had 10 kills on a .368 attack percentage and a match-high three aces as No. 12 Pepperdine upset No. 4/4 UC Irvine on Wednesday.
National Outside Attacker of the Week: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
DeFalco finished with a match-high 17 kills on a .419 attack percentage as No. 1/1 Long Beach State defeated No. 2/2 UCLA in four games on Saturday to remain undefeated this season. The All-American also led all players with both 12 digs and five blocks in the non-conference victory.
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
Mitchem had eight kills on a .500 attack percentage and a match-high four blocks in a sweep against No. 14 Fort Wayne on Saturday. He also led all players with a season-high eight blocks and added nine kills in a three-game loss to Ball State on Friday.
National Libero of the Week: Antonio Delgado, Erskine
Delgado led all players with a season-high 17 digs in a sweep against Alderson Broaddus on Friday. He also had a match-high 11 digs as Erskine swept Limestone in conference play on Tuesday to end its nine-match losing streak.