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Make room for at least one more national award on the college resume for Ohio State outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen.
Off the Block announced Wednesday that a nationwide voting committee for the second consecutive year selected Szerszen as the International Player of the Year.
The International Player of the Year is presented to the best non-U.S. born player in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Szerszen, a native of Conflans Ste Hne, France, was in the nation’s top 15 with a 3.69 kills per game average and had the nation’s best attack percentage among pin hitters at .376. He also had double-digit kills in all but five matches he played in this season, including a season-high 22 kills on a .600 attack percentage in a road five-game victory against Penn State in March.
The senior to go along with his conference-best 0.56 aces per game average finished defensively with a career-high 210 digs.
This national award follows Szerszen becoming the first player in MIVA history to be a three-time recipient of the MIVA Player of the Year. In addition, Szerszen led the two-time defending NCAA champion Buckeyes to their third straight MIVA title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
A voting committee of about 25 men’s volleyball coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation determined the winner of the International Player of the Year. The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the award.
Szerszen received 41 votes and beat The Netherlands native and Hawai’i outside attacker Stijn van Tilburg by 14 votes to repeat as the award winner.
The other finalist UCLA middle attacker Daenan Gyimah, a native of Canada, finished in third place with 20 votes.
All three finalists were the only players to receive more than five votes.
This is the second year that Off the Block has presented the International Player of the Year. Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.
INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR (voting results)
1. Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State (France) — 41 votes
2. Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i (The Netherlands) — 27 votes
3. Daenan Gyimah, UCLA (Canada) — 20 votes
4. Gabi Gracia Fernandez, BYU (Puerto Rico) — 5 votes
5. Angelos Mandilaris, Barton (Greece) — 4 votes
T-6. Alex Harthaller, Pepperdine (Austria) — 3 votes
T-6. Pedro Carvalho, Lincoln Memorial (Brazil) — 3 votes
8. Simon Anderson, Long Beach State (Denmark) — 2 votes
T-9. Bjarne Huus, Long Beach State (Norway) — 1 vote
T-9. Oscar Fiorentino, Barton (Puerto Rico) — 1 vote