Penn State senior Penrose named OTB/Springbak National Server of Year

The top server from the EIVA will conclude his college career with a national award for his serving.

Off the Block announced Thursday that a nationwide voting committee selected Penn State senior opposite Jalen Penrose as the 2018 Off the Block/Springak, Inc. National Server of the Year.

The National Server of the Year is an annual award that recognizes the top individual serving performance from a NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball player during the regular season.

Penrose led the EIVA and was second in the nation with a 0.59 aces per game average. He also had a EIVA-best 54 aces as he helped the Nittany Lions qualify for the four-team EIVA Tournament.

Among Penrose’s top serving performances was tying the single-match Penn State record with nine aces in a regular season loss to Harvard in April. In addition, the senior had at least four aces in seven match this season.

A voting committee of about 25 men’s volleyball coaches and volleyball media members from around the nation determined the winner of the National Server of the Year. The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the award.

In the closest vote for any national award this season, Penrose received 22 votes to beat the runner-up Mount Olive opposite Robert Poole by four votes.

The other finalist Peppedine outside attacker David Wieczorek came in third place with 17 votes.

This is the sixth year that Off the Block and Springbak, Inc. have presented the National Server of the Year. Previous winners of the award are former Loyola All-American opposite Joseph Smalzer in 2013 and 2014, former Loyola All-American outside attacker Thomas Jaeschke in 2015, UCLA All-American setter Micah Ma’a in 2016 and Ohio State All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen in 2017.

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.

Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2018 National Server of the Year 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 Server of the Year (voting results)

1. Jalen Penrose, Penn State — 22 votes
2. Robert Poole, Mount Olive — 18 votes
T-3. Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State — 17 votes
T-3. David Wieczorek, Pepperdine — 17 votes
5. Micah Ma’a, UCLA — 14 votes
6. TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State — 7 votes
7. Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU — 6 votes
T-8. Sanil Thomas, Ohio State — 3 votes
T-8. Brendan Sander, BYU — 3 votes
10. Joao Victor Santos, Coker — 1 vote