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Jonathan Bates | Associate Editor
A nationwide voting committee selected 20 players to the 2020 Off the Block Preseason All-American Team.
The annual Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams recognizes the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players projected to be the best in the nation during the upcoming season.
The 2019 national runner up Hawai’i led all teams with four players named to a Preseason All-American Team. BYU, Lewis, Stanford and UC Irvine each also had multiple players earn the preseason national honor.
Players eligible for the Preseason All-American Teams had to be on an active roster of a Division I-II men’s volleyball team.
The voting committee for the preseason award was comprised of men’s volleyball reporters from around the nation.
The 10 players receiving the most votes were named Preseason First-Team All-Americans, while the next top 10 vote-getters were selected as Preseason Second-Team All-Americans. Voters were required to place at least one setter, one opposite, one outside attacker, one middle attacker, and one libero on each of their ballots.
Four players were listed on every first-team ballot – BYU’s Gabi Garcia Fernandez, UCLA’s Daenan Gyimah, and Hawai’i’s Rado Parapunov and Gage Worsley. Not coincidentally, Hawai’i was picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches poll.
Another four players were listed on either every first-team or second-team ballots – Lewis’ Tyler Mitchem, Hawai’i’s Patrick Gasman, Loyola’s Garrett Zolg, and Ohio State’s Jake Hanes.
This is the ninth consecutive season that Off the Block has presented the men’s volleyball Division I-II Preseason All-American Teams. Off the Block is the only volleyball organization to present men’s volleyball Preseason All-American Teams.
Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.
The NCAA men’s volleyball season begins on Dec. 29 with defending-EIVA champion Princeton taking on UC Irvine, and concludes with the seven-team NCAA Tournament in May on the campus of George Mason.
Off the Block Preseason First-Team All-Americans
Setter: Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Opposite: Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU
Opposite: Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
Opposite: Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
Outside attacker: Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine
Outside attacker: Ryan Coenen, Lewis
Middle attacker: Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Middle attacker: Daenan Gyimah, UCLA
Middle attacker: Tyler Mitchem, Lewis
Libero: Gage Worsley, Hawai’i
Off the Block Preseason Second-Team All-Americans
Setter: Paul Bischoff, Stanford
Opposite: Jake Hanes, Ohio State
Opposite: Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Opposite: Hayden Wagner, George Mason
Opposite/middle attacker: George Huhmann, Princeton
Outside attacker: Colton Cowell, Hawai’i
Outside attacker: Davide Gardini, BYU
Outside attacker: Pelegrin Vargas, Purdue Fort Wayne
Outside attacker: Ryan Wilcox, UC Santa Barbara
Middle attacker: Scott Stadick, UC Irvine