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Off the Block announced on Monday the recipients of the National Position Player of the Week Awards and the National Freshman of the Week.
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. In addition, the National Player of the Week is presented to the top freshman from the week in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
The Off the Block staff determines each award recipient. 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 and freshman-based weekly awards.
Off the Block at the end of the season 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. It also presents the Freshmen All-American Team at the end of the regular season.
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.
Off the Block Weekly National Award recipients
National Setter of the Week: Casey McGarry, UC Santa Barbara
National Opposite of the Week: Alexandre Nsakanda, UC Irvine
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Brett Wildman, Penn State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Ian McClain, Grand Canyon
National Libero of the Week: Gage Worsley, Hawai’i
National Freshman of the Week: Samuel Clark, Ohio State
Samuel Clark, Ohio State
Clark had a match-high eight blocks along with four kills and zero attack errors on a .667 attack percentage in a four-game victory against Lincoln Memorial on Thursday. The middle attacker also had six kills and zero attack errors while hitting .857 and added four blocks as No. 15 Ohio State swept King on Friday.
Ian McClain, Grand Canyon
McClain had 12 kills and zero attack errors on a .857 attack percentage as Grand Canyon defeated UC San Diego in four games on Saturday. The middle attacker also added three blocks in the non-conference victory.
Casey McGarry, UC Santa Barbara
McGarry had 32 assists and guided No. 4/4 UC Santa Barbara to a season-best .514 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 10/10 Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday. The setter also had a match-high 14 digs and helped the offense hit .392 as UC Santa Barbara swept Ball State on Saturday.
Alexandre Nsakanda, UC Irvine
Nsakanda finished with a match-high 16 kills on a .387 attack percentage as No. 7/7 UC Irvine defeated No. 9/8 Stanford in four games on Friday.
Brett Wildman, Penn State
Wildman finished with a team-high 17 kills on a .364 attack percentage as No. 14 Penn State rallied from a two-game deficit to beat No. 5/5 Lewis in five games on Saturday. In addition, Wildman had both a match-high four aces and 14 kills on a .312 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 12 Loyola.
Gage Worsley, Hawai’i
Worsley finished with a match-high 13 digs as No. 1/1 Hawai’i defeated No. 5/5 Lewis in four games on Friday. The libero also led all players with 11 digs in a four-game victory against No. 12 Loyola on Saturday.