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A nationwide voting committee has selected Concordia-Irvine libero Addison Enriques, Sacred Heart libero Timothy McIntosh and Hawai’i libero Gage Worsley as finalists for the Erik Shoji Award.
The Erik Shoji Award, which is named after the former Stanford All-American and U.S. Olympian libero, is presented to the nation’s best libero in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.
Off the Block announced the finalists on Sunday and will unveil the award winner later this week as part of its College Men’s Volleyball National Awards Presentation.
Enriques led the MPSF and was fourth in the nation with a 2.53 digs per game average during the shortened season because of the coronavirus pandemic. The junior had double-digit digs in seven matches, including a season-high 20 digs in a four-game loss to UC Irvine.
McIntosh had a nation-best 3.09 digs per game average and had double-digit digs in eight matches. Among his top performances of the season included a match-high 16 digs in a conference loss to NJIT.
Worsley, the 2019 winner of the Erik Shoji Award, was second in the Big West and among the national leaders with a 2.10 digs per game average. The second-year starter had 10 digs to help No. 1/2 Hawai’i rally from a two-game deficit to beat No. 2/1 BYU in five games in both teams’ season finale.
Worsley along with his defensive performance was among the Hawai’i leaders with a .961 serve reception percentage.
The voting committee for the Erik Shoji Award was comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.
The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the Erik Shoji Award.
This is the fifth year that Off the Block has presented the Erik Shoji Award. Previous winners are former Stanford libero Evan Enriques in 2016, former Long Beach State libero Andrew Sato in 2017 and Concordia-Irvine libero Jacob Weiser in 2018.
Off the Block annually presents several end of season awards. Among the other national awards includes the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, the Bryan Ivie Award to the nation’s top opposite, the Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker and the Ryan Millar Award to the nation’s top middle attacker.
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.