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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 week 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: Cole Bogner, Penn State
National Opposite of the Week: Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
Co-National Outside Attacker of the Week: Tobi Azeez, Mount Olive
Co-National Outside Attacker of the Week: Camden Gianni, Grand Canyon
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
National Libero of the Week: Michal Podgorzak, Limestone
National Freshman of the Week: Vicente Ibarra, Purdue Fort Wayne
National Setter of the Week: Cole Bogner, Penn State
Bogner guided the offense to a .325 attack percentage and added seven digs in a four-game victory against No. 12 George Mason on Friday. He also helped the Nittany Lions hit .329 in a three-game victory Saturday to complete the two-match series sweep.
National Opposite of the Week: Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
Parapunov had a combined 21 kills on a .421 attack percentage along with a combined 13 blocks in a two-match non-conference series sweep against No. 11/10 UC San Diego. He also had a season-high 15 kills while hitting .385 in a sweep against No. 8/8 UC Irvine.
Co-National Outside Attacker of the Week: Tobi Azeez, Mount Olive
Azeez had a team-high 20 kills on a .333 attack percentage along with three aces and 13 digs in a five-game victory against rival Barton on Wednesday. He also had a match-high 25 kills on a .386 attack percentage in a five-game victory against Emmanuel on Sunday.
Co-National Outside Attacker of the Week: Camden Gianni, Grand Canyon
Gianni finished with a match-high 19 kills on a .567 attack percentage and added four blocks as No. 9/9 Grand Canyon upset No. 1/2 BYU in three games on Thursday.
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Gasman had both a combined 12 blocks and 10 kills with zero attack errors in a two-match non-conference series sweep against No. 11/10 UC San Diego. The middle attacker also had seven kills on a .545 attack percentage and six blocks in a sweep against No. 8/8 UC Irvine.
National Libero of the Week: Michal Podgorzak, Limestone
Podgorzak led all players with a career-high 26 digs as Limestone defeated Tusculum in four games on Friday to extend its winning streak to three matches.
National Freshman of the Week: Vicente Ibarra, Purdue Fort Wayne
Ibarra finished with both team-high 17 kills on a .303 attack percentage and five blocks as Purdue Fort Wayne defeated No. 15 Loyola in five games on Thursday.