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Off the Block announced on Monday the recipients of the National Position Player of the Week Awards.
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 men’s volleyball during the week.
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 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.
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: Joe Karlous, UC Irvine
National Opposite of the Week: Kupono Browne, BYU
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Ethan Champlin, UCLA
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Owen Rose, Penn State
National Libero of the Week: Nicola Iannelli, St. Francis Brooklyn
Joe Karlous, UC Irvine
Karlous had 47 assists and guided the offense to a .412 attack percentage in a season-opening win against No. 14 Lewis on Friday. The setter also helped No. 8 UC Irvine hit .395 in a sweep against McKendree on Saturday.
Kupono Browne, BYU
Browne had both a match-high 16 kills on a .522 attack percentage and four aces in a four-game victory against No. 14 Lewis on Saturday. The opposite also added nine kills on a .389 attack percentage and three aces in a sweep against McKendree on Friday.
Ethan Champlin, UCLA
Champlin finished with a match-high 12 kills and zero errors on a .706 attack percentage in a sweep against CSUN on Thursday. In addition, Champlin led all players with 10 kills on a .500 attack percentage and three aces in a sweep against No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
Owen Rose, Penn State
Rose ended with a match-high seven kills and added four kills on a .571 attack percentage in a four-game victory against No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday. The middle attacker also had a match-high seven blocks along with having 11 kills and zero errors on a .786 attack percentage in a victory against Central State on Friday.
Nicola Iannelli, St. Francis Brooklyn
Iannelli had a combined 18 digs in two matches, including a match-high 13 digs in a sweep against Belmont Abbey on Friday. The libero also had 30 service receptions and a 93.3 percent successful passing rating in those two matches.