Recipients unveiled for Off the Block National Weekly Awards

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.

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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: Ryan Graves, Pepperdine
National Opposite of the Week: Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
National Outside Attacker of the Week: Patrick Rogers, Ball State
National Middle Attacker of the Week: Simon Torwie, Long Beach State
National Libero of the Week: JJ Sowa, Loyola

Ryan Graves, Pepperdine
Graves guided the offense to a .512 attack percentage and had a match-high 10 digs in a sweep against Concordia. The setter also led the team to a .358 attack percentage in a four-game victory against No. 11 USC on Thursday.

Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
Diedrich finished with a match-high 18 kills on a .536 attack percentage in an upset sweep against No. 8/6 Ohio State on Saturday. The opposite also had a match-high 18 kills on a .324 attack percentage and added two aces in a sweep against Lindenwood on Friday.

Patrick Rogers, Ball State
Rogers led all players with a season-high 24 kills on a .383 attack percentage and added a team-high eight digs in a four-game victory against No. 8/6 Ohio State on Thursday. The outside attacker also had a match-high 17 kills and hit .571 in a sweep against Lindenwood on Saturday.

Simon Torwie, Long Beach State
Torwie led all players with a season-high 10 blocks and added six kills on a .357 attack percentage in a five-game victory against No. 1/2 Hawai’i on Saturday. The middle attacker also had six kills and on errors on a .750 attack percentage along with six blocks in a sweep to open the two-match series on Friday.

JJ Sowa, Loyola
Sowa finished with a match-high 14 digs in a sweep against No. 20 McKendree on Saturday. The libero also had a combined 12 digs and did not commit a reception error in victories against No. 15 Princeton on Monday and Quincy on Thursday.