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Two Long Beach State teammates are both earning a share of the one of the top individual honors in college men’s volleyball.
Libero Mason Briggs and middle attacker Simon Torwie finished tied in the voting from a nationwide committee to both be named the Co-National Defensive Player of the Year.
The National Defensive Player of the Year is given to the nation’s best defensive player in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the season.
Torwie enters the NCAA Tournament leading the nation with a 1.37 blocks per game average and had at least five blocks in 12 matches. Among the middle attacker’s top performances featured a season-high 10 blocks in a five-game victory against Hawai’i in March.
Briggs leads the Big West and is in the nation’s top 10 with a 2.24 digs per game average, including a match-high 16 digs in a non-conference match against UCLA in February. The libero also has a 96 percent successful passing rate and did not commit a reception error in 11 matches.
The voting committee for the National Defensive Player of the Year was comprised of college men’s volleyball media members from throughout the nation. This is the inaugural year that Off the Block has presented the National Defensive Player of the Year.
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.
2024 National Defensive Player of the Year voting results
T-1. Mason Briggs, Long Beach State – 26 votes
T-1. Simon Torwie, Long Beach State – 26 votes
3. Cameron Thorne, Grand Canyon – 18 votes
4. Ryan Merk, Penn State – 10 votes
5. Peyton Blain, Saint Francis – 8 votes
T-6. Ethan Champlin, UCLA – 4 votes
T-6. Toby Ezeonu, Penn State – 4 votes
T-6. Merrick McHenry, UCLA – 4 votes
9. Jibriel Elhaddad, Belmont Abbey – 3 votes
T-10. Trey Cole, Pepperdine – 2 votes
T-10. Kevin Schuele, McKedineree – 2 votes
T-12. Clint Forbes, Benedict – 1 vote
T-12. De’Andrae Taylor, Benedict – 1 vote