The accolades keep coming for UC Irvine libero Shane Aitken.
Off the Block announced Saturday that a nationwide voting committee selected Aitken as the winner of the 2026 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.
Aitken was second in the Big West with a 1.98 digs per game average and had double-digit digs in 10 matches, including having 10 digs in two consecutive NCAA Tournament matches. The All-American libero also had 609 receptions and a 94.9 percent successful passing rating.
The voting committee for the Erik Shoji Award was comprised of 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.
Aitken received 29 votes – 18 more votes than the runner-up Penn State libero Ryan Merk. Long Beach State libero Kellen Larson finished in third place with eight votes.
This is the 12th year that Off the Block has presented the Erik Shoji Award.
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.
2026 Erik Shoji Award voting results
1. Shane Aitken, UC Irvine – 29 votes
2. Ryan Merk, Penn State – 11 votes
3. Kellen Larson, Long Beach State –8 votes
4. Chris Connelly, UCLA – 6 votes
5. Nico Paula, Lewis – 4 votes
T-6. Quintin Greenidge, Hawai’i – 3 votes
T-6. Johnny Dykstra, USC – 3 votes
T-8. Evan Porter, Stanford – 2 votes
T-8. Jacob Reilly, Pepperdine – 2 votes
T-10. Bobby Clapp, Barry – 1 vote
T-10. Luca Colombo, Mount Olive – 1 vote
T-10. Ben Latham, Central State – 1 vote