An all-around effort against a pair of top 10 teams led Ohio State senior outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen to be tabbed Most Outstanding Player of the MIVA Tournament and now to be our final regular season VolleyMob Player of the Week.
Szerszen averaged 3.38 kills and 2.38 digs per set, while hitting .286 in a five set win over No. 10 Lewis and sweep of No. 8 Loyola Chicago. The Conflans Ste Hne, France native, tallied a 15-kill, 10-dig double-double and added three blocks and two aces while hitting .205 against Lewis in the semifinals. He then notched 12 kills, nine digs and four aces, while hitting .417 against Loyola as the Buckeyes sewed up the MIVA Tournament title and an automatic NCAA berth.
Honorable Mention
Karl Apfelbach, UC Irvine – Jr., Opp.
Averaged 4.43 kills per set, while hitting .358; posted 17 kills, two aces and two digs, while hitting .571 (17-1-28) in a sweep of UC San Diego; tallied 14 kills, three digs, two blocks and two aces, while hitting .205 (14-6-39) in a four-set loss to No. 4 Hawaii
Greg Luck, Princeton – So., OH
Averaged 4.00 kills, 1.25 digs and hit at a .416 clip; Posted 18 kills, six digs and three blocks, while hitting .424 (18-4-33) in a four-set win over George Mason; 14 kills, four digs and an ace, while hitting .407 (14-3-27) in a four-set loss to Harvard
Collin Mahan, Loyola Chicago – Jr., OH
Averaged 3.57 kills, 1.57 digs and 1.29 blocks per set, while hitting .423; tallied 16 kills, six digs, five blocks and three aces, while hitting .424 (16-2-33) in four set win over No. 11 Ball State; posted nine kills, five digs and four blocks, while hitting .421 (9-1-19) in a three-set loss to No. 7 Ohio State
Jeff Sprayberry, King – Sr., OH
Averaged 4.2 kills and 1.2 digs per set, while hitting .386; Tallied nine kills, five aces, a dig and a block, while hitting .438 (9-2-16) in a sweep of Lees McRae; posted 19 kills, eight digs and two blocks, while hitting .375 (19-4-40) in a four-set win over Belmont Abbey; notched 14 kills, three digs, two aces and a block, while hitting .370 (14-4-27) in a sweep of Barton for the Conference Carolinas title
Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State – Jr., S
Averaged 9.83 assists per set, while helping LBSU to a .393 hitting percentage in sweeps of No. 9 Cal State Northridge and No. 6 Hawaii; dished out 56 assists and added three digs, three kills and two aces as the team hit .414 against CSUN; tacked on 58 assistsand three aces, while guiding the team to a .369 hitting effort against Hawaii; named MVP of Big West Tournament
2018 VOLLEYMOB PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOREES
1/9 – Karl Apfelbach, UC Irvine
1/16 – Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
1/23 – Tanner Syftestad, UC San Diego
1/30 – Jake Hanes, Ohio State
2/5 – Micah Ma’a, UCLA
2/13 – Brenden Sander, BYU
2/20 – Robert Poole, Mount Olive
2/27 – Stijn van Tilburg, Hawaii
3/6 – George Huhmann, Princeton
3/13 – Austin Matautia, Hawaii
3/20 – David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
3/27 – Ricky Gevis, Loyola
4/3 – Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
4/10 – Rado Parapunov, Hawaii
4/17 – Joe Worsley, Hawaii
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