Simon Torwie Award Defensive Player of the Week Week Of 3/13/2023 Sport Men's Volleyball School Long Beach State Year Junior Position Hometown Artà, Balearic Islands, Spain High School Carl-Con-Weinberg-Schule Simon Torwie aided No. 4 Long Beach State to the sweep of its home-and-home series with UC Santa Barbara and garnered a league-best third Big West Defensive Player of the Week recognition for 2023. The third-year junior middle blocker who leads the nation at 1.70 denials per set, averaged 1.89 per set in the two victories over the Gauchos. Torwie first posted career highs of nine total blocks and three solo stuffs on Friday in Santa Barbara, while also adding five kills at a .444 (5-1-9) attack percentage, three aces and two digs for 14.0 total points. In Saturday’s rematch inside the Walter Pyramid, Torwie shared the Beach lead with eight total blocks, all assisted, and contributed another five kills (.231) with an ace, a set assist and one dig for 10.0 total points. In addition to a solid performance at the net, Torwie provided 2.67 points and 1.11 kills per set at a .318 (10-3-22) rate. Torwie is so far the only standout to earn multiple Big West Defensive Player of the Week nods this season. The product of the Balearic Islands in Spain had earned prior awards on Jan. 30 and Feb. 20 of this year, as well as an initial one back on April 11, 2022.