Maxim Grigoriev Award Freshman of the Week Week Of 3/20/2023 Sport Men's Volleyball School UC Irvine Year Freshman Position Middle Blocker Hometown Walnut Creek, Calif. High School Northgate Maxim Grigoriev helped UC Irvine to a series sweep of UC Santa Barbara to earn back-to-back Big West Men’s Volleyball Freshman of the Week awards. Grigoriev averaged 1.50 kills, 1.88 points and 0.75 blocks, while hitting .474 (12-3-19), playing in all eight sets on the week. The first-year middle blocker out of Walnut Creek, Calif., added seven kills, two block assists and two digs in the first meeting then hit .500 in the second, totaling five kills and a team-best four block assists. Two of Grigoriev’s kills on Thursday came in the critical fifth set on the road, including the first point of the decisive frame.