RADO PARAPUNOV, HAWAI‘I • MEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior • Opposite • Sofia, Bulgaria • National High School of Math
• For the fifth time in six weeks, Hawaii junior Rado Parapunov notched the Big West Men’s Volleyball Player of the Week award.
• The 6-foot-9 opposite averaged 5.71 kills per set during a two-match sweep of No. 3 UC Santa Barbara.
• He hit .435 (40-10-69) over seven sets, helping the ‘Bows improve to 25-0 and extend their sets won streak to 74 straight before UCSB took set three in Saturday’s rematch.
• Parapunov tallied 20 kills in both matches. In the series opener, he tallied 10 of those putaways in set two along with four aces in the three-set win. Also contributed four digs.
• After hitting .552 (20-4-29) in the opener, Parapunov returned to hit .350 (20-6-40) in the rematch. He added six digs and three block assists. For the week, he averaged 0.71 aces, 1.43 digs and 0.57 blocks per set.
Others nominated: Josh Tuaniga (Long Beach State); Ryan Wilcox (UC Santa Barbara)
PATRICK SOHACKI, UC IRVINE • MEN'S VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore • Middle Blocker • Chula Vista, Calif. • Eastlake HS
• In only his third and fourth starts of his career, UC Irvine sophomore Patrick Sohacki played exceptionally well to capture his first Big West Men’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honor.
• The 6-foot-6 middle blocker was a force at the net averaging 1.60 blocks per set in a pair of five-set matches against No. 12 CSUN.
• Sohacki had seven total blocks in a five-set loss to the Matadors Friday. He returned Saturday for a career-high nine total blocks in a five-set victory.
• Sohacki hit .600 for the week with 18 kills and only three errors in 25 swings. He swung at a .636 (8-1-11) clip in Saturday’s win.
Others nominated: Taylor Ittner (CSUN); Nick Amado (Long Beach State); Ryan Lew (UC San Diego); Hayden Boehle (UC Santa Barbara); Gage Worsley (Hawai‘i)
DANIEL WETTER, CSUN • MEN'S VOLLEYBALL FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Middle Blocker • Camarillo, Calif. • Camarillo HS
• Daniel Wetter earned his second Big West Men’s Volleyball Freshman Player of the Week honor this season as he helped engineer an upset of No. 8 UC Irvine.
• The 6-foot-5 middle blocker slammed 13 kills on 20 errorless attacks (.650) in CSUN’s five-set win over the Anteaters on Friday. He added an ace, two digs and a block.
• In a five-set loss in the rematch, Wetter had seven kills on .286 hitting while adding five block assists and a digs.
• He hit .500 (20-3-34) for the week.
Others nominated: Alexandre Nsakanda (UC Irvine); Logan Clark (UC San Diego); Ryan Wilcox (UC Santa Barbara)