Kyle McCauley, UC San Diego  Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week  Senior • Outside Hitter • Huntington Beach, Calif.

• Senior outside hitter Kyle McCauley averaged 4.88 points, 4.50 kills and 0.25 aces per set, all team highs, as No. 10 UC San Diego split two home meetings with then-third-ranked Hawai’i.

• Last Wednesday night, McCauley produced match highs of 19 kills and a career-best-tying 12 digs to guide the Tritons to their first triumph over the Rainbow Warriors in La Jolla since 2011. The result snapped a 10-match Big West win streak for UH. It also marked back-to-back wins for UC San Diego in the series, having pinned Hawai’i with its lone loss during last year’s national title run, in the Big West semifinals on O’ahu.

• On Friday night, the Huntington Beach native again led all players with 17 kills, on .345 hitting.

• This is McCauley’s second Big West weekly recognition this season, having also been named Offensive Player of the Week on Feb. 14, and fourth for his career, with two awards during the 2020 campaign.

Also nominated: Francesco Sani (UC Irvine), Alex Nikolov (Long Beach State), Ryan Wilcox (UC Santa Barbara)

Shane Benetz, UC San Diego  Men's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week  Senior • Middle Blocker • Santa Clara, Calif.

• Shane Benetz averaged a team-leading 1.13 blocks per set while hitting .609 over two home matches against then-third-ranked defending national champion Hawai’i.  

• In No. 10 UC San Diego’s five-set victory on Wednesday night, the program’s first home success over UH since 2011, he posted career highs of 14 kills and 18.5 points while hitting .632 and adding six blocks, one of them solo, and an ace.

• On Friday night, Benetz attacked at a .500 clip with two solo stuffs among three total blocks.

Also nominated: Clarke Godbold (Long Beach State), Brandon Hicks (UC Santa Barbara), Cole Power (UC Irvine)

Alex Nikolov, Long Beach State  Men's Volleyball Freshman of the Week  Freshman • Outside Hitter • Sofia, Bulgaria

• Freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov led No. 2 Long Beach State to a pair of comfortable home wins over NJIT (3-1) and Long Island (3-0). 

• Nikolov averaged 4.43 kills per set while hitting .439. He also posted 1.00 digs, 1.00 aces, 0.71 blocks and 0.43 assists per set. 

• Nikolov led all players with 19 kills and three aces on Friday against NJIT, attacking at a .351 clip. He added match highs of 12 kills and four aces on a season-best .600 (12-0-20) hitting in Saturday’s sweep.

• The native of Sofia, Bulgaria, is now a four-time Big West Freshman of the Week, having earlier notched three straight nods beginning Jan. 24, as well as one Offensive Player of the Week award on that date.

Also nominated: Hilir Henno (UC Irvine)

2022 Big West Weekly Award Winners