Francsco Sani, UC Irvine  Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week  Sophomore • Opposite Hitter • Bethesda, Md.

• Sophomore outside hitter Francesco Sani led No. 14 UC Irvine to the sweep of its home-and-home series with CSUN over the weekend, averaging 5.93 points, 5.00 kills, 1.00 digs and 0.57 aces per set while hitting .359 (35-12-64).
• Sani recorded a team-high 21 kills in Friday’s four-setter in Northridge, marking his sixth 20-plus-kill performance of the season, with three coming over the last five contests. The Maryland product hit .317 (21-8-41) and added two aces, three digs, two blocks (one solo) and one set assist for a match-best 24.5 total points.
• On Saturday in Irvine, Sani paced the ‘Eaters again with 14 kills at a .435 rate (14-4-23) with two more aces, four digs and two block assists for a match-high 17 points in the sweep.
• This is Sani’s first Big West weekly award of the 2022 season, after a pair of Freshman of the Week distinctions a year ago.

Also nominated: Kyle McCauley (UC San Diego), Dimitrios Mouchlias (Hawai’i), Alex Nikolov (Long Beach State), Daniel Wetter (CSUN)

Simon Torwie, Long Beach State  Men's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week  Sophomore • Opposite Hitter/Middle Blocker • Artà, Balearic Islands, Spain

• Sophomore Simon Torwie, normally an opposite, got the start at middle blocker against then-10th-ranked UC San Diego and averaged 1.88 blocks per set as then-second-ranked Long Beach State split the home-and-home series. He aided the Beach to 3.31 blocks per set as a team over the two matches. They lead the country in that category (2.90).
• In addition to his effort at the net defensively, Torwie put down 1.38 kills per set while attacking at a .421 (11-3-19) clip. In Friday’s home sweep, he notched a season-high eight kills while hitting a career-best .545 (8-2-11), to go along with a match-high seven total blocks (one solo) and an ace. The native of Spain equaled his career best and the match high with eight total blocks, alongside three kills, three aces and three digs, in Saturday’s five-set loss in La Jolla.
• Torwie is a first-time Big West weekly honoree for his career, but the fourth consecutive Beach defensive selection following Aidan Knipe on March 21 and then back-to-back awards for Mason Briggs. Another teammate, Clarke Godbold, was the choice on Jan. 24.
• Long Beach State is 17-4 overall, with the defeat in La Jolla having snapped a season-best seven-match win streak. The Beach still sit alone atop The Big West standings at 6-2.

Also nominated: Shane Benetz (UC San Diego), Brett Sheward (Hawai’i), Aiden Wolf-Nielsen (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 then-second-ranked Long Beach State to a split of its home-and-home series with then-10th-ranked UC San Diego, averaging 5.00 points, 3.63 kills, 1.25 digs, 1.00 blocks and 0.88 aces per set with a .423 attack percentage.
• The Bulgarian native had a match-high 12 kills on a season-best .611 (12-1-18) hitting in Friday’s straight-set victory to move the Beach to 14-1 inside the Walter Pyramid. He added four block assists, two digs, one ace and one set assist. In Saturday’s five-set loss in La Jolla, Nikolov shared the match high of 17 kills (.324), to go with eight digs, four more block assists, and a season- and match-best six service aces.
• Nikolov is one of three Beach players to start all 21 contests, and has registered double-figure kill totals in 19 of them, including 11 in a row. He continues to lead his team in both kills (341) and aces (49).
• Nikolov is a record eight-time Big West Freshman of the Week, having now earned four straight honors after previously picking up three in a row starting on Jan. 24, with another selection in between on March 7. He is also a two-time Offensive Player of the Week (Jan. 24 and April 4). Former LBSU middle blocker Simon Andersen was a seven-time Big West Freshman of the Week during the league’s first season in 2018.

Also nominated: none

2022 Big West Weekly Award Winners