Dimitrios Mouchlias, Hawai'i  Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week  Junior • Opposite Hitter • Soufli, Greece

• Dimitrios Mouchlias was named the Most Outstanding Player of the OUTRIGGER Invitational on O’ahu en route to picking up a fourth career Big West Offensive Player of the Week award.
• The fourth-year junior opposite averaged 5.36 points, 4.73 kills, 1.45 digs and 0.73 blocks per set while serving three aces and hitting .392 (52-14-97) in three tournament matches as No. 1 Hawai’i (17-1) went 2-1, suffering its first loss of 2023 to No. 3 Penn State before knocking off No. 2 UCLA in front of a sold-out crowd on Saturday night.
• Mouchlias led all players in points and kills in all three contests, capped by a season-high 22 kills at a .390 (22-6-41) clip in the four-set triumph over the Bruins. Mouchlias also tallied 14 kills (.462) and a match-best, career-high-tying five blocks in Thursday’s sweep over (RV) Purdue Fort Wayne, and 16 kills (.333) in Friday’s loss to the Nittany Lions.
• This is a second weekly honor for Mouchlias in this 2023 season, with an initial one on Feb. 13. The native of Soufli, Greece, was previously the offensive recipient on Feb. 7 and April 18 of 2022, adding AVCA National Player of the Week distinction following the latter one.

Also Nominated: Francesco Sani (UC Irvine); Sotiris Siapanis (Long Beach State); Ryan Wilcox (UC Santa Barbara)

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

• 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.

Also Nominated: Joe Karlous (UC Irvine)

Maxim Grigoriev, UC Irvine  Men's Volleyball Freshman of the Week  Freshman • Middle Blocker • Walnut Creek, Calif.

• Maxim Grigoriev helped lead No. 6 UC Irvine to the sweep of its home-and-home Big West series with UC San Diego and grab a first Big West Freshman of the Week honor.
• Grigoriev made two starts and averaged 2.92 points, 2.17 kills and 1.50 blocks per set in the two straight-set triumphs over the Tritons, hitting .650 (13-0-20) without committing a single attack error on 20 swings.
• The product of Walnut Creek hit .556 (5-0-9) in Friday’s tilt in Irvine, finishing with five kills on nine attempts to go along with a match-best (tied) five block assists, one set assist and a dig.
• In Saturday’s rematch in La Jolla, Grigoriev hit a season-best .727 (8-0-11) with eight kills and four more block assists for 10.0 total points.
• This is UC Irvine’s third Big West Freshman of the Week award for 2023, with William D’Arcy a two-time recipient on Jan. 16 and Feb. 13.

Also Nominated: Connor Bloom (Long Beach State)
 

2023 Big West Men's Volleyball Weekly Winners