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

• Francesco Sani kept No. 5 UC Irvine (16-6) as the lone unbeaten still in The Big West at 6-0 by leading the sweep of its home-and-home series with No. 15 CSUN and picking up a second career Big West Offensive Player of the Week award.
• The true junior opposite hitter averaged 6.17 points, 5.67 kills and 1.33 digs per set while hitting at an efficient .397 (34-7-68) clip.
• Friday night in Irvine, Sani contributed 11 kills (match high), four digs, two aces, two block assists and a set assist for 14.0 total points. The product of Bethesda, Md., added a match-high 23 kills on .475 (23-4-40) hitting and four digs for 23.0 points to lead all players Saturday in Northridge.
• Sani has now eclipsed the 20-kill mark in six contests this season, with a high of 26, and has reached double digits in all but one.
• Sani’s first Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor came late last season on April 11, 2022. Current teammates Hilir Henno (Jan. 9 and March 20) and Cole Gillis (Jan. 23) have totaled three such selections earlier this year. Sani was also a two-time Big West Freshman of the Week in 2021, on March 8 and April 19.

Also Nominated: Nick Amoruso (UC Santa Barbara); Clarke Godbold (Long Beach State); Guilherme Voss (Hawai’i)

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

• Simon Torwie anchored the No. 4 Long Beach State defense during the sweep of its home-and-home series with UC San Diego, earning a conference-leading fourth Big West Defensive Player of the Week distinction for 2023 (fifth career).
• The third-year junior middle blocker who continues to top all of Division I-II at 1.61 blocks per set, averaged 2.67 per set (16 total) in the two straight-set wins over the Tritons, adding 1.50 kills per set at a .353 (9-3-17) clip.
• Torwie first set a new career high of a match- and league-best 10 total blocks (one solo) on Friday in La Jolla as LBSU held a hefty advantage in team denials, 14.0-2.0, while limiting the home side to just a -.024 (24-26-85) hitting percentage. Torwie had two kills for 7.5 total points.
• In Saturday’s rematch at the Walter Pyramid, Torwie wound up with six more block assists and seven kills on a .600 (7-1-10) attack percentage for 10.0 points. UC San Diego hit in the negative (-.038) once more, with the Beach holding another big advantage at the net, 15.0-1.0.
• A native of the Balearic Islands in Spain, Torwie’s previous awards were on Jan. 30, Feb. 20 and March 13 of this year, following an initial one back on April 11, 2022.

Also Nominated: Connor Campbell (UC Irvine); Spyros Chakas (Hawai’i); Dayne Chalmers (UC Santa Barbara)
 

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

• Maxim Grigoriev aided fifth-ranked and first-place UC Irvine (16-6, 6-0 Big West) to the sweep of its home-and-home Big West series with No. 15 CSUN, picking up a third Big West Freshman of the Week award.
• Grigoriev averaged 1.42 points, 0.83 kills and 0.83 blocks per set in the two straight-set triumphs over the Matadors, hitting .556 (5-0-9) without an attack error over nine swings.
• The product of Walnut Creek put down four kills on five attempts without an error (.800) on Friday night in Irvine, adding three block assists for 5.5 total points.
• In Saturday’s rematch in Northridge, Grigoriev had one kill (1-0-4, .250), two block assists, one ace and a dig for 3.0 points.
• This is UC Irvine’s league-best fifth Big West Freshman of the Week award for 2023, with William D’Arcy a two-time recipient on Jan. 16 and Feb. 13. Grigoriev now shares the individual lead with UC San Diego redshirt freshman Josh Schellinger, with previous selections back-to-back on March 13 and March 20.

Also Nominated: Island Doty (Long Beach State); Kurt Nusterer (Hawai’i); Josh Schellinger (UC San Diego)
 

2023 Big West Men's Volleyball Weekly Winners