UC San Diego’s Anthony Cherfan helped the Tritons to a split against Hawai’i to cap the regular season and earn Cherfan a first career Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor. The award is the first of the offensive variety for a UCSD player since 2022 when Kyle McCauley picked up three weekly awards.  

Cherfan averaged 4.1 kills and 5.1 points per set at home against the Rainbow Warriors. In total, Cherfan totaled 29 kills and 35.5 points over seven sets, both team-highs. The Los Angeles native also hit a healthy .361 and added three aces, seven digs, and seven blocks.   

The 3-0 victory in Saturday’s rematch was UC San Diego’s first sweep over the Rainbow Warriors since 2012. In the win, Cherfan produced 13 kills while hitting .310 to go along with four blocks, two digs, and two aces, finishing with a match-high 17.0 points. 

The night prior, the opposite hitter  t down a match-best 16 kills while hitting .406 while also contributing five digs, three blocks, and an ace, ending the outing with a match-high 18.5 points. 

A stalwart at the net for Long Beach State, Simon Torwie claimed the season’s final Big West Defensive Player of the Week award, the third of the season and eighth of the career for the senior 

Torwie led the LBSU defense with 1.33 blocks per set in a split against UC Irvine over the weekend, to go along with 1.33 kills per set on a .375 attack percentage.  

The senior middle blocker posted three blocks while adding four kills in Friday’s 3-0 setback to the Anteaters that snapped a 12-match winning streak on Friday. 

The Beach rebounded on Saturday, with Torwie recording five blocks to go along with four kills on .500 hitting (4-0-8) for the sweep in the regular-season finale. The win gave the Beach a third consecutive Big West regular-season title and fifth overall, knocking UCI out of the potential of a shared trophy.  

Heading into the postseason, Torwie leads the nation in blocks per set average at 1.338 on the year guiding the Long Beach State front line to a combined 3.264 blocks per set, also good for tops in National Collegiate volleyball.  

As the No. 1 seed in the The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2024 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship bracket, the Beach earn a bye into the semifinals to face the winner of No. 4 seed UC San Diego and No. 5 seed CSUN on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. 

CSUN’s Jalen Phillips claimed consecutive Big West Freshman of the Week honors after helping the Matadors to a weekend split to close the regular season. This marks Phillips’ fourth weekly award of the season.  

The opposite hitter finished with 30 kills, or 3.75 per set, in the pair of contests against UC Santa Barbara. Phillips totaled a .451 attack percentage on the weekend (30-7-51). in the two matches including a .500 clip at UCSB.  

The product of Anaheim, Calif., recorded 14 kills on a .500 clip in a 3-1 loss at UCSB on Friday. Phillips guided the Matadors to the 3-1 victory on Saturday after putting down a team-high 16 kills. 

The win secured the No. 5 seed for CSUN heading into the 2024 Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship where the Matadors will open play against No. 4 seed UC San Diego on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m.HT.