Three Cougars named national Off the Block award finalists

PROVO, Utah – Three BYU men's volleyball players were named finalists for national awards, as presented by Off the Block, the organization announced Thursday.

Senior Jake Langlois was added as a Karch Kiraly Award finalist, junior Leo Durkin was named a Lloy Ball Award finalist and junior Ben Patch rounded out the group as a Bryan Ivie Award finalist.

Karch Kiraly Award

A nationwide voting committee, comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation, selected Long Beach State outside attacker TJ DeFalco, BYU outside attacker Jake Langlois and Ohio State outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen as finalists for the annual Karch Kiraly Award.

The Karch Kiraly Award, which is named after the former UCLA All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best outside attacker in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.

Langlois was in the nation’s top 15 with both a 3.86 kills per game average and a .356 attack percentage, including having double-digit kills in all but three regular-season matches that he started. In addition, Langlois was seventh in the nation averaging 0.56 aces per game as he helped lead BYU to a share of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season title.

The winner of the Karch Kiraly Award and the total voting results will be announced Wednesday, April 26.

Lloy Ball Award

Ohio State setter Christy Blough, BYU setter Leo Durkin and Long Beach State setter Josh Tuaniga were named as finalists for the annual Lloy Ball Award.

The Lloy Ball Award, which is named after the former Fort Wayne All-American and U.S. Olympian setter, is presented to the nation’s best setter in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.

Durkin was fourth in the nation averaging 10.51 assists per game and was among the national leaders for setters with a 0.65 blocks per game average. In addition, Durkin helped BYU win a share of the MPSF regular-season title and be among the national leaders with a .317 attack percentage.

The overall winner and voting results of the Lloy Ball Award will be announced Monday, April 24.

Bryan Ivie Award

A nationwide voting committee selected Ohio State opposite Miles Johnson, BYU opposite Ben Patch and Hawai’i opposite Stijn van Tilburg as finalists for the annual Bryan Ivie Award.

The Bryan Ivie Award, which is named after the former USC All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best opposite in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.

Patch, despite missing the majority of the regular season’s second half with an injury, still had a 4.50 kills per game average on a .354 attack percentage. The 2016 recipient of the Bryan Ivie Award had more than 20 kills in three matches with a season-high 28 kills while hitting .422 in a five-game victory against then-No. 2 UCLA in February.

The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the Bryan Ivie Award. The winner and the total voting results will be announced Tuesday, April 25.