Ryan Wilcox delivered perhaps the best hitting week of his career, leading the No. 6 UCSB men’s volleyball team to a pair of sweeps over CSUN to earn his first career AVCA National Player of the Week award and third Big West Offensive Player of the Week already this season.
The junior outside hitter put up wildly efficient numbers against the Matadors, averaging 5.5 kills per set on a .638 hitting percentage while helping the Gauchos extend to a season-best nine-match win streak. He has now led all players in kills in five straight matches.
Wilcox entered the week with two career performances in which he averaged at least 5.0 kills per set. He would double that number within a 26-hour span, going for 15 kills (5.0 K/S) on Thursday at Rob Gym and 18 (6.0 K/S) on Friday at CSUN.
In Friday’s home win, he tied a career-high .667 hitting percentage to go along with three aces, six digs and two block assists. The following night, he hit at a .615 clip, finishing with a six kills per set average for the first time in his career.
He becomes the first Gaucho this season to be named the AVCA Men’s Div. I-II National Player of the Week. This is the third straight month he has earned Big West Player of the Week honors, giving him seven weekly conference honors for his career.
Michael Jorgenson writes about sports for UCSB.
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