PITMAN --- The New Jersey Athletic Conference announced its men's volleyball honors for the week ending Feb. 18.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JACK FREESE • Kean University
Sophomore • Middle Blocker • Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough
Freese collects NJAC Player of the Week honors after posting two 10+ kill games over the last week. He averaged 2.80 kills, 3.35 points, and nearly a block per set in contests against Drew, Juniata, and Elizabethtown. In a 3-0 sweep of Drew, Freese registered 11 kills, three blocks, and two digs while swinging .292. He added three kills and four blocks in a setback to Juniata and then spiked down a week-high 14 kills in a four-set loss to Elizabethtown. He posted his highest hitting percentage of the week against the Blue Jays, swinging .342, and he added two more blocks and two more assists. Freese currently ranks fourth in the NJAC in blocks (0.87/set), seventh in points (2.91/set), eighth in kills (2.42/set), and ninth in hitting percentage (.213).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
AMIR JOHNSON • Rutgers-Newark
Freshman • Middle Blocker • Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Johnson is named NJAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week after helping lead Rutgers-Newark to a 3-0 conference sweep of Ramapo. He averaged a block per set across two matches while chipping in 1.67 kills and 2.33 points per set. He tallied three blocks, four kills, and a dig as the Scarlet Raiders won their first NJAC contest of the season. Johnson recorded three more blocks to go with six kills (.357 hitting percentage) in a loss to Juniata. The rookie currently ranks eighth among all NJAC players with 0.59 blocks per set on the season.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
MARCUS PARDASIE • New Jersey City University
Freshman • Outside Hitter • Paramus, NJ/Cresskill
Pardasie collects his third straight NJAC Rookie of the Week honor. He continued the hot start to his rookie season in the team’s lone match last week, as sweep of Yeshiva on the road on Friday. He notched a match-high-tying 10 kills with no errors on 12 swings (.833) to go with a match-high-tying four aces, a dig and an assist. The rookie outside hitter currently ranks third overall and first among freshmen in kills (2.91/set). He is also fourth overall and first among rookies with a .239 hitting percentage. Pardasie is also ranked fifth in points (3.36/set) and service aces (0.28/set).