The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association announced its Players of the Week on February 7. Ball State’s Tinaishe Ndavazocheva was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Noah Melendez was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week.

Ndavazocheva gave Ball State its first win over a ranked foe this week, splitting a two-match series with No. 11 BYU. The sophomore from Masvingo, Zimbabwe finished his week with 43 kills, averaging 5.38 per set. He was efficient with his offense, hitting over .300 in both matches and averaging .393 for the week. The outside hitter also added a pair of aces. This is Ndavazocheva’s first Player of the Week award.

Melendez led Purdue Fort Wayne to a 2-0 weekend at the DC Challenge, topping Mount Olive 3-0 and George Mason 3-2. The graduate student had 10 digs against the Trojans and 13 on the Patriots’ home floor. He finished with a 2.88 digs per set clip. He helped hold both foes under .300 hitting as a team. This is Melendez’ first MIVA Player of the Week award.

MIVA play opens this week. The first matches will kick off on Thursday (Feb. 9) at 7 p.m. ET with McKendree at Ohio State and Lewis at Ball State.

2023 MIVA Players of the Week
Offensive
1/10 - Samuel Clark, Ohio State
1/17 - Parker Van Buren, Loyola Chicago
1/24 - Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne
1/31 - Raje Alleyne, Quincy
2/7 - Tinaishe Ndavazocheva, Ball State

Defensive
1/10 - Emmanuel Jurineack, Purdue Fort Wayne
1/17 - Max Roquet, Lewis
1/24 - Dominik Wagiel, Quincy
1/31 - Tyler Poulsen, McKendree
2/7 - Noah Melendez, Purdue Fort Wayne

#MIVAvb