Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jon Diedrich and Lewis’ Nico Paula earned the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Players of the Week awards, the MIVA announced on Tuesday (Feb. 6).

Diedrich was selected as the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week after leading Purdue Fort Wayne to a pair of five-set wins, including No. 8 Penn State. Diedrich was at his best against the Nittany Lions, helping the Mastodons pick up the MIVA’s highest-ranked win of the week. He had 21 kills on 39 swings with just one error for a .513 hitting percentage. He added 13 kills in the Mastodons’ win against Saint Francis (Pa.). This is the fifth Player of the Week award of Diedrich’s career.

Paula led Lewis to a pair of early road MIVA wins this week as the Flyers topped Lindenwood and McKendree. Paula had a career-high 17 digs at McKendree, holding the Bearcats to .168 hitting. He also had five digs at Lindenwood to hold the Lions to .218. For the week, he averaged 2.75 digs per set to help the Flyers to a 2-0 start to MIVA play. This is the third weekly honor of Paula’s career.

2024 MIVA Players of the Week
Offensive
1/9 - Andrej Polomac, Purdue Fort Wayne
1/16 - Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State
1/23 - Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State
1/30 - Parker Van Buren, Loyola Chicago
2/6 - Jon Diedrich, Purdue Fort Wayne

Defensive
1/9 - Justin Howard, Ohio State
1/16 - Nico Paula, Lewis
1/23 - Ryan Collins, Lewis
1/30 - Nikos Xydakis, McKendree
2/6 - Nico Paula

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