Charleston setter Paul Stommel has been named the EIVA Offensive Player of the Week and Harvard middle blocker Owen Woolbert is the Defensive Player of the Week for March 31, 2025.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Paul Stommel, Sr., S, Charleston
Paul directed the Eagle offense to a milestone victory as part of a split weekend in EIVA conference play at Penn State. The senior setter totaled 94 assists with four kills, three blocks and seven digs. In the first match March 28, he had 32 assists with one kill, one block and one dig in a 3-0 loss. The next day he gave out 62 assists with three kills on four swings, six digs and a pair of blocks in a 3-1 victory. It marked the program’s first triumph vs. the Nittany Lions after winning a total of three sets in 20 previous meetings. Charleston hit .329 during the weekend as a team, with 73 kills on .384 hitting in the victory. The offense featured a pair of Eagles with 20 or more kills in the second contest. Stommel’s 62 assists are the most in an EIVA match since former Eagle Diego Villafane gave out 63 assists vs. Mount Olive on March 10, 2023, and the team’s 73 kills and 70 assists also are EIVA single-match highs for 2025. Stommel’s 10.15 assists-per-set average leads the EIVA and ranks ninth nationally, while the team’s 12.13 assists per set also tops the EIVA and ranks No. 4 in the nation. This is Stommel’s first career EIVA weekly honor.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Owen Woolbert, So., MB, Harvard
Owen anchored a stout blocking effort by the Crimson defense in a three-match weekend. The sophomore middle blocker totaled 19 kills on .389 hitting with a pair of aces, five digs and 16 blocks over 11 sets, with a 3-2 loss to George Mason on March 28, a 3-0 win against the Patriots the next afternoon and a 3-0 sweep of Daemen on March 30. In the first match, he had seven kills, three digs and matched his season high with six blocks, including a solo stuff. He had another seven kills while hitting .385 with two aces and five blocks in Match 2. In the weekend finale, completing three matches in 44 hours, Woolbert had five kills on six swings to hit .833 with two digs and five blocks, including another solo denial. This is the first career EIVA weekly honor for Woolbert.