NJIT's Andre Aleixo and Penn State's Ryan Merk have each earned their second EIVA weekly awards of the three-week-old season. Alexio, last week's defensive winner, is the Offensive Player of the Week for Jan. 26, 2026, while Merk is the Defensive Player of the Week after taking the same award in Week 1.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Andre Aleixo, Fr., OH, NJIT
Andre made his swings count to capture his second EIVA weekly award in as many weeks. The freshman outside hitter delivered 11 kills with one error on 14 swings to hit .714 as the Highlanders swept past Daemen 3-0 on Jan. 24. He also had a pair of aces and two digs in the match played at Saint Francis (Pa.). Aleixo has reached double digits in kills in five of his first eight matches of his collegiate career. Aleixo ranks in the top 10 in six statistical categories in the EIVA. He is fourth in kills per set (3.18), fourth in points per set (3.82), fifth in aces per set (0.43), seventh in hitting percentage (.272) and eighth in digs per set (1.46). This is the second EIVA weekly honor of Aleixo’s career.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Merk, R-Sr., L, Penn State
Ryan continues to be tough to beat on the back line for the No. 10 Nittany Lions despite a pair of road losses to No. 15 McKendree. The redshirt senior libero tallied seven digs and an assist in a 3-0 loss to the Bearcats on Jan. 23 and a dozen digs plus an assist the next day. He totaled 19 digs and two assists on the weekend to go with a 39-for-39 performance in service receptions. He has 52 digs on the season and his weekend total helped him surpass the 700-dig milestone for his career (713). Through six matches he also has allowed only one service ace on 114 chances for a .991 success rate. He ranks third in the EIVA and 12th in the nation averaging 2.48 digs per set. This is the sixth EIVA weekly honor of Merk’s career and second of the season.