In a week filled with impressive performances by EIVA student-athletes, two of them -- who in a rare twist played against each other last weekend -- led the way. Sacred Heart's Aleksa Mandic is the Offensive Player of the Week and Princeton's Tristan Whitfield is the Defensive Player of the Week for April 6, 2026. Mandic's Pioneers won both tight matches.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aleksa Mandic, Jr., OH, Sacred Heart
Aleksa’s all-around performance helped the Pioneers to a pair of wins at Princeton, marking Sacred Heart’s first victory against the Tigers since 2018, first EIVA weekend sweep since 2019 and first EIVA road win since 2022. The junior outside hitter totaled 34 kills on .308 hitting with 10 aces, four assists, 13 digs and five blocks, one solo. He delivered 18 kills on .325 hitting with five aces, two assists, two blocks and one dig in a 3-2 victory in the weekend opener April 3. He also had only one service error during the marathon contest. The following day he had 16 kills on .289 hitting with five more aces, two assists, nine digs and three blocks, one solo, in a 3-1 win. Mandic, who averages an EIVA-leading 0.58 aces per set and entered the weekend ranking 11th in the nation in that category, has posted four or more aces in five matches this season. He also ranks fourth in the EIVA in kills per set (3.33), points per set (4.03) and hitting (.265). This is Mandic’s first career EIVA weekly honor.
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tristan Whitfield, Jr., MB, Princeton
Tristan was tough to beat and even tougher to stop even in a pair of Tiger losses to Sacred Heart. The junior middle blocker was error-free in his swings all weekend in 3-2 and 3-1 setbacks to the Pioneers, totaling 13 kills on 22 swings to hit .591, adding one ace and three assists, nine blocks and 10 digs. In the opener April 3, he had seven kills on 10 swings to hit .700, plus an ace, two assists, four blocks and five digs. He added six kills on 12 swings to hit .500 with an assist, five blocks and five digs. Over his last three matches Whitfield has 17 kills on 26 error-free swings to hit .654, plus 14 blocks, and over his past nine matches he has 47 kills and seven errors on .506 hitting with 35 blocks. Whitfield is fourth in the EIVA averaging 1.00 blocks per set. This is the second EIVA weekly honor of Whitfield’s career and first of the season.