ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced on Tuesday (Feb. 19) that Lewis University middle hitter Tyler Mitchem (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook HS) has been named the Sports Import/AVCA National Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 17.

Mitchem registered 11 kills while hitting .846 in the three set win over No. 12 Ball State last Friday. He was 10 for his first 10 in kills including 7-for-7 in the opening set. Mitchem followed that up with 10 kills in 14 attempts and hit .714 against No. 15 Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday. In that match he also had a dig and four total blocks. Mitchem averaged 3.5 kills and hit .778 percent for the weekend.

"Congrats to our guys," Lewis head men's volleyball coach Dan Friend said. "It's a team honor to win National Player of the Week." "Tyler had a great weekend for us to get two key conference wins.

"He has been instrumental in our team's success this year and has been a dominating force at the net."

Mitchem leads MIVA and the nation with a .543 hitting percentage and is tied for second in the conference in total blocks with 58.

This is the 17^th time that a Lewis player has picked up Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honors. They've had at least one player of the week honor in each year since 2012 with the exception of 2016.
 
In addition, he was also named Off the Block's National Middle Hitter Player of the Week.
 
The Flyers remained 10th in this week's AVCA Division I-II Top 15 polls. Lewis begins a five-match roadtrip on Thursday traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State at 6 p.m. (CT).