Calicut Heroes’ Mahesh Ashwin Raj was named the RuPay Player of the Match following his side’s 4-1 (15-14, 15-12, 15-11, 4-15, 15-14) win against Hyderabad Black Hawks in match 8 of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League Powered by A23 - Season 2.

The 24-year-old wasn’t really the highest point scorer of the match. In fact, his tally was the second-best among his own teammates (eight), meaning it was his mere influence which earned him the honour.

As it turns out, the highest point scorer was from the losing side, and it was Hyderabad Black Hawks captain Guru Prasanth who breached the double-digit mark once again (14 points). The second spot was shared by as many as three players in Hemanth P, Trent O’Dea of Hyderabad and Jerome Vinith of Calicut Heroes.

Interestingly enough, Ashwin had an efficiency of 62.50 in the attack, the best return among his teammates. He made a solitary error while gathering six points from attack itself. The remaining points were gathered from blocks where the 24-year-old did make a couple of errors.

Ashwin’s tally of eight points does not really strike as an influential return, but his experience was key. Thanks to his detailed conversance (Use another word) with the sport, the 24-year-old was able to set up his teammates in a way that they managed to nullify Hyderabad’s attacks & exploit their weaknesses.

Meanwhile, Calicut Heroes’ next assignment comes against a firm Kolkata Thunderbolts side on Thursday, February 16. The match will start at 9:30 PM IST.