From Vinnie Lopes, Off The Block -
A nationwide voting committee selected 21 players to the Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams.
A nationwide voting committee selected 21 players to the Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams.
The Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams recognizes the Division I-II men’s volleyball players projected to be the best in the nation during the upcoming season. Ten players were selected as Preseason First-Team All-Americans and 11 players were named Preseason Second-Team All-Americans.
BYU, Stanford, UCLA and USC led all teams with three Preseason All-Americans. BYU and Stanford each had two Preseason First-Team All-Americans and a Preseason Second-Team All-American, while UCLA and USC had a Preseason First-Team All-American and two Preseason Second-Team All-Americans.
Penn State had two players named Preseason First-Team All-Americans. The Nittany Lions were the only other team with multiple Preseason All-Americans.
Along with these five teams, Lewis, Long Beach State, Loyola, Ohio State, Pacific, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara each had one player selected to a Preseason All-American Team.
Players eligible for the Preseason All-American Teams had to be on the active roster of a Division Iâ€ÂII men's volleyball team.
The 14-member voting committee for this preseason honor was comprised of men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.
The 10 players receiving the most votes were named Preseason First-Team All-Americans, while the next top 10 vote-getters were selected as Preseason Second-Team All-American. A tie in voting resulted in 11 players making the second-team.
This is the inaugural year for the Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams. Off the Block is a website that launched in January and solely focuses on college men’s volleyball news and analysis.
The NCAA men's volleyball season begins in January and concludes with the Final Four in May.
Off the Block Preseason First-Team All-American
Setter: Edgardo Goas, Penn State
Middle attacker: Wes Dunlap, UCLA
Outside attacker: Tony Ciarelli, USC
Outside attacker: Carson Clark, UC Irvine
Outside attacker: Brad Lawson, Stanford
Outside attacker: Taylor Sander, BYU
Outside attacker: Shawn Sangrey, Ohio State
Outside attacker: Joe Sunder, Penn State
Outside attacker: Robb Stowell, BYU
Libero: Erik Shoji, Stanford
Off the Block Preseason Second-Team All-American
Setter: Evan Barry, Stanford
Setter: Kyle Caldwell, UCLA
Middle attacker: Dylan Davis, UC Santa Barbara
Middle attacker: Steven Shandrick, USC
Middle attacker: Futi Tavana, BYU
Outside attacker: Mike Bunting, Loyola
Outside attacker: Taylor Crabb, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: Taylor Hughes, Pacific
Outside attacker: Jay Petty, Lewis
Outside attacker: Gonzalo Quiroga, UCLA
Libero: Henry Cassiday, USC
Others receiving votes:
Kevin Tillie, UC Irvine
Nick Vogel, UCLA
Grayson Overman, Ohio State
Javier Caceres, Pacific
Thomas Amberg, UCLA
Matt Stork, Cal State Northridge
Maurice Torres, Pepperdine
Nick Turko, Penn State
Daniel Stork, UC Irvine
Mark Jones, George Mason
Joe Kauliakamoa, BYU
Corey Frain, IPFW
Julius Hoefer, Cal State Northridge
Micah Christenson, USC
Jim Baughman, Long Beach State
Mik Berzins, Ohio State
Joseph Smalzer, Loyola
Levi Cabral, Cal Baptist
Steve Hunt, Hawai'i
Dainis Berzins, Loyola
Gus Ellis, Stanford
Matt Gallik, Lewis
Sean Daley, Pacific
Graham McIlvaine, Ball State
Russell Lavaja, BYU
Greg Petty, Lewis
Robert Page, UCLA
Jace Olsen, Penn State
Scott Kevorken, UC Irvine
Ian Karbiener, Lewis
Aaron Russell, Penn State
Matt Pollock, Pepperdine
Tom Comfort, Penn State