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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 I‐II men’s volleyball team.
The 14-member voting committee for the teams 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-Americans. 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 ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
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
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
For more on the Off the Block Preseason All-American Teams voting, click here to view the final voting results.
OFF THE BLOCK PRESEASON FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN PLAYER BIOS
Tony Ciarelli, USC, outside attacker, senior
Ciarelli last season was in the nation’s top 25 with both a 3.61 kills per game average and .317 attack percentage. The senior also was a 2011 Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-MPSF selection as USC won the MPSF regular season championship and advanced to the Final Four.
Carson Clark, UC Irvine, outside attacker, senior
Clark was third in the nation last season with a 4.53 kills per game average and led the MPSF with 47 aces. The senior was named a 2011 Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-MPSF player. Clark this summer also played for the United States at the 2011 World University Games.
Wes Dunlap, UCLA, middle attacker, senior
Dunlap led the nation with a .446 attack percentage and was second on UCLA with a 2.56 kills per game average last season. Dunlap as a junior was named to the 2011 Second-Team All-MPSF and also was in the nation’s top 50 with a 0.87 blocks per game average.
Edgardo Goas, Penn State, setter, senior
Goas led the EIVA and was eighth in the nation with an 11.03 assists per game average last season. The senior was a 2011 Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-EIVA player as last season he helped guide Penn State’s offense to a conference-best .309 attack percentage.
Brad Lawson, Stanford, outside attacker, senior
Lawson was seventh in the nation last season with a 4.33 kills per game average and led the team with a 0.47 aces per game average. The senior and 2010 MPSF Offensive Player of the Year was named a 2011 First-Team All-American and 2011 First-Team All-MPSF player as Stanford finished the season ranked No. 6 in the nation.
Taylor Sander, BYU, outside attacker, sophomore
Sander was the 2011 AVCA National Newcomer of the Year after leading BYU and being 14th in the nation with a .336 attack percentage. Sander as a freshman was also in the nation’s top 25 with a 3.67 kills per game average. He was a Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-MPSF selection last season.
Shawn Sangrey, Ohio State, outside attacker, senior
Despite missing almost one month of the regular season in 2011 because of an emergency appendectomy, Sangrey finished 15th in the nation with a 3.92 kills per game average and was among the MIVA leaders with a 0.34 aces per game average. Sangrey was a 2011 First-Team All-MIVA selection as Ohio State won its first NCAA championship in program history.
Erik Shoji, Stanford, libero, senior
Shoji was second in the MPSF and third in the nation with a 2.62 digs per game average last season. As a junior last season, he was a First-Team All-American and First-Team All-MPSF selection and in March set the Stanford record for career digs.
Robb Stowell, BYU, outside attacker, senior
Stowell was 10th in the nation and had a team-high 4.08 kills per game average, while also being in the nation’s top 20 with a .326 attack percentage last season. The senior was a 2011 Second-Team All-American and 2011 First-Team All-MPSF selection.
Joe Sunder, Penn State, outside attacker, senior
Sunder, the 2011 EIVA Player of the Year, led the conference and was fourth in the nation with a 4.54 kills per game average last season. The senior also was named a 2011 First-Team All-American and First-Team All-EIVA player as Penn State won its 13th consecutive EIVA title and reached the NCAA Tournament.
OFF THE BLOCK PRESEASON SECOND-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN PLAYER BIOS
Evan Barry, Stanford, setter, senior
Barry was fourth in the nation and third in the MPSF last season with an 11.56 assists per game average. The senior, who returns for his second year as Stanford’s starting setter, also was in the nation’s top 100 last year with an 1.35 digs per game average.
Mike Bunting, Loyola, outside attacker, senior
Bunting had a 4.21 kills per game average and a .372 attack percentage last season — one of three players to be in the nation’s top 10 for both categories. The senior was a 2011 Second-Team All-American and was named the 2011 Off the Block Fan Choice Player of the Year.
Kyle Caldwell, UCLA, setter, senior
Caldwell, who will be the Bruins’ starting setter in 2012, enters his senior season after playing outside attacker for part of last year. In this role, Caldwell was third on the team with a 2.51 kills per game average.
Henry Cassiday, USC, libero, sophomore
Cassiday was among the MPSF leaders and third in the nation with a 2.62 digs per game average last season. The 2011 All-MPSF Freshman Team selection was also an all-conference honorable mention and led all freshmen in the nation with 257 digs.
Taylor Crabb, Long Beach State, outside attacker, sophomore
Crabb was second on Long Beach State and in the nation’s top 60 with a 2.60 kills per game average last season. He also was selected to the 2011 MPSF All-Freshman Team and following the college season was named the team captain for the United States at the 2011 World Championships.
Dylan Davis, UC Santa Barbara, middle attacker, junior
Davis as a sophomore last season was in the nation’s top 50 with a 0.86 blocks per game average. Davis also played for the United States at the World Championship in August and finished fourth among all players at the international tournament with a 0.73 blocks per game average.
Taylor Hughes, Pacific, outside attacker, junior
Hughes was in the nation’s top 20 with a 3.88 kills per game average and had a team-high .272 attack percentage last season. The junior also was a 2011 All-MPSF honorable mention, the second year he earned all-conference honors.
Jay Petty, Lewis, outside attacker, junior
Petty was among the MIVA leaders and the in the nation’s top 25 with both a 3.88 kills per game average and .316 attack percentage last season. The junior was also named to the 2011 First-Team All-MIVA as the Flyers finished the season in fourth place in the conference.
Gonzalo Quiroga, UCLA, outside attacker, sophomore
Quiroga last season was named to the Second-Team All-MPSF and the All-MPSF Freshman Team after leading the Bruins with a 2.73 kills per game average. He also had a tournament-high in kills as he led Argentina to a fifth-place finish at the Youth World Championship in August.
Steven Shandrick, USC, middle attacker, senior
Shandrick was among the nation’s top 25 averaging 1.04 blocks per game last season. The senior was a 2011 Second-Team All-MPSF selection as USC won the MPSF regular season championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Futi Tavana, BYU, middle attacker, senior
Tavana led the MPSF and was the second in the nation with a 1.52 blocks per game average last season. The First-Team All-American and First-Team All-MPSF player was also the inaugural winner of the Off the Block Blocker of the Year award.