Five Bruins Named to All-MPSF Team
April 19, 2012
Los Angeles, Calif. - Five UCLA men's volleyball players were named to the All-Conference team on Thursday, as seniors Thomas Amberg, Kyle Caldwell and Weston Dunlap each earned first-team All-MPSF honors while sophomore Gonzalo Quiroga was named to the second team. Sophomore libero Evan Mottram received honorable mention accolades.
Amberg, a senior middle blocker, led the MPSF during the regular season with a .484 hitting percentage. He also led the Bruins with 149 total blocks during the regular season and broke Paul Johnson's school record for total career blocks and block assists in the rally scoring era (since 2001). He needs just one more block assist to break Johnson's school record for most block assists in a single season in the rally scoring era. Amberg is also tied with Gonzalo Quiroga for the team lead in points with 324 and has 228 kills on the season so far. This is the second time that he has been named to the All-MPSF team after being named honorable mention last year.
Setter Kyle Caldwell undoubtedly enjoyed his finest season as a Bruin after putting together an outstanding all-around season. Caldwell led the team with 957 set assists (9.87 assists per set) while also setting the team to a .326 hitting percentage on the year, good for third in the conference. Caldwell also had 128 kills on a .441 hitting percentage, served 22 aces and recorded 87 total blocks on the year for a total of 198.5 points during the regular season. This is the first time that he has earned All-Conference honors.
After being named second-team All-MPSF a year ago, Weston Dunlap had another stellar season for the Bruins, scoring 243 kills on a .470 hitting percentage. He recorded 100 total blocks during the regular season to give him an average of 0.99 per set, and served 10 aces to give him 308 points, third best on the team.
Gonzalo Quiroga was named to the second team for the second consecutive year after posting 251 kills during the regular season and a team-leading 46 aces. His 0.47 aces per set is good for fourth in the conference and he added 46 total blocks and 143 digs during the regular season. His 324 points puts him in a tie for the team lead with Amberg.
Sophomore libero Evan Mottram is making his first appearance on the All-MPSF team after he led the Bruins with 206 digs and a 2.04 digs per set mark. Mottram also recorded 73 set assists after playing in every single set for the Bruins.
UCLA will travel down to Irvine this weekend to take on the UC Irvine Anteaters in the MPSF Quarterfinals on Saturday, Apr. 21 at 7 pm in the Bren Center.
2012 MPSF First Team All-Conference
Tony Ciarelli, OH, Sr. - USC
Taylor Sander, OH, So. - BYU
Brad Lawson, OH, Sr. - Stanford
Carson Clark, Opp, Sr. - UC Irvine
Kevin Tillie, OH, Jr. - UC Irvine
Thomas Amberg, MB, Sr. - UCLA
Kyle Caldwell, S, Sr. - UCLA
Erik Shoji, L, Sr. - Stanford
Futi Tavana, MB, Sr. - BYU
Maurice Torres, Opp, Jr. - Pepperdine
Weston Dunlap, MB, Sr. - UCLA
Jeremy Dejno, OH, So. - UC Irvine
2012 MPSF Second Team All-Conference
Steven Shandrick, MB, Sr. - USC
Micah Christenson, S, Fr. - USC
Gonzalo Quiroga, OH, So. - UCLA
Joe Kauliakamoa, S, Sr. - BYU
Evan Barry, S, Sr. - Stanford
Dan McDonnell, MB, Sr. - UC Irvine
Robb Stowell, Opp, Sr. - BYU
Taylor Crabb, OH, So. - Long Beach State
Brian Cook, Opp, So. - Stanford
Russ Lavaja, MB, Jr. - BYU
Steven Hunt, OH, Sr. - Hawaii
Javier Caceres, L, So. - Pacific
2012 MPSF Honorable Mention All-Conference
Steven Irvin (STAN, So., OH); Matt Pollock (PEPP, Sr., MB); Chase Frishman (UCSD, Jr., L); Florian Gornik (PAC, Sr., OH); Eric Mochalski (STAN, So., MB); Taylor Hughes (PAC, Jr., OH); Henry Cassiday (USC, So., L); Matt West (PEPP, Fr., S); Robert Feathers (USC, Fr., MB); Carl Eberts (UCSD, Jr., OH); Tanner Jansen (USC, So., Opp); Evan Mottram (UCLA, So., L); Brandon Lebrock (CSUN, So., OH); Nick Castello (HAW, Sr., L).
MPSF Player of the Year: Tony Ciarelli, USC
MPSF Freshman of the Year: Micah Christenson, USC