Amberg, Caldwell and Dunlap Named AVCA All-Americans
April 26, 2012
Los Angeles, Calif. - Seniors Thomas Amberg, Kyle Caldwell and Weston Dunlap were all named to the AVCA All-American Team as announced by the organization today. Amberg and Caldwell were named to the first-team while Dunlap earned second-team honors.
Amberg, a senior middle blocker and first-team All-MPSF member, led the MPSF with a .486 hitting percentage. He also led the Bruins with 150 total blocks on the year and broke Paul Johnson's school record for total career blocks and block assists in the rally scoring era (since 2001). He also passed Johnson for the most block assists in a single season by a UCLA player in the rally scoring era. In addition, Amberg was fourth nationally in blocks per set with a 1.41 mark. He finished second to Gonzalo Quiroga for the team lead in points with 330.5 and scored 234 kills on the season. This is the first time that Amberg has received All-America honors.
Setter Kyle Caldwell undoubtedly enjoyed his finest season as a Bruin after putting together an outstanding all-around season. Caldwell led the team with 1,023 set assists (10.13 assists per set) while also setting the team to a .321 hitting percentage on the year. Caldwell also had 131 kills on a .440 hitting percentage, served 22 aces and recorded 90 total blocks on the year for a total of 230 points, good for fifth on the team and outstanding for a player at his position. Like Amberg, this is the first time that Caldwell has been named an All-American after he earned first-team All-MPSF honors last week.
Quick hitter Weston Dunlap also had another stellar season for the Bruins, recording 247 kills on a .461 hitting percentage after leading the nation in hitting percentage in 2011. A first-team All-MPSF selection, Dunlap also recorded 106 total blocks during the to give him an average of 1.01 per set, and served 10 aces to give him 315 points, third best on the team. As with Caldwell and Amberg, this is the first career appearance on the All-America team for Dunlap.
AVCA First Team All-America
Thomas Amberg, MB, Sr. - UCLA
Kyle Caldwell, S, Sr. - UCLA
Tony Ciarelli, OH, Sr. - USC
Carson Clark, Opp, Sr. - UC Irvine
Brad Lawson, OH, Sr. - Stanford
Taylor Sander, OH, So. - BYU
Shawn Sangrey, Opp., Sr. - Ohio State
Erik Shoji, L, Sr. - Stanford
Futi Tavana, MB, Sr. - BYU
Kevin Tillie, OH, Jr. - UC Irvine
AVCA Second Team All-America
Evan Barry, S, Sr. - Stanford
B.J. Boldog, S, So. - Lewis
Henry Cassiday, L, So. - USC
Micah Christenson, S, Fr. - USC
Weston Dunlap, MB, Sr. - UCLA
Jay Petty, OH, Jr. - Lewis
Steven Shandrick, MB, Sr. - USC
Joseph Smalzer, Opp, So. - Loyola-Chicago
Joe Sunder, OH, Sr. - Penn State
Maurice Torres, Opp, Jr. - Pepperdine
AVCA Division I-II Player of the Year: Announced at NCAA Championship Banquet on May 2
AVCA Division I-II Freshman of the Year: Micah Christenson, USC