Five Bruins Earn MVB All-America Honors
April 29, 2024 | Men's Volleyball
Five Bruins – outside hitter Ethan Champlin, middle blocker Merrick McHenry, setter Andrew Rowan, opposite Grant Sloane and outside hitter Cooper Robinson - have been honored as AVCA Division I-II Men's Volleyball All-America selections in an announcement on Monday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Champlin, McHenry and Rowan were chosen to the AVCA Men's Div. I-II first-team. Sloane and Robinson were awarded honorable mention.
Champlin, also a first-team All-America selection in 2022 and 2023, has a team-best 14 double-digit kill matches heading into this week's NCAA Championships while hitting at a .332 clip. He has also topped the team in overall digs while leading the team in the category in 10 matches this season. Champlin was named Off the Block's National Outside Attacker of the Week after his performance at BYU where he racked up 14 kills in two sets of action on the outside after starting the match at libero. He also recorded 17 digs while playing libero in a previous match at BYU, which was the most by a Bruin player since 2016. It one of three matches this season in which Champlin totaled double-digit digs. He added multiple blocks in 12 contests and received serves at a .960 rate.
McHenry, the 2024 MVP of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and a first-team all-league selection, is on track to set a school record for highest career attack percentage at UCLA in the rally scoring era (since 2001) and become the first Bruin to surpass the .500 mark in the process. This is the third straight first-team AVCA All-America honors for the redshirt senior from Texas who has hit at least .500 in 20 matches this season which attacking at an overall .570 clip. McHenry totaled at least three blocks in 21 contests in 2024. Three times this season, he earned MPSF Player of the Week honors. In addition, McHenry was Off the Block's choice as the National Middle Attacker of the Week following his performance in a pair of matches against Long Beach where he combined for 21 kills and 10 blocks while hitting over .500. He also became UCLA's all-time school leader in block solos during those matches against the Beach.
Rowan, who was a first-team AVCA selection in 2023 as a freshman, was also named to the first-team All-MPSF team earlier this season. He enters NCAA Championship play as the team's leader with 37 aces. He has registered multiple aces in 12 matches. The Bruin team, which leads the nation in hitting percentage for the third-straight season, has hit at least .350 in 16 matches Rowan has started in '24. In addition, the team has hit at least .400 in six of the last nine matches, including a .403 effort versus USC in the MPSF semifinals. Rowan was named Off the Block's National Setter of the Week after the Bruin team hit a combined .350 in a pair of regular season wins over Grand Canyon. He also received the award after leading the team to a combined .425 percentage in the two regular season wins over USC. Rowan produced a career-high 5 kills in a win at UC Irvine and a career-best seven block assists against UC Santa Barbara this season. He has been credited with at least one kill in 24 of the 27 matches he has played this season.
Sloane hit at a .307 rate for the season and tallied 21 aces on the year in 24 matches. He registered a service winner in 10 of the last 11 matches, including a season-best four aces against Concordia-Irvine. On the year, Sloane recorded five double-digit kill efforts and had multiple aces in five contests. He was credited with a season-high five blocks in a victory over Stanford and had nine matches where he produced double-digit points. Sloane was a second-team 2024 All-MPSF selection.
Robinson had 18 matches with double-digit points produced this season and has registered at least one ace in 13 of the last 16 contests. He compiled multiple aces in 11 matches and received serves at a .952 rate. Robinson was named the AVCA National Player of the Week after totaling 22 and 23 kills in back-to-back wins over UC Irvine while hitting over .400. He was a second-team All-MPSF selection.
UCLA begins play in the 2024 NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship on Tuesday at 11 a.m. in a quarterfinal match against Fort Valley State. This year's NCAA tournament is being held at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.
