Four Volleyball Players Earn All-MPSF Academic Honors
June 14, 2006
Four players on UCLA's NCAA Championship men's volleyball team were named to the 2006 All-MPSF Academic Team, the conference announced today.
Fifth-year senior David Russell, third-year sophomore Eric Chaghouri, true sophomore Tony Ker and redshirt freshman Jamie Diefenbach were UCLA's representatives on the MPSF academic team.
To be eligible, players must have a 3.0 or better cumulative grade point average and be a sophomore academically.
Russell, 22, is expected to graduate this weekend with a degree in History. He holds a 3.12 cumulative grade point average. He played in 36 matches this season and led the Bruins with 38 aces.
Chaghouri, 20, boasts a 3.89 gpa in Biology. He has been a member of UCLA Director's Honor Roll eight times (out of eight quarters) and has been named to the Dean's list seven times. He played in 27 of the Bruins' 38 matches as a libero.
Sophomore Tony Ker holds a 3.05 gpa and has been named to the Director's Honor Roll three times. This week, Ker earned 2006 Defensive Player of the Year honors from Volleyball Magazine.
Second-year freshman Jamie Diefenbach has a grade point average of 3.02. He played in the national championship match against Penn State and helped rally the Bruins from an eight-point deficit in Game 2.
In other UCLA volleyball news, several of the Bruins' 2006-07 recruits were honored by Volleyball Magazine in its July issue.
Teddy Goetz (Valencia, CA/Valencia HS), Kevin Ker (Valencia, CA/Valencia HS), Kent Kraushaar (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge HS) and Garrett Muagututia (San Diego, CA/Francis Parker HS) were named First-Team All-Americans by the magazine.
In addition, Dylan Bowermaster (Santa Ana, CA/Mater Dei HS) earned second-team honors and James Scilacci (Loyola HS) received honorable mention acclaim.