Five locals named All-American by VolleyballMag.com
UC Irvine middle blocker Scott Stadick has been named national Freshman of the Year by VolleyballMag.com, which bestowed All-American honors on five players with local ties.
Stadick, a 7-foot freshman out of Wisconsin who was also the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Freshman of the Year, ranked fifth nationally in blocks per set (1.19) and ranked sixth with a .421 hitting percentage.
UCI senior outside hitter Tamir Hershko, and Huntington Beach High products TJ DeFalco (Long Beach State), Brenden Sander (BYU) and Josh Tuaniga (Long Beach State) were first-team All-Americans.
Stadick and UCI senior setter Michael Saeta earned second-team laurels.
Long Beach State’s Alan Knipe, who played at Marina High and Orange Coast College, was named Coach of the Year after guiding the 49ers to the MPSF regular-season and tournament titles.
UCI senior opposite Thomas Hodges and Stanford 7-0 junior middle blocker Kevin Rakestraw, a Newport Harbor High product, received honorable mention.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
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