Eight repeat selections head the 1996 men's volleyball all-America team named by the American Volleyball Coaches
Association (AVCA).
Two of the eight players, Hawaii's Yuval Katz and Stein Metzger of UCLA, were named coplayers of the year. The
two faced each other in this year's National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship final, won by UCLA in five
games. Katz, a sophomore outside hitter, was named the tournament's most outstanding player.
Both Katz and Metzger, a senior setter, were first-team AVCA selections last year.
Other repeat selections are Ivan Contreras from Penn State and Tom Hoff of Long Beach State, who both earned
first-team recognition a year ago; and UCLA's Paul Nihipali, Matt Fuerbringer of Stanford and Eduardo Ferraz of
Ball State, who were second-team picks last year. UC Santa Barbara's Todd Rogers is a repeat second-team
selection.
The AVCA Men's Volleyball All-America Committee selected the 18 all-Americans from a pool of 55 nominees from 20
schools.
The following is a list of the 1996 AVCA all-Americans:
First team
Outside hitters -- Matt Fuerbringer, Stanford; Yuval Katz, Hawaii; Paul Nihipali, UCLA; Martin Wagner, Long Beach
State. Middle blockers -- Ivan Contreras, Penn State; Tom Hoff, Long Beach State. Setters -- Eduardo Ferraz, Ball
State; Stein Metzger, UCLA; Erik Pichel, Hawaii.
Second team
Outside hitters -- Kevin Barnett, Pepperdine; Chad Strickland, Cal State Northridge; Greg Wakeham, Pacific
(California); Aaron Wilton, Hawaii. Middle blockers -- Chris Borden, Lewis; Kevin Hourican, Penn State; Neil
Mendel, Long Beach State; Rob Treahy, UC Santa Barbara. Setter -- Todd Rogers, UC Santa Barbara.
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