The NCAA News - News and Features

May 12, 1997

Stanford, Penn State stars lead men's volleyball all-America teams

Seven repeat selections head the 1997 men's volleyball all-America teams named by Kaepa and the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Two of the seven players, Matt Fuerbringer of Stanford and Penn State's Ivan Contreras, are the first male volleyball players to earn all-American honors four times.

Fuerbringer led Stanford to its first National Collegiate men's volleyball title, scoring 12 kills in a five-game win over two-time defending national champion UCLA, while Contreras earned player-of-the-year honors and helped lead Penn State to a 27-2 season and a seventh straight appearance in the tournament.

Other repeat selections on the first team are Eduardo Ferraz from Ball State and UCLA's Paul Nihipali. In addition, 1997 first-teamer Chad Strickland of Cal State Northridge was a second-team pick last year.

Second-team members for a second straight year are Kevin Barnett of Pepperdine and Rob Treahy of UC Santa Barbara.

The AVCA Men's Volleyball All-America Committee selected the 18 all-Americans from a pool of 51 nominees from 20 schools.

Following are the 1997 AVCA all-Americans:

First team

Outside hitters -- Matt Fuerbringer, Stanford; Donny Harris, UC Santa Barbara; Paul Nihipali, UCLA; George Roumain, Pepperdine; Chad Strickland, Cal State Northridge. Middle blockers -- Gaby Amar, Long Beach State; Ivan Contreras, Penn State; Ryan Millar, Brigham Young. Setter--Eduardo Ferraz, Ball State.

Second team

Outside hitters -- Kevin Barnett, Pepperdine; Jason Kepner, Penn State; Mike Lambert, Stanford; Jason Ring, Hawaii. Middle blockers -- Chris Harger, UC Irvine; Adam Naeve, UCLA; Victor Rivera, Lewis; Rob Treahy, UC Santa Barbara. Setter--Brandon Taliaferro, UCLA.