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.