California State University Northridge Athletics
4/19/2021 11:29:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - CSUN had two student-athletes named to the 2021 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team as Daniel Wetter earned first-team honors while Kyle Merchen was named to the All-Freshman Team.
The Matadors, who have now had 13 players named All-Big West in four seasons in the conference, finished the 2021 regular season with a 2-8 record and earned the No. 5 seed in this week's Big West Tournament.
Wetter, who led the nation in hitting percentage earlier this season, is currently hitting .422 which ranks third in the Big West and 11th nationally. The redshirt sophomore, who was also a first-team All-Big West selection in 2020 and an All-Freshman Team pick in 2019, is the CSUN leader with 92 kills and 24 blocks this season. He matched his career-high with 15 kills at UC San Diego on Apr. 3 and tied the single-match CSUN record by hitting .929 (13-0-14) in the Matadors' 3-1 win over UC Irvine on Mar. 21.
Merchen had a solid first season for the Matadors after transferring to CSUN from Santa Barbara City College. He ranks third in the Big West in assists per set at 8.84 while leading the Matadors with 327 assists. A solid two-player, Merchen is also tied for the team lead in digs with 53 while averaging 1.43 digs per set. He had a season-high 49 assists at UC San Diego on Apr. 3 and posted 45 assists, five kills and two blocks in CSUN's 3-2 upset win over No. 7 Long Beach State on Apr. 16.Â
Merchen is the fifth Matador freshman to earn Big West All-Freshman Team accolades after Maciej Ptaszynski (2018), Taylor Ittner and Wetter (2019) and Kyle Hobus (2020).
"Kyle has been such a joy to have on the team," said Campbell. "He is like having another coach on the floor and is always working to get better and make every player around him better. The biggest thing for Kyle is his leadership and his ability to bring out the best in his teammates."
CSUN opens the 2021 Big West Tournament in Hawai'i against No. 4 seed UC San Diego Thursday at 10:05 p.m. PDT.
2021 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team
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| Simon Anderson | Long Beach State | 6-8 | Sr. | MB | Middlefart, Denmark |
| Colton Cowell | Hawai'i | 6-1 | Sr. | OH | Makawao, Hawai'i |
| Randy DeWeese | UC Santa Barbara | 6-6 | Sr. | OPP | Sacramento, Calif. |
| Patrick Gasman | Hawai'i | 6-10 | Sr. | MB | Clovis, Calif. |
| Kyle McCauley | UC San Diego | 6-4 | Sr. | OH | Huntington Beach, Calif. |
| Roy McFarland | UC Santa Barbara | 6-4 | Sr. | OPP | Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| Casey McGarry | UC Santa Barbara | 6-0 | Sr. | S | Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| Spencer Olivier | Long Beach State | 6-6 | Jr. | OH | Tustin, Calif. |
| Rado Parapunov | Hawai'i | 6-9 | Sr. | OPP | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Keenan Sanders | UC Santa Barbara | 6-6 | Sr. | MB | San Diego, Calif. |
| Joel Schneidmiller | UC Irvine | 6-6 | Sr. | OH | Saratoga, Calif. |
| Scott Stadick | UC Irvine | 7-0 | Sr. | MB | Watertown, Wisc. |
| Daniel Wetter | CSUN | 6-5 | So. | MB | Camarillo, Calif. |
| Gage Worsley | Hawai'i | 6-1 | Sr. | L | Moraga, Calif. |
| Shane Benetz | UC San Diego | 6-6 | Jr. | MB | Santa Clara, Calif. |
| Mason Briggs | Long Beach State | 6-0 | So. | L | Valencia, Calif. |
| Chaz Galloway | Hawai'i | 6-3 | So. | OH | San Diego, Calif. |
| Jakob Thelle | Hawai'i | 6-6 | Jr. | S | Tonsberg, Norway |
| Ryan Wilcox | UC Santa Barbara | 6-2 | Jr. | OH | Honolulu, O'ahu |
| Connor Campbell | UC Irvine | 6-7 | MB | San Diego, Calif. |
| Spyros Chakas | Hawai'i | 6-4 | OH | Nea Smyrni, Greece |
| Cole Gillis | UC Irvine | 6-5 | OH | San Jose, Calif. |
| Clarke Godbold | Long Beach State | 6-5 | OH | San Pedro, Calif. |
| Kyle Merchen | CSUN | 6-4 | S | Clovis, Calif. |
| Francesco Sani | UC Irvine | 6-8 | OH | Bethesda, Md. |
| Simon Torwie | Long Beach State | 6-10 | OPP | Arta, Spain |
| Dylan Zhai | UC San Diego | 6-1 | S | Cupertino, Calif. |
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