California State University Northridge Athletics
4/20/2022 2:25:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Highlighted by a pair of first-team selections, CSUN had four student-athletes named to the 2022 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team as announced by the conference on Wednesday, Apr. 20.
Redshirt junior Daniel Wetter earned first-team honors as a middle blocker for the third consecutive season while redshirt sophomore Kyle Hobus received first-team accolades for the first time. The Matadors also had Olumide Allen and Donovan Constable named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
The Matadors, who have now had 17 players named All-Big West in five seasons in the conference, finished the 2022 regular season with a 6-15 record and are the No. 6 seed in this week's Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship.
Wetter, who annually ranks among the leading hitters in the nation, is hitting .465 for the season which ranks second in the Big West and 11th nationally. Wetter has put together a remarkable run over the past two weeks. In four matches against UC Irvine and Long Beach State, the redshirt junior from Camarillo, put down 55 kills with just three hitting errors on 83 swings, a .627 hitting clip. He put down a season-high 16 kills on 24 errorless swings at Long Beach State on Friday two matches after knocking down 13 kills on 19 errorless attacks in the series opener against UC Irvine. Wetter passed both the 600 career kill and 200 career block milestones last week. Wetter was also a first-team All-Big West selection in 2020 and 2021 and an All-Freshman Team pick in 2019.
Hobus has had a breakout season for the Matadors in 2022. The Big West Co-Freshman of the Year as well as an honorable mention and All-Freshman selection in 2020, he has improved his numbers in every statistical category this season. He leads CSUN in kills with 222 and has moved up to fifth in the Big West averaging 3.47 kills per set. He has been the Matador leader in kills in 15 of 21 matches this season and also ranks among the Big West's top-20 in hitting, service aces, digs, blocks and points.
"Kyle has really blossomed into one of the top players in the Big West," said Campbell. "His athleticism and his perseverance has taken him to to the next level and with more experience he'll get even better. In the last three years, he's only had about a year and half of training due to injuries and the pandemic."
Allen and Constable represent the sixth and seventh Matador freshmen to earn Big West All-Freshman Team accolades after Maciej Ptaszynski (2018), Taylor Ittner and Wetter (2019), Hobus (2020) and Kyle Merchen (2021). Constable has a team-high 630 assists in 21 matches this season which is the most by a CSUN freshman since Taylor Ittner posted 992 as a freshman in 2019. Constable, who has made 20 starts in his debut season, ranks fifth among Big West setters (20th nationally) averaging 9.55 assists per set. Allen ranks in the top-20 in the Big West in blocks while ranking second to Wetter in hitting percentage at .421 with 74 kills and 21 errors on 126 swings."Donovan has shown great leadership at the setter position," said Campbell. He not only stabilized the offense but we've improved a lot because of his skill and leadership. Lulu also came in as a true freshman and is a very athletic player who took advantage of his opportunity and performed well. It's difficult to play in this league as a freshman and both of these guys have been great."
CSUN opens the 2022 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship in Hawai'i against No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara Thursday at 10:00 p.m. PDT.
2022 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Team
FIRST TEAM
| Mason Briggs | Long Beach State | L | 6-0 | So. | Valencia, CA |
| Spyros Chakas | Hawai'i | OH | 6-0 | So. | Nea Smyrni, Greece |
| Clarke Godbold | Long Beach State | OH | So. | San Pedro, CA | |
| Hilir Henno | UC Irvine | OH | Fr. | Pornichet, France | |
| Kyle Hobus | CSUN | OPP | 6-7 | R-So. | San Pedro, CA |
| Kyle McCauley | UC San Diego | OH | 6-4 | Sr. | Huntington Beach, CA |
| Alex Nikolov | Long Beach State | OH | Fr. | Sofia, Bulgaria | |
| Matt Palma | UC San Diego | L | Sr. | Costa Mesa, CA | |
| Francesno Sani | UC Irvine | OH | So. | Bethesda, MD | |
| Jakob Thelle | Hawai'i | S | Jr. | Tonsberg, Norway | |
| Donovan Todorov | UC Santa Barbara | MB | So. | San Diego, CA | |
| Guilherme Voss | Hawai'i | MB | 6-7 | So. | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Daniel Wetter | CSUN | MB | 6-5 | R-Jr. | Camarillo, CA |
| Ryan Wilcox | UC Santa Barbara | OH | Jr. | Honolulu, Hawai'i |
HONORABLE MENTION
| Shane Benetz | UC San Diego |
| Dayne Chalmers | UC Santa Barbara |
| Logan Clark | UC San Diego |
| Dimitrios Mouchlias | Hawai'i |
| Spencer Olivier | Long Beach State |
| Patrick Paragas | UC Santa Barbara |
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
| Olumide Allen | CSUN |
| Geste Bianchi | UC Santa Barbara |
| Donovan Constable | CSUN |
| Max Gordon | UC Santa Barbara |
| Hilir Henno | UC Irvine |
| Matthew Lim | UC San Diego |
| Alex Nikolov | Long Beach State |
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