California State University Northridge Athletics
Jalen Phillips Receives Second Consecutive AVCA All-America Honor
5/6/2026 10:28:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. - CSUN Men's Volleyball's redshirt junior Jalen Phillips earned All-America accolades for the second consecutive season as the AVCA announced its 36th All-America teams for National Collegiate men's volleyball on Wednesday (May 6).
Phillips, an AVCA first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2025, was named second-team this season. He becomes the fifth Matador in program history to earn AVCA All-America accolades in consecutive seasons and first since Donovan Constable in 2024 and 2025.
The opposite from Anaheim, also a first-team All-Big West selection this season, led the 18th-ranked Matadors with 312 kills this season, averaging 3.95 kills per set, which led the Big West. He also ranked second in the Big West points per set at 4.36 and 11th this week in hitting percentage. In the national statistics, he finished the regular season ranked eighth in kills (3.88), 14th in points (4.36), 36th in hitting percentage (.313), and 23rd in attacks per set (8.17).
Phillips also reached a milestone during the 2026 season, becoming the 16th player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. He reached the milestone with his 13th kill in a 19-kill effort against Jessup on Mar. 19. Now with 1,108 career kills, Phillips has moved into seventh place on the CSUN Rally Scoring era kills list, passing Isaac Kneubuhl (2005-08) and Brian Waite (2003-06) this season.
"This All-America nod to me was one of the most impressive of Jalen's career," said head coach Theo Edwards. "Behind closed doors, Jalen battled through a ton of adversity with injuries and health, and through incredible perseverance, he still rose to the top! As a coach I couldn't be more proud."
The 2026 honorees include 24 players—12 each on the first and second teams—from 11 schools. UCLA and Long Beach State University lead the way with four total All-Americans, and all four of the Bruins are first-team picks. UC Irvine, the University of Hawai'i, and Pepperdine University all have three players on the first or second teams.
Andrew Rowan becomes just the fourth player to earn first-team All-America honors four times. His teammate, Cameron Thorne, is a first-team selection for the third consecutive year. Four additional first-team picks in 2026 also were first-teamers a year ago: Ryan Barnett of Pepperdine, Dillon Klein of USC, Tread Rosenthal of Hawai'i, and Skyler Varga of Long Beach State.
The 2026 AVCA Newcomer of the Year is Andrej Jokanovic, UC Irvine. The freshman averages 3.37 kills per set and 4.07 points per set heading into the 2026 NCAA Championship semifinals, to go with 176 digs, 56 blocks, and a team-best 49 aces. He came up big for the Anteaters in their regional final win at UCLA by posting 14 kills and nine digs.
The selections were made by the 2026 AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball All-America Committee: Jonathan Winder of Pepperdine (chair), Sam Albus of Lees-McRae, Brian Baise of Harvard, Karl France of Fairleigh Dickinson, Dan Friend of Lewis, Danny Goncalves of NJIT, John Hawks of UCLA, David Kniffin of UC Irvine, Thiago Lopes of St. Thomas Aquinas, Brad Rostratter of UC San Diego, Nickie Sanlin of McKendree, Derek Sullivan of Belmont Abbey, Ryan Thompson of Missouri S&T, and Devin Walker of Central State.
2026 Award Winners
Newcomer of the Year:Â Andrej Jokanovic, UC Irvine, OH, Fr.
Player of the Year:Â announcement is Friday, May 8, late evening ET
Coach of the Year:Â announcement is Thursday, May 7, 1pm ET
Assistant Coach of the Year:Â announcement is Thursday, May 7, 1pm ET
#GoMatadors
