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There will be plenty of stars on the court for the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday.
Check out the top 30 players to know for both matches – Penn State versus Ohio State and Long Beach State versus Grand Canyon.
Cole Bogner, Penn State
Accolades: First-Team All-American, EIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-EIVA
Bogner is fifth in the nation with a 10.28 assists per game average and has guided the offense to the fifth-best attack percentage in the nation at .337. In addition, Bogner led Penn State to more than a .300 attack percentage in regular season wins against Hawai’i and UCLA.
Mason Briggs, Long Beach State
Accolades: First-Team All-American, All-Big West
Briggs leads the Big West and is fifth in the nation averaging 2.36 digs per game, including having double-digit digs in 10 matches. The libero, who spent the offseason playing with the U.S. Men’s National Team, had a team-high 411 service receptions and a 94.4 percent successful passing rating.
Toby Ezeonu, Penn State
Accolades: First-Team All-American, First-Team All-EIVA
Ezeonu is second in the nation with a .497 attack percentage and is in the conference’s top five averaging 0.89 blocks per game. Coach Mark Pavlik said the middle attacker will be a game-time decision after suffering a lower-body injury in the EIVA Tournament.
Cal Fisher, Penn State
Accolades: Second-Team All-American, First-Team All-EIVA
Fisher is fourth in the nation with a 0.67 aces per game average and has an ace in every match that the senior has played in this season. In addition, Fisher is in the conference’s top five with both a 3.38 kills per game average and a .360 attack percentage highlighted with 23 kills and hitting .514 in a victory against George Mason in the EIVA Tournament semifinals.
Camden Gianni, Grand Canyon
Gianni leads the MPSF and is sixth in the nation with a 0.50 aces per game average, including having a season-high six aces in victory against Pepperdine in February. The opposite also is in the top 10 of the MPSF averaging 2.88 kills per game.
Clarke Godbold, Long Beach State
Accolades: Second-Team All-American, All-Big West
Godbold is in the nation’s top 10 with a 1.09 blocks per game average. The opposite also is in the top 10 of the Big West with a 2.81 kills per game average, including having a season-high 32 kills on a .571 attack percentage in a victory against CSUN in April.
Jackson Hickman, Grand Canyon
Accolades: Second-Team All-American
Hickman leads the Antelopes and is in the MPSF’s top 10 with a 3.06 kills per game average on a career-best .343 attack percentage. The outside attacker also had a career-high 23 kills and a walk-off ace in a five-game win against BYU in March.
Shane Holdaway, Long Beach State
Holdaway had a career-best .563 attack percentage and hit more than .500 in 17 matches. The middle attacker also is in the top 10 of the Big West averaging 0.80 blocks per game.
Justin Howard, Ohio State
Howard leads the Buckeyes and is in the conference’s top 15 with a 0.74 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also is hitting .400 for the season and has at least a .400 attack percentage in four consecutive matches.
Christian Janke, Grand Canyon
Accolades: Second-Team All-MPSF
Janke is in the MPSF’s top 10 with both a 2.80 kills per game and a .311 attack percentage. The outside attacker had double-digit kills in five of the teams last eight matches, including 10 kills and hitting .444 against UCLA in the MPSF Tournament semifinals.
Aidan Knipe, Long Beach State
Knipe is second in the Big West with a 9.60 assists per game average and guided the Beach to the fourth-best attack percentage in the nation at .340. The setter is also in the conference’s top 15 averaging 1.51 digs per game and is one day away from tying a single-season career high.
Michael Kowal, Penn State
Accolades: First-Team All-EIVA
Kowal is in the conference’s top 15 averaging both 2.49 kills per game and 0.32 aces per game. The outside attacker also is second on the team with 462 service receptions and a 92.9 percent successful passing rating.
Jordan Lucas, Grand Canyon
Lucas is among the Grand Canyon leaders with 90 digs and has at least five digs in eight matches.
Sam Marsh, Penn State
Marsh playing in place of an injured Tobi Ezeonu had three kills and two blocks against Princeton in the EIVA Tournament finals. The middle attacker last season was a starter for Penn State who had a career-high .384 attack percentage and a 0.76 blocks per game average.
Ryan Merk, Penn State
Accolades: EIVA Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-EIVA
Merk leads Penn State with 524 service receptions and a 95.6 percent successful passing rating. The libero also leads EIVA with a 1.83 digs per game average.
Spencer Olivier, Long Beach State
Accolades: Second-Team All-American, All-Big West
Olivier is in the nation’s top 20 with a .356 attack percentage – the outside attacker’s fourth consecutive season hitting more than .300. In addition, Oliver is among the Big West leaders averaging 2.74 kills per game and had back-to-back double-digit kill performances against Hawai’i in March.
Jacob Pasteur, Ohio State
Accolades: MIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MIVA
Pasteur is third in the MIVA and in the nation’s top 15 with a 3.86 kills per game average, including having 19 kills against Ball State in the MIVA Tournament finals. The outside attacker, who spent the offseason playing with U.S. Men’s National Team, is in the conference’s top 10 both hitting .320 and averaging 0.36 aces per game average.
Thomas Poole, Ohio State
Poole is among the team leaders with 316 receptions and a 96.5 percent successful passing rating. The libero in the victory against King in the NCAA Tournament opening round had a team-high 24 receptions and a match-high 10 digs.
Owen Rose, Penn State
Rose leads the EIVA and is in the EIVA’s top 10 averaging 1.07 blocks per game and has at least five blocks in seven matches. The middle attacker also is hitting .468 and has committed a combined three errors in the last nine matches.
Sotiris Siapanis, Long Beach State
Accolades: Second-Team All-American, All-Big West
Siapanis is seventh in the Big West with a 3.21 kills per game average and had a season-high 19 kills on a .531 attack percentage in a record sweep against Hawai’i in March. The offseason transfer from Ohio State also is second in the conference and in the nation’s top 15 averaging 0.45 aces per game.
Nicholas Slight, Grand Canyon
Slight guided the offense to the third-best attack percentage in the nation at .348. The second-year starter is second in the MPSF and in the nation’s top 15 with a 10.00 assists per game average.
Jack Stevens, Ohio State
Sevens has double-digit kills in seven matches during the last two months, including 11 kills and zero errors in the MIVA Tournament semifinals against McKendree. The outside attacker also entered the NCAA Tournament second on the team with 494 receptions and has a 93.7 percent successful passing rating.
Cameron Thorne, Grand Canyon
Accolades: MPSF All-Freshman Team
Thorne leads Grand Canyon and is seventh in the MPSF averaging 0.86 blocks per game, including having a season-high six blocks against UCLA in the MPSF Tournament semifinals. The middle attacker also is hitting .434.
Simon Torwie, Long Beach State
Accolades: Second-Team All-American, All-Big West
Torwie leads the nation with a 1.60 blocks per game average, including having at least five blocks in 15 matches. The middle attacker also has a career-high .437 attack percentage and 22 aces – one ace shy of typing a career best.
Cole Udall, Grand Canyon
Udall leads Grand Canyon with 566 service receptions and has a 95.8 percent successful service reception rate. The libero also has not committed a reception error in two of the Antelopes’ last three matches.
Rico Wardlow, Grand Canyon
Accolades: Second-Team All-MPSF
Wardlow has a career-high .532 attack percentage and had two or fewer errors in 27 of 29 matches this season. The offseason transfer middle attacker from Purdue Fort Wayne also has a career-high 61 blocks, including five blocks in victory against Pepperdine in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals.
Shane Wetzel, Ohio State
Accolades: MIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-MIVA
Wetzel is among the national leaders for freshmen with a 2.75 kills per game average and is fifth in the conference with a .323 attack percentage. The opposite also had a combined 52 kills during the MIVA Tournament, including 16 kills on a .333 attack percentage in the MIVA Tournament finals.
Brett Wildman, Penn State
Accolades: Second-Team All-EIVA
Wildman is sixth in the nation with a 0.50 aces per game average, including having a combined four aces in two matches against UCLA during the regular season. The outside attacker also had 14 kills on a .500 attack percentage against George Mason in the EIVA Tournament semifinals.
Michael Wright, Ohio State
Wright was reinserted into the starting lineup midway through the season and helped the Buckeyes climb into the top 10 of the nation with a .322 attack percentage. The setter had three aces and guided the offseason to a .363 attack percentage in the MIVA Tournament finals against Ball State.
Cole Young, Ohio State
Accolades: First-Team All-MIVA
Young is second in the team and in the conference’s top 15 with a 0.72 blocks per game average. In addition, the middle attacker had back-to-back aces in the decisive fifth game to close out an upset victory against Penn State in Mach.