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There will be plenty of stars on the court for the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
Check out the 40 players to know for both semifinal matches on Thursday.
Jarrett Anderson, Grand Canyon opposite
Anderson was inserted into the starting lineup in March and has double-digit kills in five of the team’s last nine matches. The graduate transfer from Springfield also has a combined nine aces in the last six matches.
Connor Bloom, Long Beach State outside attacker
Bloom primarily coming off the bench as a serving specialist has seven aces and 23 service errors this season.
Lazar Bouchkov, Long Beach State middle attacker
Bouchkov has a .467 attack percentage and was in the starting lineup until mid-March. The middle attacker did not appear in the final seven regular season matches but came off the bench in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals against Belmont Abbey and had the match-winning kill.
Mason Briggs, Long Beach State middle attacker
Briggs, who was named to the U.S. roster for the upcoming FIVB Volleyball Nations League, leads the Big West and is in the nation’s top 10 with a 2.27 digs per game average. The All-American libero also did not commit a reception error in six of the last nine matches.
5 Connor Campbell, UC Irvine middle attacker
Campbell is in the nation’s top 15 with a 1.00 blocks per game average, including having a season-high eight blocks in a road victory against BYU in January. The middle attacker also is hitting .392 – the third consecutive season Campbell has more than a .375 attack percentage.
Ethan Champlin, UCLA outside attacker
Champlin started at both outside attacker and libero during the regular season and is in the nation’s top 20 with a .334 attack percentage. The All-MPSF senior also has double-digit kills in seven of the last 11 matches, including 11 kills on a .429 attack percentage in the MPSF Tournament finals against Grand Canyon.
William D’Arcy, UC Irvine opposite
D’Arcy missed the first month of the season but still had double-digit kills in nine matches during the regular season. The opposite also had eight kills as UC Irvine swept Penn State in the NCAA Tournament quarerfinals
Conner Dahm, UC Irvine outside attacker
Dahm primarily coming off the bench as a serving specialist has a career-high 12 aces and 43 service errors this season. In addition, Dahm had aces in both the Big West Tournament semifinals and finals.
Ido David, UCLA opposite
David had seven kills and zero errors on a .636 attack percentage against Fort Valley State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The opposite also had a team-high 23 kills as UCLA defeated Hawai’i in the NCAA Tournament finals last season.
Nato Dickinson, Long Beach State opposite
Dickinson primarily coming off the bench as a block substitute has nine blocks this season.
Nolan Flexen, UC Irvine opposite
Flexen after having double-digit kills in six of the first nine matches to start the season was sidelined for more than a month with an injury. The pin-hitter returned to the court for the final weeks of the regular season and has hit more than .300 in three of the last four matches.
David Flores, UCLA setter
Flores has appeared in 22 matches this season primarily coming off the bench to set in specific rotations. The setter joined UCLA in the offseason as a graduate transfer after earning All-MIVA honors with Ball State last season.
Guy Genis, UCLA middle attacker
Genis has played in the last four matches for the Bruins and had three kills against Fort Valley State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The middle attacker also is hitting .453 highlighted with a season-high 11 kills on a .563 attack percentage in a victory against UC Irvine in February.
Camden Gianni, Grand Canyon opposite
Gianni leads the MPSF and is fifth in the nation with a 0.57 aces per game average, including having a match-high four aces in the victory against UCLA in the MPSF Tournament finals. The opposite also has more than 15 kills in four of the last five matches and is in the nation’s top 25 with a 3.55 kills per game average.
Clarke Godbold, Long Beach State outside attacker
Godbold moving from opposite to outside attacker this season is fourth in the Big West with a 3.31 kills per game average and is in the nation’s top 20 with a .342 attack percentage. The pin-hitter also had a combined six aces and 35 kills on a .347 attack percentage in the team’s two Big West Tournament matches.
Maxim Grigoriev, UC Irvine middle attacker and opposite
Grigoriev is in the nation’s top 30 with a .330 attack percentage and had double-digit kills in eight of the first 10 matches to start the season. The middle attacker also had five kills and zero errors on a .556 attack percentage in the sweep against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
Nathan Harlan, Long Beach State outside attacker
Harland getting the start over Godbod finished with 10 kills and had an ace in the sweep against Belmont Abbey in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The outside attacker also had double-digit kills in two Big West matches and had nine kills on a .500 attack percentage in a victory against Hawai’i in March.
Hilir Henno, UC Irvine outside attacker
Henno is second in the nation with a 4.78 kills game average and has the best attack percentage in the nation of any pin-hitter at .375. The outside attacker has double-digit kills in every match this season and nine matches with at least 20 kills, including a career-high 36 kills against Hawai’i in March.
Cooper Herndon, Grand Canyon libero
Herndon is third in the MPSF with a 1.89 digs per game average and has double-digit digs in seven matches this season. Among the libero’s top performances this season featured 11 digs and no reception errors against Stanford in the MPSF Tournament semifinals.
Jackson Hickman, Grand Canyon outside attacker
Hickman is in the conference’s top 10 with a 2.91 kills per game average and for the third consecutive season is hitting more than .300. The outside attacker also has at least five digs in three of the last four matches.
Dane Hillis, Long Beach State outside attacker
Hillis has come off the bench as a serving specialist in the last four matches and had a dig in the Big West Tournament semifinals.
Aidan Knipe, Long Beach State setter
Knipe has guided the offense to the fifth-best attack percentage in the nation at .349 and is seventh in the nation with a 10.30 assists per game average. The setter also is in the conference’s top 10 and second on the Beach with a 1.55 digs per game average.
Merrick McHenry, UCLA middle attacker
McHenry is hitting a career-best .577 and has double-digit kills in seven matches, including a season-high 14 kills in a regular season win against Grand Canyon. The MPSF Player of the Year also has multiple aces in 11 matches and defensively is in the nation’s top 15 with a 0.97 blocks per game average.
DiAeris McRaven, Long Beach State middle attacker
McRaven since being inserted into the starting lineup in mid-March has hit at least .500 in six matches, including having five kills and zero errors on a .625 percentage against Belmont Abbey in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The middle attacker also has at least four blocks five times during this late-season stretch of matches.
Sean McQuiggan, UCLA middle attacker
McQuiggan despite not playing in 10 of the first 12 matches entered the NCAA Tournament with at least five blocks in six matches. The middle attacker also has a .491 attack percentage and hit more than .500 in four of the final five regular season matches.
Cole Power, UC Irvine libero
Power is second in the Big West with a 1.98 digs per game average and has double-digit digs in 10 matches this season. The libero also has committed zero or one reception errors in nine of the last 10 matches.
Zach Rama, UCLA outside attacker
Rama coming off the bench finished with a team-high 14 kills on a .550 attack percentage against Grand Canyon in the MPSF Tournament finals. Rama has double-digit kills in five matches this season highlighted with a season-high 21 kills against BYU in February.
Cooper Robinson, UCLA outside attacker
Robinson is seventh in the MPSF with a 0.39 aces per game average. The first-year starter also leads the Bruins with a 2.64 kills per game average on a .329 attack percentage highlighted by a combined 45 kills in two regular season wins against UC Irvine.
Karter Rogers, Grand Canyon outside attacker
Rogers has double-digit kills in three matches this season, including 10 kills on a .533 attack percentage in a road victory against BYU in February. The outside attacker has come off the bench against UCLA in the MPSF Tournament finals and against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
Andrew Rowan, UCLA setter
Rowan has guided the Bruins to a nation-best .37r attack percentage and is ninth in the nation with a 10.09 assists per game average. The setter is also in the top 10 of the MPSF averaging 0.36 aces per game and had a season-high six aces in a road victory against Lewis in January.
Brett Sheward, UC Irvine setter
Sheward is second in the nation with a 10.59 assists per game average and has guided the offense to the eighth-best attack percentage in the nation at .327. The former All-American libero who transferred from Hawai’i to UC Irvine in the offseason also is fourth in the Big West with a 1.78 digs per game average.
Sotiris Siapanis, Long Beach State outside attacker
Siapanis is sixth in the Big West with a 3.18 kills per game average and in the nation’s top 15 with a .357 attack percentage. The outside attacker had double-digit kills in all but three matches during the final two months of the season, including 11 kills on a .625 against Belmont Abbey in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
Nicholas Slight, Grand Canyon setter
Slight has guided the offense to the nation’s fourth best attack percentage at .347 and is third in the nation with a 10.52 assists per game average. The setter also is fourth in the conference with a 1.82 digs per game average.
Grant Sloane, UCLA opposite
Sloane is in the top 10 of the MPSF with a .305 attack percentage and has double-digit kills in three of the Bruins’ last four matches against top-10 nationally ranked teams. The first-year starter also had a season-high 16 kills on a .583 attack percentage in a four-game victory against Long Beach State in February.
Akhil Tangutur, UC Irvine outside attacker
Tangutur had seven kills on a .385 attack percentage against Penn State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, including back-to-back kills to win the first-game overtime. The outside attacker also has had an ace in the victory and for the season has a career-high 14 aces
Cameron Thorne, Grand Canyon middle attacker
Thorne leads the nation with a 1.36 blocks per game average, including having five blocks against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The middle attacker also is hitting a career-best .537 and has more than a .600 attack percentage in each of the last two matches.
Matthew Thornton, Grand Canyon libero
Thornton had double-digit digs in two regular season matches. The libero coming off the bench had a combined two digs in the MPSF Tournament.
Simon Torwie, Long Beach State outside attacker
Torwie second in the nation with a 1.34 blocks per game average and had a combined 13 blocks in both Big West Tournament matches. In addition, Torwie has a .423 attack percentage – the second consecutive year the middle attacker has hit more than .400.
Skyler Varga, Long Beach State opposite
Varga is in the top 10 of the Big West with a 2.93 kills per game average, including having double-digit kills in three consecutive. The opposite also had two aces in the quarterfinals victory against Belmont Abbey and is in the conference’s top 10 averaging 0.37 aces per game.
Rico Wardlow, Grand Canyon middle attacker
Wardlow has a .507 attack percentage and hit at least .600 in all four of the Antelopes’ postseason matches. The middle attacker had seven kills and zero errors on a .778 attack percentage in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals victory against Ohio State.