There will be plenty of stars on the court for the NCAA Tournament opening round.
Check out the 40 players to know for four opening-round matches on Saturday.
Shane Aitken, UC Irvine libero
Accolades: All-Big West Honorable Mention
Aitken is second in the Big West with a 2.01 digs per game average, including having a season-high 15 digs in a victory against UC Santa Barbara in March. The libero also had double-digit digs in eight matches against nationally ranked teams.
Ryan Barnett, Pepperdine outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-MPSF
Barnett is in the top 10 of the MPSF with both a 3.26 kills per game average and a .379 attack percentage. The outside attacker enters the NCAA Tournament with double-digit kills in 10 consecutive matches.
Brad Bell, Loyola middle attacker
Bell had five kills and zero errors on a .625 attack percentage against Ball State in the MIVA Tournament finals. The middle attacker also has a .342 attack percentage – the third consecutive season Bell has hit more than .300.
Caleb Blanchette, USC setter
Blanchette has a 9.62 assists per game average and has guided the USC offense to the nation’s seventh-best attack percentage at .342. The setter also is in the top 10 of the MPSF with a 1.67 digs per game average.
Kyle Charles, Saint Francis setter
Accolades: First-Team All-NEC
Charles had a 9.12 assists per game average and guided the offense to a .251 attack percentage. The sophomore also had more than 100 digs for the second consecutive season.
Trevor Clark, UC Irvine middle attacker
Accolades: All-Big West Honorable Mention
Clark leads the Anteaters and is fourth in the Big West with a 0.96 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also had double-digit kills in six matches and a .509 attack percentage, including 12 kills on a .476 attack percentage in a loss to UCLA in February.
Will D’Arcy, UC Irvine opposite
Accolades: First-Team All-Big West
Opposite Will D’Arcy is in the top 10 of the Big West with both a 2.96 kills per game average and a .283 attack percentage. The senior also had a season-high 22 kills in a road victory against BYU in January.
Caden Day, Belmont Abbey outside attacker
Accolades: ConfCarolinas Offensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-ConfCarolinas
Day leads Belmont Abbey and is second in the MPSF with a 3.32 kills per game average. The outside attacker also had 16 kills on a .429 attack percentage against Mount Olive in the ConfCarolinas Tournament finals.
Cole Dorn, Saint Francis outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-NEC
Dorn had double-digit kills in 11 matches, including 10 kills against Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC Tournament finals. The senior also contributed a career-high 149 digs to help the Red Flash make the NCAA Tournament.
Johnny Dykstra, USC libero
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention
Dykstra is third in the MPSF with a 1.71 digs per game average. The libero had double-digit digs in four matches, including a season-high 19 blocks against USC in March.
James Eadie, Pepperdine middle attacker
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention
Eadie is fourth in the MPSF with a 1.02 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also has a career-high .472 attack percentage has hit at least .500 five of the last seven matches.
Jibriel Elhaddad, Belmont Abbey outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-ConfCarolinas
Elhaddad leads the ConfCarolinas and is third in the nation with a .432 attack percentage, including hitting more than .400 in each of the last five matches. The middle attacker also is fourth in the ConfCarolinas with a 0.98 blocks per game average.
Daniel Fabikovic, Loyola outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-MIVA
Fabikovic was among the MIVA leaders with both a 2.84 kills per game average and a .284 attack percentage. The outside attacker also had 10 kills on a .474 attack percentage and a season-high 10 digs against Lewis in the MIVA Tournament semifinals.
Isaiah Fedd, Fort Valley State outside attacker
Accolades: SIAC Player of the Year, First-Team All-SIAC
Fedd leads the SIAC and is in the nation’s top 25 with a 3.63 kills per game average, including having 33 combined kills in the SIAC Tournament. The senior also had a team-high 14 kills on a .357 attack percentage against Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals last season.
Sterling Foley, USC outside attacker
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention
Foley is in the top 10 of the MPSF wit a .330 attack percentage and has a 2.64 kills per game average. The outside attacker also had a combined 48 kills in the MPSF Tournament, including 19 kills on a .429 attack percentage against Pepperdine in the semifinals.
Gaige Gabriel, Penn State middle attacker
Accolades: Second-Team All-EIVA
Gabriel is in the top 10 of the EIVA with a 0.88 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also has a .346 attack percentage and hit more than .500 in both of the Nittany Lions’ EIVA Tournament matches.
Jose Gomez, Pepperdine outside attacker
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention, MPSF All-Freshman Team
Gomez had double-digit kills in nine matches and has a .332 attack percentage. Among Gomez’s top performances of the season included 11 kills on a .450 attack percentage in a victory Hawai’i in March.
Jamari Griffin, Fort Valley State outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-SIAC
Griffin had a season-high 19 kills on a .586 attack percentage in its SIAC opener against Benedict. The freshman also had seven kills and hit .333 against Central State in the SIAC Tournament finals.
Cole Hartke, Pepperdine opposite
Accolades: First-Team All-MPSF
Hartke leads the nation with a 4.39 kills per game average on a .352 attack percentage and had at least 20 kills in seven matches. The opposite also leads Pepperdine and is third in the MPSF with a 0.45 aces per game average.
Sean Harvey, Penn State outside attacker
Accolades: EIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-EIVA
Harvery was in the nation’s top 25 with a 3.59 kills per game average and had an EIVA-best .332 attack percentage. The outside attacker also has double-digit kills in eight consecutive matches highlighted with 19 kills on a .597 attack percentage against Charleston in the EIVA Tournament semifinals.
Tristan Hassell, Penn State opposite
Accolades: All-EIVA Honorable Mention
Hassell had double-digit kills in seven matches and a .307 attack percentage. The freshman also had a season-high 26 kills and hit .347 in the regular-season finale against George Mason.
Andrej Jokanovic, UC Irvine outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team
Outside attacker Andrej Jokanovic is in the top five of the Big West averaging both a 3.45 kills per game and a 0.45 aces per game. The freshman from France, though, was limited to a season-low six kills and a negative attack percentage in the team’s conference tournament loss to Long Beach State.
Cooper Keane, USC outside attacker
Accolades: MPSF All-Freshman Team
Keane as a freshman had double-digit kills in five matches. Among the outside attacker’s top performances of the season included 14 kills on a .542 attack percentage in a sweep against Penn State in March.
Aidan Klein, Loyola middle attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-MIVA
Klein is third in the MIVA with a 1.01 blocks per game average, including having six blocks in an upset victory against Hawai’i in January. The middle attacker also has a career-high .538 attack percentage.
Dillon Klein, USC outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-MPSF
Klein is in the nation’s top 10 with a 3.89 kills per game average on a .346 attack percentage. The senior also has at least 20 kills in six matches, including a team-high 24 kills in a non-conference victory against UC Irvine in February.
Cameron Kotsy, UC Irvine setter
Accolades: Big West All-Freshman Team
Kosty as a freshman has helped guide the Anteaters offense to .298 attack percentage. In addition, Kosty is the son of Stanford head coach John Kosty.
Alejando Leon, Belmont Abbey libero
Accolades: Second-Team All-ConfCarolinas
Leon is in the nation’s top 15 with a 2.38 digs per game average. The libero also had double-digit digs in 10 matches, including a team-high 17 digs against McKendree.
Keaton Long, Fort Valley State outside attacker
Accolades:Second-Team All-SIAC
Long had six kills on a .500 attack percentage in a sweep against Central State in the SIAC Tournament finals. In addition, Long had six kills and no errors on an .857 attack percentage in a loss to Long Beach State in January.
Matthew Luoma, Penn State outside attacker
Accolades: Second-Team All-EIVA
Luoma had double-digit kills in eight matches, including a season-high 23 kills against George Mason in April. The outside attacker also had 17 kills in a four-game loss to Hawai’i in January.
Taviian Martin, Fort Valley State middle attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-SIAC
Martin is second in the SIAC and among the national leaders with a 0.91 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also had double-digit kills in five matches, including 11 kills on a .409 attack percentage against Edward Waters in the SIAC Tournament semifinals.
Noe Matthey, Pepperdine middle attacker
Accolades: MPSF All-Freshman Team
Matthey despite missing most of the first half of the season returned to the court and a .648 attack percentage. The freshman also had five blocks in an upset victory against UCLA in April.
Muhammad Mbaye, Fort Valley State middle attacker
Accolades: Second-Team All-SIAC
Mbaye had a career-best .434 attack percentage and has more than .500 attack percentage in each of the last four matches. The middle attacker also had 10 kills and zero errors on a .625 attack percentage against Central State in the SIAC Tournament finals.
Ryan McElligott, Loyola setter
Accolades: Second-Team All-MIVA
McElligott helped guide the Loyola offense to the ninth-best attack percentage in the nation at .327. The setter also missed the majority of the first half of the season because of an injury.
Ryan Merk, Penn State libero
Accolades: First Team All-EIVA
Merk leads the EIVA with a 2.14 digs per games average and is fourth all-time in Penn State’s program history with 890 career digs. The senior also did not commit a reception error in the EIVA Tournament and has three reception errors in the last nine matches.
Joseph Morris, Belmont Abbey setter
Accolades: First-Team All-ConfCarolinas
Morris is in the nation’s top 10 with a 9.97 assists per game average and guided Crusaders to a ConfCarolinas-best .291 attack percentage. The setter also led Belmont Abbey to a .331 attack percentage in the ConfCarolinas Tournament finals against Mount Olive.
Constantine Ononye, Fort Valley State libero
Accolades: Second-Team All-SIAC
Ononye enters the NCAA Tournament having committed one reception error in the last three matches. The libero also had a season-high 14 digs in a non-conference victory against Barton in February.
Andrej Polomac, Pepperdine setter
Accolades: Second-Team All-MPSF
Polomac is fourth in the nation with a 10.50 assists per game average and has guided the Waves offense to third-best attack percentage in the nation at .374. The setter also is in the top 10 of the MPSF with a 0.39 aces per game average.
Zach Puentes, Belmont Abbey outside attacker
Accolades: Second-Team All-ConfCarolinas
Puentes is in the top 10 of the ConfCarolinas with a 3.00 kills per game average. The outside attacker also leads the Crusaders with a 0.27 aces per game average.
Jacob Reilly, Pepperdine libero
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention
Reilly is fourth in the MPSF with a 1.70 digs per game average, including a season-high 12 digs in a victory against Hawai’i in March. The libero also did not commit more than two reception errors in a match during the first two months of the season.
Logan Rogers, Fort Valley State setter
Accolades: SIAC Freshman of the Year, Second-Team All-SIAC
Rogers as a freshman guided the Wildcats offense to a SIAC-best .238 attack percentage. The setter also is in the top five of the SIAC with a 0.35 aces per game average.
Owen Rose, Penn State middle attacker
Accolades: First Team All-EIVA
Rose leads the nation with a 1.49 blocks per game average and set a single-match school record with 14 blocks against Harvard in February. The senior also had a season-high 10 kills and no errors on a .909 attack percentage against Princeton in the EIVA Tournament finals.
Michael Schwob, Penn State setter
Accolades: Second-Team All-EIVA
Schwob guided the Nittany Lions offense to an EIVA-best .281 attack percentage. In addition, Schwob was the starting setter as a freshman when Penn State played UC Irvine in the 2024 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
Josh Schellinger, Loyola outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-MIVA
Schellinger is in the top 10 of the MIVA with both a 2.97 kills per game average and a .312 attack percentage. The off-season transfer from UC San Diego also has double-digit kills in four of the Ramblers last five matches.
Wesley Smith, USC middle attacker
Accolades: Second-Team All-MPSF
Smith is third in the MPSF with a 1.07 blocks per game average. The middle attacker also has a .500 attack percentage – the second consecutive season Smith has hit at least .500.
Aleksander Sosa, Loyola opposite
Sosa after missing almost two months because of an injury returned to the court and had a match-high 17 kills on a .333 attack percentage against Lewis in the MIVA Tournament semifinals. The transfer from Quincy had more than 15 kills in five matches during the first six weeks of the season before getting injured.
JJ Sowa, Loyola libero
Sowa has double-digit digs in five matches, including a season-high 14 digs in an upset victory against Hawai’i in January. The senior also had four digs in the MIVA Tournament finals to surpass the 500 career digs milestone.
Brady Stump, Saint Francis outside attacker
Accolades: First-Team All-NEC
Stump leads Saint Francis and is sixth in the NEC with a 3.26 kills per game average. The outside attacker also leads the NEC and is third in the nation with a 0.55 aces per game average.
Parker Tomkinson, USC middle attacker
Accolades: All-MPSF Honorable Mention
Tomkinson leads the MPSF and is fourth in the nation with a 1.24 blocks per game average. Tomkinson also had a combined 19 blocks in the MPSF Tournament, including a season-high 12 blocks against Pepperdine in the semifinals.
Jack Wolgemuth, Saint Francis libero
Wolgemuth sixth in the NEC with a 1.82 digs per game average. The freshman also had a season-high 15 digs against Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC Tournament finals
Nathan Zini, Saint Francis opposite
Zini was eighth in the NEC with a 0.29 aces per game average, including having five aces in the NEC Tournament. The opposite also had 10 kills against Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC Tournament finals.