May 4, 2015 MALIBU, Calif. - The American Volleyball Coaches Association announced its annual list of All-Americans and four members from the Pepperdine men's volleyball team made the cut. Matt West and Josh Taylor earned a spot on the first-team roster, while Parker Kalmbach was a second-team selection. Brennan Anderson rounded out the Waves' award winners as an honorable mention.
Lewis led all schools, placing five student-athletes on the All-American first and second teams. Loyola-Chicago, Pepperdine and UC Irvine followed with three first and second teamers, while Hawai'i placed two players on the rosters.
West (Seattle, Wash./Shorewood HS) was one of four players nation-wide to earn AVCA All-American honors for the third time this year, joining UC Irvine's Michael Brinkley, USC's Micah Christenson and Lewis' Geoff Powell. West was a first-team selection in 2013 and a second-team honoree last season. The senior ended the 2015 season averaging 11.29 assists per set, leading the MPSF and ranking in at third in the NCAA. With West guiding the offense, the Waves hit .336 (2nd MPSF, 4th NCAA).
West ends his tenure in Malibu ranked second all-time with 4,766 assists.
Joining West on the first team was outside hitter Taylor (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School). The senior was previously an AVCA All-American second-team performer as a junior. The four-year starter has put down 1,433 career kills for the Waves, ranking in at ninth all-time in program history. This season, Taylor averaged 3.75 kills per set earned at a .369 clip. Both of those statistics ranked in the top-16 in the country.
Taylor was honored as an MPSF All-Tournament pick last week Saturday, after marching the Waves to the conference tournament title match. The outside hitter averaged 4.73 kills and 2.64 digs in tournament play.
Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro HS) makes his All-American debut as a second-team selection. The opposite side hitter paced the league this season with 4.04 kills per set. He also ranked top-two in points for the majority of the season, and ended his year with a 4.54 average. The all-around performer also picked up 1.90 digs and 0.79 blocks for the Waves. Kalmbach, a redshirt senior, was honored the season with the Bryan Ivie Award, presented by Off the Block to the nation's best opposite side hitter.
An honorable mention squad was also released this season, including Pepperdine's Anderson (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona Del Mar HS/Ohio State). The libero averaged 2.35 digs per set for the Waves, and produced a team-best serve receive success rate of .958. Anderson was an All-MPSF second team performer this year, while tying the Waves' rally-scoring era record with 19 digs in a single match. Anderson joined Taylor as an MPSF All-Tournament pick.
This season's AVCA All-American list was comprised of 20 MPSF players, 12 MIVA players, three from EIVA schools, and three hailing from a Conference Carolina program.
Pepperdine now boasts 45 AVCA All-Americans.
The Waves ended the 2015 campaign with a 24-6 record after reaching the MPSF Tournament finals for the ninth time overall and first since 2009. Pepperdine set a program record this season after extending its home win streak to 20 in a row inside Firestone Fieldhouse.
This is just the sixth time in program history, and first since 2005, the Waves have placed three student-athletes on the first and second team AVCA All-American rosters. It is the seventh time Pepperdine has been honored with two first-team picks in a single season.
AVCA Division I-II Men's First-Team All-America
Taylor Averill, Hawai'i, MB, RS-Sr.
Michael Brinkley, UC Irvine, L, Sr.
Micah Christenson, USC, S, Sr.
Tamir Hershko UC Irvine, OH, So.
Thomas Jaeschke, Loyola-Chicago, OH, Jr.
Zack La Cavera, UC Irvine, OPP, Sr.
Geoff Powell, Lewis, OH, RS-Sr.
Aaron Russell, Penn State, OH, Sr.
Josh Taylor, Pepperdine, OH, Jr.
Matt West, Pepperdine, S, Sr.
AVCA Division I-II Men's Second-Team All-America
Eric Fitterer, Lewis, OPP, Sr.
Peter Hutz, Loyola-Chicago, S, Jr.
Jeff Jendryk, Loyola-Chicago, MB, Fr.
Parker Kalmbach, Pepperdine, OPP, RS-Sr.
Cody Kessel, Princeton, OH, Sr.
Greg Petty, Lewis, OH, Sr.
Brook Sedore, Hawai'i, OPP, Sr.
Jonah Seif, UC Santa Barbara, S, Jr.
Bobby Walsh, Lewis, MB, Jr.
Lucas Yanez, Lewis, L, Sr.
AVCA Division I-II Honorable Mention
Brennan Anderson, Pepperdine, L, Sr.
Andy Benesh, USC, MB, So.
Cody Caldwell, Loyola-Chicago, OH, Sr.
Fabio Diniz, Pfeiffer, MB, Jr.
Kevin Donohue, UC Santa Barbara, OH, Sr.
Robert Feathers, USC, MB, Sr.
Jennings Franciskovic, Hawai'i, S, So.
J.T. Hatch, UCLA, OH, Fr.
Michael Henchy, Ohio State, OPP, Sr.
Miles Johnson, Ohio State, OH. So.
Conrad Kaminski, Stanford, MB, Jr.
Kolby Kanetake, Hawai'i, L, Jr.
Brady Markle, Lees-McRae, OH, Jr.
Mike Michelau, Erskine, OH, Jr.
Jaylen Reyes, BYU, L, Sr.
Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State, OH, Fr.
Sinisa Zarkovic, Hawai'i, OH, Jr.
Caleb Zimmick Harvard, MB, Sr.
