Four Waves Earn MPSF All-Academic Honors
5/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MPSF RELEASE
WOODLAND, Calif.: - The Pepperdine men's volleyball team had four Waves earn Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic Scholar-Athlete recognition this Wednesday afternoon, as announced by the conference office.
Juniors James Gehrels (Tucson, Ariz./Salpoint Catholic HS), Joshua Stewart (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine Collegiate Preparatory/Pacific) and Mitchel Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) and redshirt-freshman David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) garnered the honors for Pepperdine.
Gehrels leads the squad with a 3.649 grade point average while studying Sports Administration at Pepperdine. He has been a Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete for three seasons and was steadily the first off the bench for the Waves in the 2016 campaign. In 12 matches and 25 sets played, the junior posted a 1.96 kills/set average on a .324 hitting percentage. He added four aces, 13 total blocks including two solos and 22 digs for the team.
Stewart currently has a 3.281 cumulative GPA as he works to attain his Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine and this is his second consecutive season as a Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete. He was solid as playmaker on the court as setter for the Waves. He led the team with 10.12 assists/set after amassing 688 total assists in 20 matches and 68 total sets this past season. He also added six aces, 79 total digs and 30 block assists towards the effort.
Penning, another three-time Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete, earned his second MPSF All-Academic Scholar-Athlete nod this season. He posted a 3.179 grade point average while working towards a degree in Religion. On the court, he was instrumental at the net in the middle for the Waves, starting in 23 of the Waves 24 total matches played this season and 86 total sets this season. He posted 0.95 blocks/set for the Waves after putting up 82 blocks including two solo blocks. He also was good for a .394 hitting percentage after smacking down 1.53 kills/set and added 0.20 aces/set this season.
Also earning honors was Wieczorek, who has amassed a 3.524 grade point average while studying Sports Administration at Pepperdine. The Wave has accrued two-straight Pepperdine Scholar-Athlete honors and picks his first MPSF nod honor this season. For his efforts on the court, he picked up All-MPSF second team accolades as well as earning a spot on the MPSF All-Freshman squad this season. The redshirt-freshman was second on the team with 2.94 kills/set for the Waves in 2016, while adding a .344 hitting percentage. He led the team with 13 total service aces, posting 0.35 aces/set and helped the effort with 0.65 blocks/set and 1.06 digs/set as well.
The student-athletes are nominated by the institution following the completion of the regular season and must qualify in four categories: have a 3.00 or better cumulative grade point average; be at least a sophomore academically; have completed one full academic year at the institution prior to the season for which the award is received; and have competed in 50 percent or more of the institution's competition in his or her respective sport.
Follow @PeppVolleyball on Twitter for live updates, results and more and find full recaps, results and photo galleries on PepperdineSports.com.
| Student-Athlete | GPA | Year | Pos. | Hometown/Last School |
| Brigham Young | ||||
| Leo Durkin | 3.49 | SO | S | Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial HS |
| Michael Hatch | 3.69 | SR | MB | Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS |
| Price Jarman | 3.64 | SO | MB | Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza HS |
| Jake Langlois | 3.27 | JR | OH | San Jose, Calif./Santa Teresa HS |
| Ben Patch | 3.13 | SO | OPP | Provo, Utah/Provo HS |
| Erik Sikes | 3.26 | SO | L | Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic |
| Robbie Sutton | 3.29 | SR | S | San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS |
| Cal Baptist | ||||
| Rocky DeLyon | 3.70 | SR | OH | Kula, Hawaii/Seabury Hall HS |
| Rohit Paul | 3.81 | SO | OH | Clovis, CA/Clovis HS |
| Roy Powell | 3.57 | SR | OPP | Hollister, CA/El Camino College |
| Enrique de Diego Garcia | 3.36 | SO | MB | Madrid, Spain/Gonzalo Nazareno |
| Jackson Burge | 3.16 | JR | MB | Glendale, AZ/Deer Valley HS |
| Cal State Northridge | ||||
| Bradley Sakaida | 3.15 | JR | OH | Oak Park, CA/Oak Park HS |
| Eric Chance | 3.11 | RS-FR | MB | Redondo Beach, CA/El Segundo HS |
| Mitch Theisen | 3.89 | SO | L | Dubuque, IA/Wahlert Catholic HS |
| Hawai'i | ||||
| Sinisa Zarkovic | 3.65 | SR | OH | Belgrade, Serbia/Sports Grammar School |
| Long Beach State | ||||
| Dan Glamack | 3.29 | SR | OH | Victor, NY/Victor Senior HS |
| Amir Lugo-Rodriguez | 3.19 | JR | MB | South Pasadena, CA/Cal Baptist |
| Pepperdine | ||||
| Mitchell Penning | 3.179 | JR | MB | St. Louis, MO/Westminster Christian Academy |
| Joshua Stewart | 3.281 | JR | S | San Jose, CA/U. of Pacific |
| David Wieczorek | 3.524 | RS-FR | OH | Chicago, IL/Loyola Academy |
| James Gehrels | 3.649 | JR | OH | Tucson, AZ/Salpoint Catholic |
| Stanford | ||||
| Madison Hayden | 3.00 | SR | OH | Huntington Beach, Calif./Servite HS |
| Conrad Kaminski | 3.58 | SR | MB | New Berlin, Wis./Marquette Univ. HS |
| Kevin Rakestraw | 3.59 | RS-SO | MB | Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor |
| James Shaw | 3.14 | SR | S | Woodside, Calif./St. Francis |
| Alex Stephanus | 3.62 | SR | OH | Manhattan Beach, Calif./Vistamar |
| Gabriel Vega | 3.64 | RS-JR | OPP | Kailua, Hawaii/Iolani School |
| UC Irvine | ||||
| Jason Agopian | 3.58 | SR | MB | Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley HS |
| David Parker | 3.06 | RS-FR | OH | Rocklin, Calif./Whitney HS |
| Marty Ross | 3.28 | SR | MB | Frankfort, IL/U. of Pacific |
| Michael Saeta | 3.57 | JR | OPP | South Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena Poly HS |
| UCLA | ||||
| Jackson Bantle | 3.10 | JR | L | Pacific Palisades, Calif./Loyola HS |
| Michael Fisher | 3.10 | JR | OH | Kailua, Hawaii/Hawaii Baptist Academy |
| Mitch Stahl | 3.20 | JR | MB | Chambersburg, Pa/Chambersburg HS |
| Hagen Smith | 3.10 | JR | S/OH | Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS |
| UC San Diego | ||||
| Milosh Stojcic | 3.39 | SO | S | Redondo Beach/South HS |
| Ian Colbert | 3.38 | JR | OH | Belmont, CA/St. Ignatius Prep |
| Tanner Howard | 3.17 | SR | L | Pismo Beach, CA/Arroyo Grande HS |
| Kirill Rudenko | 3.57 | SR | OH | Moscow, Russia/Bauman MSTU |
| Luke McDonald | 3.24 | RS-FR | OPP | Sacramento, CA/Rio Americano HS |
| Bryan Zhu | 3.42 | RS-SO | MB | San Diego, CA/Rancho Bernardo HS |
| Alec Flowers | 3.67 | SO | MB | Mountain View/Mountain View HS |
| UC Santa Barbara | ||||
| Drew Pion | 3.23 | SO | S | Pacific Palisades, CA/Windward School |
| Jonah Seif | 3.42 | SR | S | Thousand Oaks, CA/Thousand Oaks HS |
| Southern California | ||||
| Andy Benesh | 3.40 | JR | MB | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA/Palos Verdes HS |
| Brooks Varni | 3.25 | SR | L | Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa HS |
| Vinnie Rios | 3.12 | JR | L | Torrance, CA/Pepperdine U. |
| Tommy Leonard | 3.20 | SR | MB | Barrington, IL/Barrington HS |
| Jack Yoder | 3.27 | SO | S | San Clemente, CA/San Clemente HS |
