Six Cougars earn All-MPSF honors
PROVO, Utah—Six BYU men's volleyball players received Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honors, the league announced Thursday.
Sophomores Ben Patch and Brenden Sander and junior Jake Langlois were named All-MPSF First Team. Sophomores Price Jarman and Leo Durkin collected All-MPSF Second Team honors and senior Michael Hatch was named All-MPSF Honorable mention.
Patch, a Provo, Utah native, finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the conference in kills per set (4.31) and No. 2 in points per set (4.87) while hitting at a .384 clip. He collected double-digit kills in 18 matches to lead the Cougars. The opposite was named an MPSF and AVCA Player of the Week during the season for his play against Hawai'i. Previously, Patch was named the MPSF Freshman of the Year in 2013 in addition to being added to the first team as a freshman.
Sander, the native of Huntington Beach, Calif., helped the Cougars this season as an outside hitter with 3.12 kills, 1.13 digs and 0.87 blocks per set while collecting a .380 hitting percentage. He ranks in the top-50 nationally in kills per set, points per set, blocks per set and hitting percentage. Sander was named to the freshman team last year.
Langlois, an outside hitter from San Jose, Calif., picks up his second-career conference honor after being named to the second team a year ago. He finished the regular season averaging 3.12 per set while attacking at a .321 clip. Langlois also added 1.42 digs and 0.99 blocks per set. He was named the AVCA Player of the Week two weeks ago following his performance against then-No. 1 UCLA.
Jarman, a middle blocker from Las Vegas, Nev., collects his first career conference accolade this season. He led the team in hitting percentage with a .527 clip while contributing 1.34 blocks per set (fourth-most in the nation). Additionally, his 1.44 kills per set are fourth-most on the team.
Durkin, also from Las Vegas, Nev., adds his first league honors as a first-year starting setter. He directed the team offensively to a .360 hitting percentage (third-highest in BYU rally-scoring era history) while contributing 10.48 assists per set and 1.30 digs per set.
Hatch, a middle blocker from Agoura Hills, Calif., finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation in blocks per set with a 1.52 average. This is his fourth conference honor after being named to the second team last year, the honorable mention squad the year before and the all-freshman team his first year.
BYU won the regular-season conference title by a two-match margin (23-3, 19-3 MPSF). The Cougars look to win the MPSF tournament for a third time in four years, beginning with a home match against No. 8-seed UC Irvine Saturday, April 16, at 7 p.m. MDT.