Four individuals earned top honors to highlight the announcement of the 2020 men’s volleyball all-conference team, as voted on by the head coaches. RADO PARAPUNOV received the Big West Player of the Year award while RICK MCLAUGHLIN claimed his first career Coach of the Year honor. Long Beach State’s MASON BRIGGS and CSUN’s KYLE HOBUS were named the conference’s Co-Freshmen of the Year.

RADO PARAPUNOV, HAWAI‘I
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior • Opposite • Sofia, Bulgaria • National High School Of Math
• First from Hawai‘i to be named Big West Player of the Year
• School’s first Player of the Year since Mountain Pacific Sports Federation recipient Costas Theocharidis in 2003
• Led Big West in kills per set (4.47) and points per set (5.28)
• Ranked No. 5 in Big West in hitting percentage (.377, No. 8 in service aces per set (0.36) and No. 12 in blocks per set (0.84)
• Ranked No. 2 nationally in kills per set, No. 3 in points per set and No. 15 in hitting percentage
• Posted career-high averages in kills per set and digs per set (1.44)
• Collected career-high 30 kills in five-set, come-from-behind victory over No. 2 BYU – first UH player to reach 30 kills since 2013
• Reached double-digit kill totals in 11 contests and 20-plus kills three times
• Three-time Big West Player of the Week
• Owns record 10 career Big West Player of the Week honors

MASON BRIGGS, LONG BEACH STATE
CO-FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Libero • Valencia, Calif. • Bishop Alemany HS
• Ranked No. 2 in Big West in digs per set (2.24)
• Ranked No. 13 nationally in digs per set
• Posted double-digit digs in four matches, including career-high 15 in five-set win at No. 12 UCLA

KYLE HOBUS, CSUN
CO-FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Outside Hitter • San Pedro, Calif. • Palos Verdes HS
• Ranked No. 8 in the Big West in kills per set (3.15)
• Collected second-most kills (152) on the squad, tied for No. 2 with 12 service aces and was No. 4 in digs (68)
• Named Big West Freshman of the Week after averaging 4.62 kills per set in first three collegiate matches
• Posted 10 or more kills six times, including 24 in collegiate debut versus McKendree and 29 more against Concordia Irvine

RICK MCLAUGHLIN, UC SANTA BARBARA
COACH OF THE YEAR
• First Big West Coach of the Year honor
• Led UC Santa Barbara to a 14-2 record and No. 3 national ranking in American Volleyball Coaches Association poll
• Guided Gauchos to nine victories over nationally ranked foes
• Nationally ranked wins included No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne, No. 8 Stanford, No. 15 Ohio State, No. 9 Penn State, No. 8 UCLA, No. 12 UCLA, No. 6 Pepperdine, No. 9 Pepperdine and No. 6 UC San Diego
• Helped UCSB to six-match and eight-match winning streaks, as well an 8-0 record at home
• Helped UCSB rank top five in NCAA in hitting percentage, kills per set, digs per set and assists per set

The 14-member All-Big West First Team featured five repeat selections from the 2019 edition, including the league’s first three-time recipient in Hawai‘i senior PATRICK GASMAN. Hawai‘i topped all teams with four players while UC Santa Barbara tallied three. Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara notched two apiece while CSUN had one.

The complete 2020 Big West men’s volleyball all-conference team may be viewed by clicking on the link at the top of the page.