AVCA release | All-Time Big West All-Americans 

The powerhouse Big West has yet again flexed its muscles on the national stage, this time on with individual recognitions. After three of the final four teams still serving up the action in the 2026 National Collegiate Championship hail from the league, now half of the first and second team All-Americans and another 10 honorable mention student-athletes join the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) 36th National Collegiate Men's Volleyball All-America Team.  

All told, The Big West sees four first-team All-Americans, eight on the second team, 10 honorable mention selections and the AVCA Newcomer of the Year in UC Irvine’s Andrej Jokanovic, also named The Big West Freshman of the Year prior to the national postseason. The result is a league-wide showing that underscores both high-end star power and exceptional depth heading into the season’s final weekend in Westwood.  

The 12 first and second team honorees is only bested by 2019’s 13 picks, and brings the total number of Big West All-American selections to 90 since the league began sport sponsorship in 2018. 

First-team All American status was bestowed on players from each of the three national semifinal squads, including two from No. 2 seed Hawai’i. AVCA Player of the Year finalist Tread Rosenthal and outside hitter Louis Sakanoko represent the Rainbow Warriors. Rosenthal, a junior setter from Austin, Texas, was named Big West Player of the Year after guiding the UH offense to .366 hitting, fourth in the country, while averaging 10.75 assists per set. This is Rosenthal’s second consecutive first-team nod. Sakanoko is enjoying a career-best season with 3.18 kills per set on .351 hitting with 31 aces and 18 matches with double-figure kill outputs. 

Adrien Roure picked up second team honors after a first-team award in 2025. The sophomore is hitting .319 while averaging 2.91 kills and 1.35 digs while serving up a team-best 43 aces from the back line. Also earning distinction, libero Quintin Greenidge and middle blocker Justin Todd each were named honorable mention honorees. Greenidge leads The Big West in digs with a 2.07 per set average while Todd averages 1.06 blocks and 1.26 kills per set while hitting at a .421 clip.  

No. 3 seed and defending national champion Long Beach State is represented on the first team by Skyler Varga after leading the Beach with 3.20 kills per set on .322 hitting with 48 service aces for the nation’s best team from the service line.  Second team distinction went to a trio from the Beach with freshman pair Jackson Cryst and Wojciech Gajek joined by sophomore libero Kellen Larson on the listings.  Big West Championship MVP Gajek enters the weekend averaging 2.76 kills per set on .334 hitting while Cryst is ninth in the nation in blocking average at 1.10 per set while proving effective on the front line when called upon, hitting .531. Larson leads the Beach with 1.80 digs per set. Senior middle blocker Ben Braun and redshirt freshman setter Jake Pazanti were named to the honorable mention listings. Braun’s 1.11 blocks per set is tops in The Big West and seventh nationally while Pazanti directs LBSU’s sixth-rated offense (0.347). 

UC Irvine, who upended No. 1 seed UCLA in the regional finals with a comeback for the ages see redshirt sophomore libero Shane Aitken on the first team as Trevor Clark, and Jokanovic pick up second team selections with Jokanovic netting newcomer honors. Senior Will D’arcy, Micah Goss and Cameron Kosty are honorable mention All-Americans as the Anteaters tie their program record with six honorees in consecutive seasons.  

Aitken is third in The Big West with a 1.97 dig average and the elite passer has recorded double digit digs eight times this season. This is a second All-American honor, up from the honorable mention listings in 2025. Clark is a first-time All-American for UCI after spending two seasons at San Diego Mesa. With a .501 hitting percentage, the junior from Lake Elsinore, Calif., paces The Big West and is second in national collegiate volleyball and has rejected at least one attempt in every match played this season.  

Jokanovic, The Big West Freshman of the Year and now AVCA Newcomer of the Year is just the second Anteater to earn the distinction. The native of Cannes, France, posts averages of 3.37 kills, 1.53 digs and 4.07 points and has put down 49 aces for UCI on their semifinal run.  

Showcasing the strength and depth of the conference all six Big West squads are represented on the national All-American rosters.  

For CSUN, redshirt junior Jalen Phillips is earning a repeat selection after first-team status in 2025. Phillips is the fifth Matador in program history to earn consecutive All-American honors and led the league in both kills (3.95) and points (4.51) per set in 2026. 

UC San Diego’s Sebastiano Sani, a junior outside hitter from Bethesda, Md., claimed second team distinction. Sani found a new home and fit with the Tritons after transferring in from LBSU and led the team in points (4.21) and kills (3.52) average, aces (38) and matches started (25).  Redshirt senior middle blocker Jim Garrison earned an honorable mention nod to cap off the collegiate career at UCSD. 

Finally, UC Santa Barbara sees a pair of honorable mention performers in redshirt sophomore outside hitter George Bruening and junior setter Cole Schobel. Bruening led the Gauchos attack finishing second in The Big West in both kills (3.68) and points (4.28) per set with Schobel dishing out 9.09 assists while scooping up 1.66 digs per set. 

The breadth and depth of the All-American selections is a marked indicator that The Big West’s strength is not concentrated at the top, but distributed across the entirety of the league. From high-efficiency attackers and elite setters to defensive anchors and all-around performers, the league’s footprint spans every position group on the national stage. 

From individual performances to team triumphs, there is no better place to watch, celebrate and play the game of collegiate men’s volleyball than in The Big West.  

AVCA First-Team All-American
Name	Institution	Pos.	Year	Hometown
Shane Aitken	UC Irvine	L	R-So.	San Clemente, Calif.
Tread Rosenthal	Hawai’i	S	Jr.	Austin, Texas
Louis Sakanoko	Hawai’i	OH/OPP	Jr.	Paris, France
Skyler Varga	Long Beach State	OH	Sr.	Muenster, Saskatchewan
AVCA Second-Team All-American
Name	Institution	Pos.	Year	Hometown
Trevor Clark	UC Irvine	OH/OPP	Jr.	Lake Elsinore, Calif.
Jackson Cryst	Long Beach State	MB	Fr.	Long Beach, Calif.
Wojciech Gajek	Long Beach State	OPP	Fr.	Katowice, Poland
Andrej Jokanovic	UC Irvine	OH	Fr.	Cannes, France
Kellen Larson	Long Beach State	L	So,	Irvine, Calif.
Jalen Phillips	CSUN	OPP	R-Jr.	Anaheim, Calif.
Adrien Roure	Hawai’i	OH	So.	Lyon, France
Sebastiano Sani	UC San Diego	OH	Jr.	Bethesda, Md.
AVCA Honorable Mention
Name	Institution	Pos.	Year	Hometown
Ben Braun	Long Beach State	MB	Sr.	Rancho Mirage, Calif.
George Bruening	UC Santa Barbara	OH	R-So.	Newport Beach, Calif.
Will D’Arcy	UC Irvine	OPP	Sr.	Brisbane, Australia
Jim Garrison	UC San Diego	MB	R-Sr.	Manhattan Beach, Calif.
Micah Goss	UC Irvine	MB	So.	Santa Barbara, Calif.
Quintin Greenidge	Hawai’i	L	Jr.	Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Cameron Kosty	UC Irvine	S/OPP	R-Fr.	Hayward, Calif.
Jake Pazanti	Long Beach State	S	R-Fr.	Huntington Beach, Calif.
Cole Schobel	UC Santa Barbara	S	Jr.	Costa Mesa, Calif.
Justin Todd	Hawai’i	OH/MB	R-So.	Houston, Texas