2023 MPSF Men's Volleyball Player Of The Year

Jaylen Jasper

Pepperdine graduate student opposite Jaylen Jasper (Annapolis, MD/Stanford) is the MPSF kill leader by a wide margin of 5.02 kills per set (the next highest is 3.99), which also ranks No. 2 in the nation. He tops the conference in points per set. also No. 2 in the NCAA (5.51). He won an MPSF-high four weekly awards this year, the last of which was backed by a 53-kill series on a .536 hitting percentage against No. 5 Grand Canyon.

On March 24, Jasper tied the Pepperdine rally-era record with 37 kills, also the most by any MPSF player since 2014. On Feb. 17, he hit an MPSF season-best .783 with 20 kills in a win at No. 9 Stanford. He was in doubledigit kills in 27 of his 28 regular season matches, including 12 matches of 20+ kills, with an overall .371 hitting clip (best in the MPSF amongst non-middles). This is the first time in the 31-year history of MPSF Men’s Volleyball in which a team finishing lower than third in the final standings produced the player of the year. Jasper represents the all-time record ninth MPSF Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year award for Pepperdine (David Wieczorek, 2018-19; Paul Carroll, 2009; Jonathan Winder, 2007; Sean Rooney, 2005; Brad Keenan, 2002; George Roumain, 1998-1999).

2023 MPSF Men's Volleyball Freshman Of The Year

Andrew Rowan

UCLA freshman setter Andrew Rowan (Trabuco Canyon, CA/J Serra HS) was the only freshman to earn a first team All-MPSF honor this year. He was a huge component in the Bruins’ unbeaten MPSF season for the first time since 1995, and their first time reaching 27 wins since 2000. Rowan set UCLA to the NCAA’s top offense in the regular season with a .379 team hitting percentage, as the team hit over .300 in 23 of 29 regular season matches, as well as a .412 clip through the 12-0 conference season. Rowan leads the MPSF with 44 service aces on the year, including an MPSF season-high of six in just his second collegiate match. 

He earned his first career conference award when he was named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week on February 13, after he accumulated five block solos (seven total) in a pair of wins over No. 2 Long Beach State. He also set the team to an incredible .551 hitting clip in the first match of that series, and doing so against one of the top defensive teams in the nation. Rowan is UCLA’s fourth MPSF Freshman of the Year recipient, including a repeat from last year (Guy Genis, 2022; JT Hatch, 2015; Brandon Taliaferro, 1997). 

ALL-MPSF FIRST-TEAM

Student-Athlete

No. Year Position School Hometown/Last School

$ Jaylen Jasper 

23 Graduate Opposite Pepperdine Annapolis, MD/Stanford

# Merrick McHenry 

13 R-Junior Middle Blocker UCLA Bedford, TX/L.D. Bell HS

Andrew Rowan

7 Freshman Setter UCLA Trabuco Canyon, CA/J Serra HS

Alex Knight

12 Senior Outside Hitter UCLA Culver City, CA/Pacifica Christian HS

^ Ethan Champlin

20 Junior Outside Hitter UCLA Oceanside, CA/Classical Academy HS

Miks Ramanis

23 Sophomore Outside Hitter BYU Walnut Creek, CA/Northgate HS

^ Ido David

16 Sophomore Opposite UCLA Kiryat Ata, Israel/Hod Hasharon

ALL-MPSF SECOND-TEAM

% Christian Janke

11 R-Senior Outside Hitter Grand Canyon Carlsbad, CA/Sage Creek HS

Dillon Klein 

1 Freshman Outside Hitter USC Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS

# Bryce Dvorak 

6 Junior Setter Pepperdine Newport Beach, CA/Corona Del Mar HS

Kevin Lamp

10 Senior Outside Hitter Stanford Lake Bluff, IL/Lake Forest HS

^ Justin Lui

2 R-Senior Libero Stanford Pickering, Ontario, Canada/Pickering HS

Rico Wardlow

23 Junior Middle Blocker Grand Canyon Bolingbrook, IL/Purdue Fort Wayne

Uriel Batista

35 Senior Opposite Concordia Colon, Panama/Long Beach CC

ALL-MPSF HONORABLE MENTION

Akin Akinwumi

25 Senior Middle Blocker Pepperdine Rancho Palos Verdes, CA/Peninsula HS

Nic Slight

7 R-Sophomore Setter Grand Canyon Storm Lake, IA/Torrey Pines HS

Gavin Julien

10 Junior Middle Blocker BYU Whitefish Bay, WI/Whitefish Bay HS

^ Guy Genis

9 R-Sophomore Middle Blocker UCLA Tel Aviv, Israel/Alliance HS

Nathaniel Gates

16 Senior Middle Blocker Stanford La Jolla, CA/La Jolla HS

# Will Rottman

15 Senior Outside Hitter Stanford Santa Barbara, CA/Santa Barbara HS

Jackson Hickman

16 R-Junior Outside Hitter Grand Canyon Phoenix, AZ/Lewis

MPSF ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Andrew Rowan

7 Freshman Setter UCLA Trabuco Canyon, CA/J Serra HS

Dillon Klein

1 Freshman Outside Hitter USC Pacific Palisades, CA/Loyola HS

Theo Snoey

7 Freshman Outside Hitter Stanford Berkeley, CA/Head-Royce School

Zach Rama

21 Freshman Outside Hitter UCLA Phoenix, AZ/Sandra Day O’Connor HS

Cameron Thorne

8 Freshman Middle Blocker Grand Canyon Hollywood, FL/South Broward HS

Trent Moser

9 Freshman Outside Hitter BYU Gilbert, AZ/Gilbert HS

Jacob Reilly

6 Freshman Libero Concordia Cypress, TX/Cy Fair HS

$ Five-Time All-MPSF Selection
% Four-Time All-MPSF Selection
# Three-Time All-MPSF Selection
^ Two-Time All-MPSF Selection