Area Alumni Dominate Top Men's Volleyball Rosters

The only thing bigger than the waves on the coast of South Orange County is the volleyball talent. The area produces some of the nation’s top men’s players, evidenced by the number of them on rosters of 11 teams in the AVCA Division I-II Men's Coaches' top 15 preseason poll.

1. USC–TANNER JENSEN, 6-5 opposite, redshirt fr., San Juan Capistrano (Santa Margarita High); Jeff Carolson, 6-3 setter, redshirt so., Newport Beach (Corona del Mar); Tucker Peleuses, 6-4 opposite, redshirt so., Newport Beach (Newport Harbor); Steven Shandrick, 6-7 middle blocker, jr., Lake Forest (Santa Margarita); Joey Booth, 6-5 outside hitter, fr., Newport Coast (Corona del Mar); J.B. Green, 6-0 Libero, redshirt fr., Newport Beach (Newport Harbor).

2. UC Irvine–John Caroompas III, 6-2 Libero, fr., Laguna Niguel (JSerra); Ian Wynne, 6-4 setter, so., Mission Viejo (Capistrano Valley); Austin D'Amore, 6-5 middle blocker, jr., Laguna Hills; Cory Yoder, 6-3 outside hitter, sr., San Clemente; Ian Castellana, 6-6 outside hitter, fr., San Clemente; Kevin Wynne, 6-7 middle blocker, sr., Mission Viejo (Capistrano Valley); Travis Woloson, 6-4 outside hitter, fr., Laguna Beach.

3. Pepperdine–Parker Kalmbach, 6-7 outside hitter, fr., Coto de Caza (Tesoro); Mike McMahon, 5-10 Libero, fr., Mission Viejo (Santa Margarita); Woody Quinn, 6-5 outside hitter, fr., Dana Point (St. Margaret's).

4. Stanford–Ian Connolly, 6-3 outside hitter, sr., Newport Coast (Mater Dei); Gus Ellis, 6-6 middle blocker, jr., Corona del Mar.

5. BYU–ROBB STOWELL, 6-7 opposite, jr., San Juan Capistrano (Capistrano Valley); Erik Mayer, 6-6 middle blocker, so., Mission Viejo (Scotts Valley High).

6. Hawaii–Harrison Phelps, 6-1 Libero, so., Laguna Beach.

7. Ohio State–Scottie Chapel, 6-5 outside hitter, fr., Laguna Beach; Kyle Lawrence, 6-1 setter, so., Costa Mesa (Newport Harbor); Grayson Overman, 6-6 middle blocker, so., San Clemente.

8. Penn State–Connor Curry, 6-0 Libero, fr., Newport Beach (Newport Harbor).

9. UCLA–Weston Dunlap, 6-8, quick hitter, redshirt jr., Newport Beach (Newport Harbor); Kyle Caldwell, 6-9 setter, jr., Newport Beach (Newport Harbor); Spencer Rowe, 6-6 opposite, fr., Trabuco Canyon (Mission Viejo).

10. UC Santa Barbara–Grant Goswiller, 6-3 outside hitter, so., Coto de Caza (Tesoro); Dylan Davis, 6-9 middle blocker, so., Newport Beach (Corona del Mar); Scott Slaughter, 6-7 middle blocker, sr., Newport Beach (Corona del Mar); Weston Nielsen, 6-6 outside hitter, fr., Corona del Mar; Blaine Nielsen, 6-5 outside hitter, jr., Corona del Mar.

11. Long Beach State–Colten Echave, 6-7 middle blocker, so., Ladera Ranch (Tesoro); Ryan Meehan, 6-8 middle blocker, jr., Dana Point (Dana Hills).

USC makes its only Orange County appearance of the season on Jan. 19 at UC Irvine.

***

When the Trojans men's basketball team squares off against cross-town rival UCLA tonight at the Galen Center in their first meeting of the 2010-11 Pac-10 season, its lineup will include Daniel Munoz, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Coto de Caza who helped Santa Margarita High to a state championship his junior year and to the CIF Southern Section finals as a senior.

On Bruins' roster is 6-0 junior guard Blake Arnet, a resident of Laguna Niguel who played at Mater Dei.

Neither Munoz nor Arnet receive much playing time, but nothing can replace the excitement generated when their respective teams clash on the hardwood.

***

By the way, another former Mission Viejo High alum, quarterback Mark Sanchez, had a pretty good Saturday, rallying his New York Jets to a 17-16 playoff victory over Peyton Manning's Indianapolis Colts.

Next up for the Jets: a visit to New England to meet the Patriots in an AFC semifinal game on Sunday.

Is there a local alum we should know about? Contact Kyle Kensing at kkensing@gmail.com