Tony Ciarelli wins MPSF Player of the Year award
Tony Ciarelli has become the second Trojan in history to be named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball Player of the Year. The senior outside hitter makes it two years in a row for the Trojans after Murphy Troy took home the award in 2011.
Best in the west · Senior outside hitter Tony Ciarelli was named the conference player of the year Thursday for his efforts this season. - Corey Marquetti | Daily Trojan
Additionally, setter Micah Christenson has been named MPSF Freshman of the Year, giving the No. 1 Trojans a sweep of the two major awards. Christenson and senior middle blocker Steven Shandrick were named to the All-MPSF second team, while redshirt sophomore opposite hitter Tanner Jansen, sophomore libero Henry Cassiday and freshman middle blocker Robert Feathers were named All-MPSF honorable mentions. Feathers was also named to the All-MPSF Freshman team.
Ciarelli was named MPSF Player of the Week three times in 2012 and he is currently top in the nation in blocks per game (.60) and tied for fourth in kills per game (4.03). He also set a MPSF record when he had 11 aces in the Trojans’ sweep over Long Beach State last week.
Christenson has quickly become one of the nation’s top setters coming out of Hawaii, as he is tied for fourth in the nation in assists per game with 10.92. Feathers has also been valuable to the Trojans as a freshman, and set a USC record with 135 total blocks while leading the nation with 1.67 blocks per game.
Cassiday is ranked 17th nationally in digs per game (2.23), Shandrick is tied for 20th in blocks per game (1.08) and Jansen is second on the team behind only Ciarelli in kills per game (2.82) and is hitting .288.