Four players from the Irvine Valley men's volleyball team were recently named to all-Pacific Coast Athletic Conference teams.
Sophomore outside hitter Cole Murray was picked first team all-conference, sophomore libero Billy Crow and sophomore opposite/setter Arek Halaj were named to the second team and freshman middle blocker Robert Ryley was chosen to the third team.
Murray, who is headed to Loyola of Chicago to continue his career in the fall, led Irvine Valley in a number of categories.
He ended up with 205 total kills and averaged 3.53 kills per set. Murray also averaged 0.93 digs per set and paced the squad in service aces with 24. He ranked fifth in the state in aces per set at 0.41.
Murray had double figure kills 13 of the 16 matches he played in with a season-high 22 coming in a tough five-game loss at Santa Barbara City.
Crow paced IVC in total digs with 245 and in digs per set at 3.60. He ranked first in the state in digs and second in digs per set.
He finished with double digit digs in 16 of 19 matches. Crow had a season-high 19 digs at Santa Barbara City and also recorded 18 digs in a five-set loss at Grossmont. He recorded 16 digs in four other matches, including three wins in a row in conference for the Lasers.
Halaj played opposite and setter this season at times for the Lasers. He averaged 2.06 kills, 4.86 assists, 1.15 digs and 0.57 blocks per set.
He ended up second on the team in total kills and total digs.
Halaj had a season-high 16 kills in Irvine Valley's five-set win at Orange Coast in conference. He also finished with 29 assists and eight digs in that match. Halaj's highest assist total of the year was 54 in the team's match at Grossmont.
Ryley ranked second on the Lasers' squad by averaging 2.23 kills per set. He also hit a team-best .406 on the season and averaged 0.85 blocks per set. He ranked fifth in the state in hitting percentage.
Ryley had a season-high 11 kills in two different matches. He also recorded eight blocks in IVC's match at Santa Barbara.
Murray, Crow, Halaj and Ryley helped Irvine Valley finished with a record of 13-6 overall this season. The Lasers finished in third place in conference and made the regional playoffs where they fell in three sets at El Camino in an opening round match.
Andrew Freiha of Grossmont was named the player of the year and Travis Lee was named the coach of the year after the Griffins won the title.
The full all-conference team is listed below.
Men's Volleyball 2015 All-Pacific Coast Conference Team
Coach of the Year: Travis Lee, Grossmont
Most Valuable Player: Andrew Freiha, Grossmont
FIRST TEAM
Adrian Faitalia, Orange Coast
Nick Amado, Orange Coast
Cole Murray, Irvine Valley
Colin Mitchell, Grossmont
Daniel Vasquez, Golden West
Kyle Bass, Palomar
Adrian Ventura, Grossmont
SECOND TEAM
Steven Duhoux, Orange Coast
Billy Crow, Irvine Valley
Arek Halaj, Irvine Valley
Donavan Harrison, San Diego Mesa
Lenzie Ainsworth, Golden West
Shane McAdams, San Diego City
Erik Reider, Palomar
THIRD TEAM
Alec Podrasky, Orange Coast
Robert Ryley, Irvine Valley
Nate Allen, Grossmont
Lucas Timm, San Diego City
Alvin Troung, Golden West
Christian Limtiaco, San Diego City
Caleb Deibel, Miramar