The American Volleyball Coaches Association had no problem choosing between the two players who have led their respective teams into this week's final four. The All-America Committee gave the national player of the year to Katz and Metzger, as well as named the pair to the All-America first team, it was announced yesterday.
"For what they've done for their teams, Stein and Yuval are clearly head and shoulders above anybody else in the country,'' said Penn State coach Mark Pavlik, whose team met Hawaii in today's 2:30 p.m. HST semifinal. "Yuvi is just a great player and Stein has done great things for UCLA. Take him out of their lineup and they (the Bruins) probably wouldn't be here.''
UCLA goes for its 16th NCAA title begining with tonight's second semifinal against surprising Lewis, a Division II in only its third year of Division I men's volleyball competition. Today's winners meet Saturday (1 p.m. HST) for the championship.
It was the second consecutive first-team All-America honor for Katz, last season's national freshman of the year. He led the country in kills per game (7.7 average) and ranked in the Top 10 for service aces (47 total) en route to becoming the first player from a non-California school to be named the country's top player.
Metzger, a Punahou graduate, was also named to the first team for the second straight year. He finished ninth nationally in assist average and became UCLA's all-
time assist leader last month.
Hawaii senior setter Erik Pichel, who led the country in assists, also was named to the first team. Named to the second team was Rainbow junior hitter Aaron Wilton.
Rounding out the first team were Stanford junior Matt Fuerbinger, a three-time selection; Long Beach State seniors Tom Hoff and Martin Wagner; and two-time pick Paul Nihipali of UCLA. Also honored were Penn State's Ivan Contreras for the third time and two-
time selection Eduardo Ferraz of Ball State.
"I thought having co-players of the year was very fair," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "I'm happy for our three guys who made it. We had a lot of good players on the team and maybe we could have had one more in Naveh (sophomore hitter Milo). But I'm happy with the choices.''
Fifty-five players representing 20 schools were nominated. Hawaii now has had 12 players named All-American.
The individual honors are secondary to the Rainbows, who are seeking their first NCAA title in men's volleyball. They finished fourth in their first national tournament appearance last year.
"The award is good but it's more important to focus on the games this week,'' said Katz, who has set seven school records in his two seasons.
"I'm happy but it's more something I'll look back on five, 10 years from now,'' said Pichel. "Right now, it doesn't mean much compared to winning a national championship. That's the priority for us.''
"I was very surprised in all honesty,'' said Aaron Wilton. "Individual recognition just happens and it's nice but our team goal was to get to the final four and win.''
Being named national co-player and the top player in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation was overwhelming for Metzger, who remembers wiping the floor for Hawaii matches as a youngster.
"As a kid, it was a dream of mine just to even play college volleyball,'' said Metzger, becoming UCLA's seventh national player of the year. "To become MVP is just the most wonderful thing I could have ever imagined. I was surprised by the conference honor.
"A lot of the time, the setter is overlooked because what they do is not that noticeable. I was definitely not expecting this but it's wonderful. It's been a dream of a season for us, because we weren't expected to contend this year.''