Fernandez named Freshman of the Year; Five Cougars garner All-MPSF honors

PROVO, Utah – Five BYU men’s volleyball players garnered All-MPSF honors led by Gabi Garcia Fernandez being named the 2018 MPSF Freshman of the Year, the conference announced Thursday.

Fernandez was also named to the All-MPSF First Team along with seniors Brenden Sander, Price Jarman and Leo Durkin.

Freshman Felipe de Brito Ferreira was named All-MPSF Honorable Mention and both Fernandez and Ferreira made the MPSF All-Freshman Team.

Fernandez ranks fifth in the MPSF in kills per set (3.44), has served the second-most aces in the conference with 46 and is the overall points leader entering the postseason with 434.

Fernandez is the fifth Cougar to be named MPSF Freshman of the Year (Ben Patch-2013; Taylor Sander-2011; Yamil Perez-2007; Ryan Millar-1996).

Sander ranks sixth in the MPSF in kills per set (3.37) and points per set (4.11). He has served up the second-most aces on the team with 37 and adds 0.98 digs per set.

While missing five conference matches with an injury, Jarman made the most of his time when competing in league play. In MPSF competition, the middle blocker averaged a league-best 1.48 blocks per set to go with 1.12 kills per set.

Durkin set the Cougars as a team to a .305 hitting percentage in conference play this year. He ranks first on the team in both assists per set (10.03) and digs per set (1.31).

Ferreira joins Fernandez as the only Cougars this season to be nationally honored as an AVCA Player of the Week. In nine MPSF matches, he averaged 1.19 blocks per set. The middle also put up 29 kills in league play at a team-best .522 clip.

This is the third-career conference honor each for Sander, Jarman and Durkin.

See the complete list of All-MPSF honors at the conference website.

BYU (20-6, 10-2 MPSF) won the regular-season conference title and is the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MPSF Tournament. The Cougars have a bye in the quarterfinals this week before competing at home against the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals Thursday, April 19, at 7 p.m. MDT.