LBSU Men’s Volleyball Has Five Players Named Big West All-Conference

LBSU Men’s Volleyball Has Five Players Named Big West All-Conference

4/19/2021 12:32:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Simon Andersen and Spencer Olivier earn First Team All-Big West Honors, while Mason Briggs collects Honorable Mention status, and Clarke Godbold and Simon Torwie are selected to the All-Freshman Team

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

2021 Big West Men's Volleyball All-Conference Teams (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West Conference announced the 2021 Men's Volleyball All-Conference and All-Freshman Teams on Monday afternoon, and Long Beach State had five players selected. Simon Andersen and Spencer Olivier garnered First Team All-Big West accolades, while Mason Briggs earned Honorable Mention status. Clarke Godbold and Simon Torwie were named to the All-Freshman Team.

The Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Freshman of the Year awards will be announced in a separate release following the 2021 Big West Men's Volleyball Conference Tournament, which will be played April 22-24 at the Stan Sheriff Center in Hawai'i. The three major awards will be announced on Tuesday, April 27.

Andersen, a senior middle blocker, earned Big West First Team honors for the second time in his career after earning the accolades a year ago. The Middlefart, Denmark native has been a force at the net all season for the Beach. He is averaging 1.45 blocks per set to lead the Big West and rank second in the nation. He has recorded two double-digit block efforts, including a career-high 13-block performance at CSUN last weekend.

The 6-foot-8 Andersen has contributed to Long Beach State on both sides of the ball hitting a team-leading .409 (69-13-137), while averaging 1.73 kills per set. He has recorded two 10-plus kill performances this season and has led the Beach in blocks five times.

Olivier was named to the Big West All-First Team for the first time in his career. The redshirt sophomore outside hitter has led the Beach offensively all season averaging 3.83 kills per set on a .277 attack percentage. Olivier's kills per set average is good for third in the Big West and 14th in the nation.

The product out of Tustin, Calif., has led LBSU in kills in 8-of-10 matches this season and has recorded 20-plus kills on three occasions, including a career-high 25 kills at No. 1 Hawai'i on April 3. Olivier has reached double-digit kills seven times and recorded his third-career double-double last month with 16 kills and a career-high 15 digs against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara.

Coming off of an abbreviated 2020 season in which he was named Co-Big West Freshman of the Year, Briggs has continued right where he left off. The libero out of Valencia, Calif., earned Honorable Mention accolades this season after leading Long Beach State in digs per set with 2.50. That output leads the Big West and ranks seventh in the nation.

Briggs has been solid in the back row as he has led the Beach in digs in 8-of-10 matches this season with five double-digit dig performances. He recorded a season-high 14 digs on two occasions this season, which was just one shy of his career-high.

Godbold was named to the Big West Conference All-Freshman Team after turning in an excellent rookie campaign. The freshman outside hitter is second on the team with 2.53 kills per set and 1.63 digs per set, while third on the squad in blocks per set with 0.82 and ranks in the top 10 in the Big West in each of those statistical categories.

A three-time Big West Freshman of the Week honoree, Godbold has recorded double-digit kills on seven occasions, while registering his first-career double-double (13 kills, 10 digs) against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara last month. Godbold notched a career-best 13 kills on two separate occasions, while posting a career-high six blocks twice.

Joining Godbold on the All-Freshman Team is Torwie, a 6-foot-10 opposite who is averaging 1.76 kills per set, 1.14 digs per set, and 0.52 blocks per set as a true freshman. Torwie kicked off his rookie season with a double-double as he recorded 11 kills and as many digs against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara on March 21. He followed that showing up with a career-high 12 kills against No. 13 UC Irvine.

Torwie is coming off of a career-best performance in which he hit .471 while knocking down nine kills on 17 swings with just one error against CSUN. In that match, he also posted a career-high four blocks to go along with four digs, and two aces.