For the second-straight week, UCSB men’s volleyball player Theo Brunner has been named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation/Molten Player of the Week. Brunner not only put up big numbers in two matches, he also surpassed the 1,000-career kills mark.
A senior middle blcoker, Brunner posted match highs with 20 kills, seven blocks and 23.5 points in a 3-1 loss at No. 9 Stanford on Friday. He also hit a team-best .533 (20-4-30). In a 3-1 win at Pacific on Saturday, Brunner tied a career high with eight blocks and hit a match-best .533 (18-2-30). He also had team highs with 18 kills and 23.5 points.
For the week, Brunner averaged 4.75 kills, 1.88 blocks and 5.88 points per game. He hit a consistent .533 (38-6-60) over the two matches.
Brunner’s 14th kill against Pacific gave him 1,000 for his career, making him just the 10th Gaucho in school history to hit the mark. The 2007 AVCA All-American has 143 kills this season, putting him at 1,004 overall.
Brunner shares this week’s MPSF honor with UC Irvine junior opposite Jon Stellar. Brunner was last week’s MPSF/Molten Player of the Week as well, after helping UCSB sweep a two-match series against Hawai’i by averaging 5.1 kills, one block and 5.67 points per game.
UCSB, ranked 14th in the latest AVCA poll, plays a nonconference match against UC Santa Cruz at 7 p.m. Friday. The Banana Slugs are ranked first among all NCAA Division III schools.
Scott Flanders is UCSB‘s associate media relations director.