University Southern California Trojans
Several USC Men's Volleyballers Having Busy Summers
June 14, 2007 | Men's Volleyball
June 14, 2007
A number of current and incoming USC men's volleyball players have been busy this summer on the national landscape.
Senior setter Jimmy Killian spent most of May training with the USA National Team. He filled in for an injured Donald Suxho, the former Trojan All-American, and for Lloy Ball, who was still in Russia with his pro team.
Senior outside hitter Juan Figueroa has been training with the Puerto Rican National Team. He played in the Pan American Cup as Puerto Rico earned a silver medal. He might also play in the Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro in July.
Sophomore middle blocker Hunter Current, junior libero Luke Morris and incoming freshman middle blocker Austin Zahn will begin training for the final 12 roster spots on the USA Junior National Team this Saturday (June 16) at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. The team will play in the Junior World Championships in Morocco in July.
Another pair of incoming freshmen--outside hitters Murphy Troy and Tri Bourne--will be joining the USA Youth National Team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., to train for the Youth World Championships in Tijuana/Mexicali/Ensenada, Mexico, in August.
Sophomore outside hitter Joey Dykstra has played in 6 AVP tournaments this summer, finishing as high as 17th when he and partner Mark Van Zwieten qualified for the main draw at the AVP Atlanta Open earlier this month.
Bourne and fellow incoming freshman setter Riley McKibbin not only made their mark in volleyball, but this spring were named Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II Co-Players of the Year in basketball. Bourne averaged 10.3 points a game in 2007 as a center, while the 6-3 McKibbin averaged 7.1 points a game.
USC assistant coach John Hawks is serving as an assistant with the 2007 USA Volleyball Men's Junior National and World University Games teams.
Here's a look at USC's incoming freshmen:
The 6-8 Zahn was named to the 2007 All-CIF Division I third team and Los Angeles Times All-Star first team while averaging 14 kills, 4 blocks and 5 digs per match as a senior at Redondo Union High in Redondo Beach, Calif.. He made the 2006 Mizuno Volleyball Magazine All-American second team, All-CIF Division I second team, Los Angeles Times All-Star second team, South Bay Daily Breeze All-South Bay first team and All-Bay League as a junior when he posted 367 kills and 100 blocks (Redondo was the CIF Division I runner-up). He also was a member of the 2006 USA Volleyball Men's Junior National Team. As a sophomore in 2005, he was an All-Bay League first teamer, a member of the USA Volleyball Boys' Youth National Team and made the USA Volleyball Junior Olympics 16 Open All-Tourney team (his Riptides club team placed third). He won a gold medal at the 2004 USA Volleyball Junior Olympics U16 Beach Championships.
His brothers played college basketball: Andrew at Arizona in 2002 and Biola in 2003 (he's now playing professionally in Japan) and Adam at Oregon (2004-07).
The 6-7 Troy led his St. Louis (Mo.) University High team to the Missouri Class 4 State Volleyball championship last month. He was named the 2007 St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro Player of the Year while posting 171 kills, 22 blocks and 117 digs as a senior despite missing the early part of the season with a broken foot. He was a starter on the 2006 USA Volleyball Boys' Youth National team that won a silver medal at the NORCECA World Championship qualifier in the Dominican Republic. He made the 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro first team as a junior. His brother, Phinney, was an offensive tackle at Missouri.
The 6-6 Bourne, who attended Academy of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hi., but played for Maryknoll High because AOP did not have a volleyball team, helped Maryknoll win the 2006 Division II state volleyball title as a senior. He made the 2006 Honolulu Advertiser All-State first team and the All-Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II first team.
He was also involved in canoe racing with the Outrigger Canoe Club.
The 6-3 McKibbin led Punahou High in Honolulu, Hi., to 3 straight Division I state titles (2004-2006; boys volleyball is competed in the fall in Hawaii). As a senior in 2006, he made the state Division I All-Tournament team. He was an alternate on the USA Junior National Training Team in 2007. He was a 2006 Mizuno Volleyball Magazine All-American honorable mention pick as a junior. He made the 2005 Honolulu Advertiser All-State first team and was on the state All-Tournament team. In 2006, he also competed at the FIVB U19 Beach World Championships and won a gold medal at the USA Volleyball Junior Olympics U18 Beach Championships. As a sophomore in 2004, he was a Honolulu Star Bulletin All-State second teamer as Punahou won the state crown. He made the 2004 USA Volleyball Junior Olympics 16 Open All-Tourney team as his Outrigger Canoe Club team finished second in the tournament.
McKibbin, who also was a 2006 All-Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II first team basketball player, has a pair of relatives who played volleyball at USC: his uncle, Owen McKibbin (who lettered in 1983-84-86-87, as the Trojans finised second at the NCAA Championships his final 2 seasons), and his aunt, Claudia McKibbin (a letterwinner on the Women of Troy's 1980 national championship team).
