Dillon Klein Named One of Eight Semifinalists for AVCA Player of the Year

USC men's volleyball outside hitter Dillon Klein goes up to attack a ball during a match against Menlo at Galen Center

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

Dillon Klein Named One of Eight Semifinalists for AVCA Player of the Year

April 08, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

AVCA Home Page 2026 USC Schedule USC Heads to BYU for Two

The Trojans’ leading scorer has reached double-digit kills 16 times and was chosen for his eighth MPSF Player of the Week award this week

LEXINGTON, Ky. – USC men's volleyball senior outside hitter Dillon Klein (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Loyola HS) was named one of eight semifinalists for the AVCA's National Player of the Year award, the AVCA announced on Wednesday, April 8.

Klein is this week's AVCA National Player of the Week—the third time in his career that he has been chosen for the award—and was also selected for Molten/MPSF Player of the Week honors for the eighth time in his career.

Anong the eight semifinalists for the NPOY honor, five are from Mountain Pacific Sports Federation institutions.

2026 AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALISTS

Cole Hartke, Pepperdine/MPSF
Sean Kelly, UCLA/MPSF
Dillon Klein, USC/MPSF
Zach Rama, UCLA/MPSF
Patrick Rogers, Ball State/MIVA
Andrew Rowan, UCLA/MPSF
Tread Rosenthal, Hawai'i/Big West
Skyler Varga, Long Beach State/Big West

Klein was among a list of 15 players named to the first-ever National Player of the Year Watch List on Feb. 4. The list of semifinalists will be narrowed down to four finalists to be announced prior to the start of the NCAA Championship and the winner of the Player of the Year award will be revealed on Friday, May 8, at the NCAA event in Los Angeles before the national semifinal matches.

Klein—a first-team AVCA All-American in 2025—ranks second in both the MPSF and the NCAA for kills (4.20 kps) and in points (4.97 pps). He also ranks second in the league in hitting percentage (.398) which is ninth in the nation and is second for attacks per set (7.77 aps). His 0.37 service aces per set rank ninth in the MPSF. Klein has reached double-digit kills in 16 contests and double-digit points 17 times with one double-double this spring (the fourth of his career). He crossed the 1,000-kill mark in his career early this season and now has 1,318 in his illustrious career.

Fourth-ranked USC (16-3, 8-2 MPSF) leaves the state of California for the first time this spring for a pair of matches at 10th-ranked BYU (19-8, 6-4 MPSF). The teams will meet at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah, for a 7 p.m. MT (6 p.m. PT) match on Friday (April 10) that will be shown on B1G+ and on byu.tv. The teams then meet for a rematch on Saturday (April 11) at 8 p.m. MT (7 p.m. PT) that will be shown live nationally on Big Ten Network.

For more information on the USC men's volleyball team, please visit USCTrojans.com/MVB. Fans of the Trojans can follow @USCmensvolley on Instagram, X, and Facebook.