UCLA men’s volleyball senior setter Andrew Rowan was named the 2026 AVCA National Collegiate Player of the Year, according to a May 8 announcement from the American Volleyball Coaches Association during the NCAA Championship social.
The award recognizes Rowan’s outstanding performance and leadership throughout his four-year career at UCLA. As a four-time AVCA First-team All-American, MPSF Player of the Year, and two-time NCAA Champion, Rowan adds this honor to an already notable list of achievements.
“We are so proud of Andrew, and he thoroughly deserves this award,” head coach John Hawks said. “Andrew is a young man of tremendous character, a leader of men, and an incredible volleyball player. This award signifies all of the hard work he has put in over his four years in Westwood. He has been the kind of teammate who elevates everyone around him through his work ethic, humility, and commitment to excellence every single day. Whether it was during practice or on the national championship stage, he consistently led by example and represented our program with pride.”
Rowan becomes UCLA’s tenth recipient of this national honor and ends a 26-year gap since a Bruin last received it. Past winners include Ricci Luyties (1983, 1984), Ozzie Volstad (1987), Trevor Schirman (1989), Michael Sealy (1993), Jeff Nygaard (1994, 1995), Stein Metzger (1996), and Brandon Taliaferro (2000).
Former head coach John Speraw also praised Rowan’s contributions: “As an alumnus, I can say that Andrew represents everything Bruins volleyball stands for,” Speraw said. “He is a winner, an extraordinary leader, and wired to compete. All of us at UCLA are proud of who he is and the way he has represented this program. Andrew helped bring the Bruins back to winning national championships through his relentless work ethic and competitive spirit. Personally, I’m grateful that my final years coaching at UCLA were spent with Andrew, and I couldn’t be happier to see him recognized as the AVCA Player of the Year.”
During his senior season Rowan led all players nationally in assists per set at 11.37 while guiding UCLA to hit .300 or better in most matches—helping secure ten top-10 wins out of nineteen ranked victories overall for a team record-setting year.
Rowan also achieved several individual milestones including becoming only one among three players nationally with at least fifty aces during regular season play; reaching fourth all-time for MPSF history in career service aces; surpassing four thousand career assists as just second Bruin since rally scoring began; finishing as program’s rally scoring era leader with total assists tallying up to 4,448 across four seasons.
He finished his collegiate tenure with two national championships while posting personal bests: 1,239 assists for one season along with fifty-seven aces—both leading numbers nationwide—and closed out on top for both total assists per set metrics countrywide.
Rowan recorded five matches exceeding fifty assists each—the highest mark among all players—and helped guide Bruins toward their impressive overall record standing at twenty-nine wins against just two losses.
