University of California, Merced – Steele Selected as AVCA NAIA Honorable Mention All-American

MERCED, Calif. – University of California, Merced men’s volleyball senior setter Ryan Steele was unveiled as an AVCA NAIA Honorable Mention All-American, as announced Monday morning by the national office.

Steele is one of three All-Americans in program history, joining Cole Smith (2018) and Chris Morikawa (2021).

This year was Steele’s best and he became the first player in the country since men’s volleyball became a championship sport to average at least 9.9 assists, 1.6 digs and 0.9 kills per set. His career-high 9.99 assists per set ranks ninth in the nation and second on the West Coast.

Steele also averaged 0.48 blocks and 0.31 service aces per set. Eight of his 34 total blocks were solo.

The Sacramento, Calif., native was also named the California Pacific Conference Setter of the Year and All-Cal Pac First Team for the third consecutive season.

Steele registered multiple monster performances over the 20-match campaign, including two double-double’s down the stretch to help the Bobcats clinch a postseason berth. He went for a program-record 61 assists and 12 digs against Westcliff University, while recording 59 assists and ten digs on Senior Day against Simpson University. He also had five kills in each match. He started the year with 56 assists and three service aces in the Bobcats first ever home win against UC Santa Cruz.

After 99 career matches and 346 games played, Steele finishes his storied career ranked first in program history with 3,018 assists and 73 service aces. He is tied for first with 46 solo blocks, is second with 542 digs, and is third with 172 total blocks.

Steele also led the Bobcats to three straight postseason berths and a pair of California Pacific Conference Championship games. 

To stay up to date with everything UC Merced men’s volleyball in the offseason, follow @UCMercedMVB on Twitter and Instagram.