The AVCA is excited to name its 2025 All-America Teams for NAIA men’s volleyball. Each of the two All-America Teams includes 12 student-athletes, who represent 11 programs, and 11 additional players received honorable mention honors.
Leading the way—in terms of first- and second-team All-Americans—are St. Xavier University with five, The Master’s University with four, and Missouri Baptist University and St. Thomas University with three.
There are three schools who have their first-ever All-Americans: Lawrence Technological University, Mount Mercy University, and St. Thomas University. Lawrence Tech has a first-team pick (Nestor Addah) and a second-team selection (Brendon Down); Mount Mercy’s Richard Struska is a second-teamer; and St. Thomas has Kaelen Ingram on the first team and Matheus Collares and Gabriel Negrao on the second team.
The Master’s University sweeps the 2025 Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards.
Player of the Year Braden Van Groningen is a key reason the Mustangs have rolled to a 23-0 record this season and been ranked No. 1 in every 2025 NAIA Poll. Along with leading the Mustangs to wins against six ranked NAIA teams, he also helped TMU to victories at Division I-Stanford and over four NCAA Division II teams. Newcomer of the Year Max McCullough leads the Mustangs in blocks with 52, for a 0.76 blocks-per-set average, and he has a .406 hitting percentage heading into this week’s NAIA Championship.
The selections were made by the AVCA NAIA Men’s Volleyball All-America Committee: Luke Bentley of William Penn (chair), Alfonso Alvarez of Campbellsville, Jared Goldberg of The Master’s, Alex Griffiths of Westcliff, Chad Hanson of Dordt, Greg Reitz of Lourdes, Tom Ryan of St. Xavier, and C.J. Shearer of Life University.
2025 Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Tom Ryan, St. Xavier University
Assistant Coach of the Year: Ricardo Gehrke, Lawrence Technological University
Player of the Year: Braden Van Groningen of The Master’s University
Newcomer of the Year: Max McCullough, MB, Sr., The Master’s University
Click here to see links to bios on all First- and Second-Team All-Americans
ALL-AMERICANS
HONORABLE MENTION
Check out the NAIA Awards Archives, which include the All-America Teams and Award Winners history.
