Report by LBSU

Dean Bittner has been named first-team All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) while Dustin Watten earned second-team All-America honors.

Bittner (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) earned the award after leading The Beach in kills and aces, while ranking third in the country in kills, 13th in service aces and 32nd in hitting percentage.  Bittner finished the season with 605 kills (5.50 per game), a .306 hitting percentage, 42 aces (0.38 per game), 130 digs (1.18 per game) and 112 blocks (1.02 per game) while averaging 6.44 points per game.  Bittner earned MPSF and national player of the week honors once during the season after wins over defending national-champion Penn State and IPFW.  His 42 kills in a match the next week at BYU were the most by a Beach player since the sport switched to rally scoring in 2001.  Bittner, who was a second-team All-America pick as a sophomore, ranks eighth all-time in kills (1,370), fifth in service aces (89) and fifth in most matches with 20-or-more kills (29).

Watten (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson HS) claimed second-team recognition after setting new Long Beach State records with 358 digs and a 3.25 per game dig average during his senior season.  He also set a single-season record for most matches with 10-or-more digs (23), as well as the career record for most matches with 10-or-more digs (43).  Watten ranks third all-time in career digs at Long Beach State with 799, while ranking third in the country this year in digs per game (3.25).