Brian Thornton
Hometown: San Clemente, Calif.
Position: Setter
Height: 6-3
Weight: 187
College: UC Irvine
PERSONAL: Born Brian Charles Thornton on April 22, 1985, in San Clemente, Calif. ... Parents are Mike and Colleen Thornton… Has a younger brother and sister… Attended San Clemente High School (2000-03)… Played for the Balboa Bay Club… A UCI/Big West Scholar-Athlete majoring in sociology… Fish and lobster are his favorite foods… Favorite book is “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger… Favorite movie is Good Will Hunting… Anaheim Angels are his favorite professional team… Enjoys Entourage, football and college basketball on TV… Admires his brother for his attitude and approach to life… His fondest sports memory is winning an NCAA Division I men’s volleyball national championship.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2009 – Accompanied a group of veteran and younger players on a five-match tour of Brazil... Played in the 2009 Pan American Cup where the United States won the gold medal. 2007 – A member of the World University Games team that won the bronze medal in Thailand.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2007 – Named to the NCAA All-Tournament team after recording 110 assists and 15 digs as Irvine defeated IPFW to win the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship…Second team All-America and third team All-MPSF pick… Averaged 13.27 set assists on the season, which ranked fourth nationally and 12.65 versus conference opponents which also ranked fourth…Averaged 1.42 digs and 0.74 blocks per game overall…Guided the Anteaters to .351 team hitting percentage this year which ranked fourth nationally…Had 12 service aces…UCI’s all-time assists leader (4,662)...Set the UCI season set assist record with 1,645… Named MPSF Player of the Week on Jan. 8…Named MVP of the Elephant Bar Tournament. 2006 – Second team All-American as well as All-MPSF...Second team Asics/Volleyball Magazine All-American... Averaged 13.70 set assists which led the nation... His 1,548 assists rank third in the UCI season record book...Also averaged 1.60 digs and 0.65 blocks per game...His 181 digs rank 10th best in a single season...Had 22 service aces...Fourth all-time in UCI assists (3,017). 2005 – Recorded 1,320 set assists, which is the fourth best single season total in the UCI record books...Averaged 12.57 set assists and 1.38 digs per game...Ranked 11th nationally and fourth in the MPSF in assists...Had 21 service aces on the year...Ranks seventh all-time in assists (1,469)...had a career-high 65 assists versus Pacific. 2004 – Averaged 9.31 set assists and 0.69 digs per game.
