Matt McKinney
Position: Outside Hitter
Height: 6-8 (203 cm)
Weight: 205 lbs (93 kg)
College: UCLA
Joined Team: (A2 team) 2009
Web site: www.mattmckinneyusa.com
PERSONAL: Born Matthew Thomas McKinney on July 29, 1983 in Santa Monica, Calif. … Parents are Harold and Lee Ann McKinney… Matt attended Santa Ynez (Calif.) High School from 1998-2002… Matt started playing volleyball as an eighth grader in 1997… As a freshman in 1999, playing for Club Santa Barbara, he won a silver medal at the Junior Nationals in New Orleans… In 2000, he was an All-American at Junior Nationals in Reno, Nev., and won a bronze medal with the LAAC team... In 2001, he was an All-American at Junior Nationals in Phoenix and won a silver medal playing for the Los Angeles Athletic Club... Matt was a star at Santa Ynez High School in both basketball and volleyball… In basketball, he was a three-year All-League and All-County performer… As a senior, Matt was the Prepwesthoops.com No. 3 power forward on the West Coast and the ESPN No. 24 small forward in the U.S. … In volleyball at Santa Ynez, Matt played on four consecutive CIF Southern Section State Championship teams... Matt’s senior year, Santa Ynez was rated the No. 1 team in the nation by Volleyball Magazine and Matt was the CIF Division Player of the Year as an outside hitter and middle blocker… Matt attended UCLA on a joint basketball and volleyball scholarship… Matt appeared in 17 volleyball matches as a true freshman at UCLA in 2004 while he red-shirted in basketball. In 2004-05, he played in 26 basketball games… In 2005, he played in seven volleyball matches. But injuries and illness forced him to declare medical retirement in June of 2005… Matt graduated from UCLA in 2006 with a history degree. He minored in economics… Matt’s favorite food is porterhouse steak… His hobbies include golf and traveling… His most admired person is his father, Harold, because, “He was an orphan on a cattle farm in Kentucky, fought in Vietnam and returned to create his own business and provide a great life for his wife and only son”… Matt’s father played college basketball at Tennessee Tech. His uncle, Tom McKinney, played college basketball at Tennessee Tech and was drafted by the New York Nicks… Matt has played overseas for Leones de Ponce in Puerto Rico (2007), Aris Thessaloniki in Greece (2008) and Los Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico (2008)… In 2010, Matt won the Puerto Rico league title with Plataneros de Corozal… He also played with Quasar Massa in Italy’s Serie A2 League in 2010.
MAJOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 2009 – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal)… Also played in the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship with Plataneros de Corozal. 2001 – A member of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team that competed against Mexico. 2000 – A member of the U.S. Boys’ Youth National Team that played against Canada.
COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: 2005 – Appeared in seven matches (23 games), with 3.52 kills a game and a hitting percentage of .329 before suffering a shoulder injury. 2004 – Red shirt. 2003 – Played 17 matches and started 14... Spiked a career-high of 16 kills vs. Hawaii (3/14)... Recorded matches of 15 kills three times... Against UCI (3/7), he established career highs for digs (10), total blocks (7) and aces (3).
