IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine outside hitter Hilir Henno has been named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Collegiate Player of the Year.

Henno joins Jayson Jablonsky as the only Anteaters to earn the AVCA honor and is one of six UC Irvine student-athletes across all sports to be tabbed National Player of the Year.

Earlier this week, he was named an AVCA first team All-America for the second consecutive year. The outside hitter becomes the fourth UC Irvine player to be named to the first team more than once, joining Michael Brinkley Kevin Tillie and Carson Clark.

The Big West Player of the Year leads the country in points (5.53) and is second in kills (4.78) and attacks (9.63) nationally leading the Anteaters to their eighth NCAA appearance and a semifinal berth against UCLA on Thursday (May 2).

The most dynamic hitter in the nation owns a .375 hitting percentage which is eighth overall and the best by a pin hitter. He has hit .400 or better 17 times this season. In the conference sweep over then-No. 4 Hawaii, Henno hit .679 with 20 kills in 28 swings and just one error.

The junior has recorded double figure kills in every match this season, including 20 or more on 10 occasions. He put away a career-high 36 kills in a non-conference meeting with Hawaii, the second most kills in the country in 2024. 

His 68 attack attempts versus Hawaii at the OUTRIGGER Invitational is the third most in the country this season, while his 58 swings in a win at Stanford is the most in a four-set match this year.

He recorded an ace in all but six matches and currently leads the Big West with a 0.429 average. He had nine aces against Princeton the most by a UCI and Big West player and third most in the country in 2024.

Henno is the Big West career leader in aces with 180 and is second among current Division I players with a .602 career mark.

The lefty earned his third Big West first team nod, only one of three UCI players to garner the accolade three times.

He was also selected as the 2024 Off the Block National Offensive Player of the Year, which is given to the nation's best offensive player in NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball during the season by a nationwide vote of coaches and media.