SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – On Monday morning, the AVCA announced the 2025 AVCA Division III Men's Volleyball Regional Awards. Each of the four region teams includes 14 players, and a Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Coach of the Year were selected for each region. The 56 student-athletes who made All-Region represent 27 different schools. The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs earned one All-Region honor with sophomore middle blocker Kyle Ownbey earning Region IV All-Region honors.

Ownbey appeared in 94 of the team's 98 sets played this season, leading the team with an impressive .497 hitting percentage, recording 194 kills on the season with a 2.06 kills per set average. Ownbey was second on the team in total blocks with 49, recording seven solo blocks and 42 assists. Ownbey made an impact in just about every contest for the Banana Slugs, recording over 10 kills in a contest on five separate occasions while recording at least seven kills 17 times this year. Some of his most impressive performances include a 1.000% hitting percentage with nine kills and zero errors against North Central and an 11 kill performance off 13 attempts against Wisconsin Lutheran, good for a .846 hitting percentage.

Notably, Kyle Ownbey's .497 hitting percentage is the best clip in program history with Ownbey owning the top two spots after recording in .453 in last year's campaign.