Hard Hitters

Palisadians Pace College Volleyball Programs in 2023

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

For decades, Pacific Palisades has been a hotbed of volleyball talent. The list of indoor and beach superstars that have lived and played here is long and distinguished and includes names like Randy Stoklos, Kent Steffes, Sinjin Smith, Chris Marlowe, Ricci Luyties, Dave Saunders, Steve Salmons and Curt Toppel.

Every generation sees some of the best prep standouts in the nation hail from the Palisades and go on to play volleyball at the NCAA level. As the men’s collegiate season begins, here are the profiles of nine local players to watch in 2023…

Akhil Tangutur

The slender 6-foot-2 outside hitter begins his senior year at UC Irvine eager to be the focal point of the Anteaters’ attack. The Economics major   had 44 kills in 61 sets to go along with 37 digs and 14 blocks in 2022. He made the Big West All-Freshman Team in 2020 and he had no sophomore slump, averaging 1.41 digs over 29 sets and posting a career-best 19 digs against UC San Diego, the most by anyone in the conference in 2021. Tangutur was a member of the 2022 U.S. Beach Collegiate National Team and was named City Section Player of the Year in 2018. A four-year varsity letterman at Palisades High, he honed his skills at Pac6 Volleyball Club and played on the AVCA All-America Watch List and a Volleyballmag.com Fab 50 honoree. He competed with the USA Youth National Team in the summer of 2018 and was on the training team for FIVB World Championships in 2019.

Dillon Klein    

Having just completed a high school career at Loyola that earned him numerous national and regional accolades, including CIF Co-Player of the Year honors, the USC freshman hitter is picking up where he left off. He had seven kills in his college debut against UC Santa Barbara, added four against Cal State Northridge and led the Trojans with 20 kills in a five-set victory over UC San Diego on Saturday in the final round of the ASICS Invitational. He played for the Manhattan Beach Surf Volleyball Club, where he made the 2021 USA Volleyball Boys Junior Olympics U18 Open All-Tournament team.  He was on the 2020 U.S. Boys Youth National Training Team and is the grandson of  former USC and LA Rams tight end Bob Klein. Dillon was one of the Palisadian-Post’s top Athletes of the Year in 2022.

Justin Howard    

A 6-5 redshirt junior journalism major at Ohio State, he sat out most of last season with an injury but still pounded 40 kills and hit .361 in 10 matches, setting career highs in blocks (6) and kills (8) in a victory over USC. As a freshman in 2021,  Howard hit .436 with 32 kills on 61 swings and totaled 31 blocks, 12 digs, two aces and three assists. He captained his Pali High and Pac6 Volleyball Club squads in 2019 and led Pac6 to third at the 2018 Junior Nationals. He led SCVA to the High Performance national title in 2018.

Miles Partain    

UCLA’s setter and opposite hitter was named 2022 MPSF Player of the Year and a First Team NVA/AVCA All-America selection as a sophomore. Partain was one of three finalists for the Lloy Ball Award as the nation’s top setter while playing with older brother Marcus and  set the Bruins to the nation’s top hitting percentage. Majoriung in Applied Math, he won three City titles in three years on varsity at Pali High, earning MVP honors at the Redondo Tournament and being selected All-Tournament at both the 2019 Best of the West Tournament and 2019 Karch Kiraly Tournament of Champions. He was valedictorian of the Class of 2020, a National AP Scholar and National Merit Scholar. Partain played for Pac6 Volleyball Club. On the beach he captured the gold medal, playing with Andy Benesh, at the FIVB Dubai World Beach Volleyball event in October and was Volleyballmag.com’s AVP MVP and also Most Improved Player in 2022.

Nick Conte    

The former Pali High star is now a sophomore libero at UC Santa Cruz, where he finished with 37 digs in his debut season, playing in eight matches. He recorded a season-high 10 digs against Menlo, along with his first ace and a solo block. Conte, who has yet to declare a major, also played club for Pac6 and Mamba Sports Academy. He helped UCSC to a 14-16 record in 2022, including wins against Concordia and Wisconsin Lutheran.

Cooper Robinson 

A 6-7 outside hitter for UCLA, he did not see action in his first season but returns as a redshirt freshman   anxious to crack the starting lineup after having led his Loyola High team to the Southern Section semifinals in  2018, 2019 and 2021. He was named to the 2020 Boys 25 Underclassmen to Watch List by Volleyballmag.com. Robinson played for SCVC and was on the club’s 2019 gold medal winning SCVC squad at the Boys Junior Nationals.

Mason Mallory

The Pali High and Manhattan Beach Surf Club alum is starting his senior year as an opposite and outside hitter at Endicott, a Division III  program in Massachusetts. The 6-3 Marketing major registered 121 kills in 15 matches last year, adding 15 assists, 50 digs and 12 blocks. He made the NECC All-Conference First Team. He had 11 kills and 12 digs as a sophomore in 2021. Mason helped lead Pali High to three consecutive City championships from 2017-19 and made the All-City Division I third team as a senior.

Vance Mallory

Mason’s twin brother is a libero  for Endicott and is also majoring in Marketing. He has been a major contributor since joining the Gulls. He played in 16 matches as a freshman in 2019-20, with 69 digs. He played in 12 matches as a sophomore, registering 48 kills. As a junior last season he appeared in 89 sets  (25 matches) and wound up with 125 digs. He joined Mason for the last two title runs at Palisades, playing  outside hitter and defensive specialist.

Owen Loncar

A 6-3 freshman outside hitter at UC Santa Barbara, where he seeks to equal the success of fellow Palisadian and recent Gaucho volleyball grad Ryan Pecsok, Owen started his prep career at Pali High but transferred to Loyola, where he played alongside Dillon Klein. He made the AVCA’s 2022 All-American Team.

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