Brian Thornton

Olympian 2012

Athlete Bio#

Height

6'3 (190cm)"

Age

Hometown

San Clemente, CA

Education

San Clemente High School UC Irvine

Personal

Born Brian Charles Thornton in 1985, in San Clemente, Calif.... Parents are Mike and Colleen Thornton... Mike played basketball and also baseball and was a late-round draft pick of the Montreal Expos in 1969... Brian's younger brother, Keith, also attended UC Irvine and their younger sister, Kelsey, played on the water polo team there... A UCI/Big West Scholar-Athlete majoring in sociology... Fish and lobster are his favorite foods... Admires his brother for his attitude and approach to life

Career Highlights

2012: – Olympic Games
2012: FIVB World League (Silver Medal)
2012: NORCECA Men’s Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament (Gold Medal).
2012: – Was the backup setter for the U.S. Men in 2012, playing in 11 sets, starting seven. Finished the season with three points on one attack and two blocks. Credited with 57 running sets (5.18 per set)
2012: Played as the substitute setter at the 2012 Olympic Games. Played in three sets against Tunisia, started the third, and finished with two points on two blocks. He was credited with 15 running sets
2012: Played in eight World League sets, seven in pool play and one in the final round. Started five. Credited with 34 running sets (4.25 per set). Scored one point on one attack
2012: Started one set against Costa Rica at the NORCECA Olympic Qualification Tournament. Was credited with seven running sets. Did not score.
2011: FIVB World Cup
2011: NORCECA Men's Continental Championship (Silver Medal)
2011: London Volleyball International Invitational (Bronze Medal)
2011: FIVB World League.
2011: – Led all U.S. setters in 2011 with 514 assists on 1,799 attempts in 99 sets played (according to the FIVB. This does not include the London Invitational, which did not provide setting statistics). He averaged 5.19 assists per set in 2011. He also scored 33 points on four kills, 15 blocks and 14 aces
2011: Started 31 sets at the FIVB World Cup and finished with nine points on five kills and four blocks. The FIVB credited him with 220 assists on 665 attempts
2011: Played as a substitute in the NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship behind Kevin Hansen and was credited with 11 assists on 18 attempts in two sets
2011: Played in 13 sets of the London Volleyball International Invitational and started seven. Finished with three points on two aces and one block
2011: When setter Kevin Hansen had to undergo an appendectomy prior to the start of the 2011 season, Thornton moved into the backup setter role and traveled with the team to World League where he took over starting duties from Donald Suxho in the middle of the third match of pool play, which was in Puerto Rico. He started a total of 49 sets and played in 52. In pool play, he was credited with at total of 283 assists for an average of 5.44 per set. He also scored 15 points on two kills, 11 blocks and two aces.
2010: – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal).
2010: – For the U.S., Brian started four out of five matches (13 sets) at the Pan American Cup and placed third among all setters with 4.94 average assists per set. He did not receive a single setting fault. He scored six points on three kills, two blocks and one ace
2010: Played for Chaumont in France’s B League during the winter of 2010-11.
2009: – Pan American Cup (Gold Medal).
2009: –Accompanied a group of veteran and younger players on a five-match tour of Brazil
2009: Played in the 2009 Pan American Cup where the United States won the gold medal. Brian started one match and scored four points on one kills, two blocks and one ace.
2007: – World University Games (Bronze Medal)
2007: – A member of the World University Games team that won the bronze medal in Thailand.
2007: – Ended his career as UCI’s all-time set assists leader with 4,662
2007: totaled 1,645 assists as a senior which is also a UCI season record
2007: member of UC Irvine’s NCAA Championship team
2007: Named to the NCAA All-Tournament team
2007: Team went 29-5 which is the most wins in program history
2007: Second team All-American
2007: Third team All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
2007: Averaged 13.27 set assists which ranked fourth nationally
2007: Named MPSF Player of the Week on Jan. 8
2007: Named MVP of the UC Santa Barbara Invitational
2006: – Second team All-America as well as All-MPSF
2006: second team Asics/Volleyball Magazine All-American
2006: Averaged 13.70 set assists which led the nation
2006: His 1,548 set assists ranks third in the UCI season record book
2006: Averaged 1.60 digs and 0.65 blocks per game
2006: His 181 digs ranked 10th best in a season
2006: Fired 22 service aces.
2005: – Recorded 1,320 set assists, which is the fourth best total in the UCI season record books
2005: Averaged 12.57 set assists and 1.38 digs per game
2005: Ranked 11th nationally and fourth in the MPSF in assists
2005: Fired 21 service aces on the year
2005: Ranks seventh all-time in assists (1,469)
2005: Had a career-high 65 assists versus Pacific.
2004: – Played in 16 games before missing the rest of the year with Mononucleosis
2004: Averaged 9.31 set assists and 0.69 digs per game.