Mason Briggs (born 21 January 2001) is an American volleyball player who plays as a libero. Raised in Valencia, California, he developed through Legacy Volleyball Club, Bishop Alemany High School and Long Beach State before beginning his professional career in France. At Long Beach State, Briggs became a five-time AVCA All-American, twice won the Erik Shoji Award as the nation’s top collegiate libero and finished his career with 928 digs.
Briggs made his senior United States debut at the 2021 NORCECA Continental Championship. His international career has since included the 2022 World Championship, multiple Volleyball Nations League campaigns, Pan American competitions and a silver medal at the 2026 VNL Final. The United States also won the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship with Briggs on the roster.
Player Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Mason Briggs |
| Date of Birth | 21 January 2001 |
| Nationality | American |
| Raised In | Valencia, California, United States |
| Position | Libero |
| Height | 182 cm |
| Weight | 76 kg |
| Spike Reach | 319 cm |
| Block Reach | 301 cm |
| Dominant Hand | Right |
| College | Long Beach State University |
| Degree | Business Finance; minor in Consumer Affairs |
| Current Club | Nice Volley-Ball |
| Club Number | 3 |
| Previous Team | Long Beach State |
| National Team | United States Men’s National Volleyball Team |
| Senior National Team | 2021–present |
| National-Team Number | 3 |
| Career Status | Active |
| @masonsbriggs |
Volleyball World lists Briggs at 182 cm, while Long Beach State and USA Volleyball use six feet, approximately 183 cm. His weight, spike reach, block reach and dominant hand are listed by established player databases rather than the current national-team profile.
Early Life & Volleyball Beginnings
Briggs grew up in Valencia in a family where volleyball was already familiar. His parents are Steve and Dina Briggs, and his two older brothers also played the sport: Trevor competed at Long Beach State from 2017 to 2019, while Tanner played at Vanguard University.
His athletic background was broader than volleyball during childhood. Briggs has described growing up playing many sports in his neighborhood before eventually directing more of his attention toward volleyball. He played several positions while developing—including setter and outside hitter—before settling at libero.
That positional background helped give him a wider understanding of the game. A libero normally operates almost entirely in the back row, but experience as a setter and attacker can improve recognition of approach patterns, setter intentions and the options available to opposing hitters.
Briggs attended Bishop Alemany High School, where he was a four-year varsity player and became one of Southern California’s leading high-school prospects. He was named the school’s Player of the Year three times, earned All-Mission League recognition three times and was selected as a 2019 AVCA High School All-American. He also recorded a 36-dig match, a school single-match record.
His national-team development started well before college. Briggs spent multiple years within USA Volleyball’s High Performance pathway and represented the U.S. at youth level. He helped the 2018 Boys Youth National Team win silver at the NORCECA U19 Championship and later competed at the 2019 FIVB U19 World Championship, where USA Volleyball credits him with the tournament’s second-best digs-per-set average at 1.64.
Club Career
Long Beach State
Briggs joined Long Beach State for the 2020 season and immediately became the starting libero.
His freshman year was shortened, but his impact was clear enough for him to earn AVCA Second Team All-America honors and share the Big West Freshman of the Year award. He led Long Beach State with 92 digs in 11 matches and averaged 2.24 digs per set.
Briggs remained the center of the Beach backcourt for the next four seasons.
In 2021, he averaged 2.64 digs per set, leading the Big West and ranking among the national leaders. His consistency earned AVCA All-America Honorable Mention recognition.
The 2022 season marked his first major jump in national individual recognition. Briggs averaged 2.51 digs per set and helped Long Beach State reach the NCAA championship match. He was named an AVCA First Team All-American, earned First Team All-Big West honors and received both major Off the Block awards for his position: the Erik Shoji Award as the nation’s top libero and the Steve Shondell Award as the nation’s top passer.
He retained the Erik Shoji Award in 2023. Briggs again led the Big West in digs per set, averaging 2.38, and Long Beach State reported a 94.8 percent successful passing rate over 453 service receptions. He was again selected to the AVCA All-America First Team and All-Big West First Team.
His final collegiate season in 2024 added another First Team All-America selection. Briggs helped Long Beach State win both the Big West regular-season title and the conference tournament before reaching another NCAA championship match.
Individual milestones accumulated during that run. He became only the second Long Beach State men’s volleyball player to reach 900 career digs and finished with 928, second on the program’s all-time list when his college career ended.
Long Beach State lost the 2024 national championship match to UCLA in four sets, with Briggs recording seven digs and six assists in his final appearance for the Beach. The defeat closed a five-season collegiate career that included two NCAA final appearances and All-America recognition in every season he played.
Nice Volley-Ball
Briggs moved directly into professional volleyball after college, joining Nice Volley-Ball in France for 2024–25.
France provided a different kind of test from the NCAA. Professional liberos face older and more physically developed servers, longer seasons and a tactical environment in which opposing teams can spend weeks studying reception patterns and targeting individual passers.
Briggs remained with Nice through 2025–26. The season’s strongest team result came in the Coupe de France, where Nice produced a five-set semifinal comeback against Tours to reach the final at Adidas Arena in Paris.
Paris Volley won the final 3–1, leaving Nice as Coupe de France runner-up. Despite missing the trophy, the cup run represented Briggs’s first major professional final in Europe.
Nice retained Briggs again for 2026–27. The French league’s current roster lists him as the club’s No. 3 libero alongside Nathan Cudeville, making this his third professional season with Nice.
Club Career Timeline
| Seasons | Team | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2020–2024 | Long Beach State | United States |
| 2024–present | Nice Volley-Ball | France |
National Team Career
Youth National Teams
Briggs’s relationship with USA Volleyball began years before his senior debut.
He progressed through the organization’s High Performance programs and was selected to the Boys Youth National Team in both 2018 and 2019. The 2018 team won silver at the NORCECA U19 Championship.
At the 2019 FIVB U19 World Championship, the United States finished 15th, but Briggs produced a notable individual defensive tournament. USA Volleyball credits him with 1.64 digs per set, second among all players in the competition.
He was later selected for the 2020 Men’s Junior National Training Team and the 2021 Men’s Collegiate National Training Team.
Senior Debut in 2021
Briggs made his senior U.S. national-team debut at the 2021 NORCECA Continental Championship.
The step came while he was still playing college volleyball, beginning an overlap between his Long Beach State career and his development inside the senior national-team system.
He returned for the 2022 international season and appeared during the Volleyball Nations League. Briggs was also selected for the FIVB Men’s World Championship, where the United States reached the quarterfinals and finished sixth.
The same year produced two individual defensive awards in Pan American competition. The United States won bronze at the Pan American Cup, where Briggs was named Best Digger, and another bronze at the NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six, where he received Best Receiver honors.
Building International Experience from 2023 to 2025
Briggs continued to accumulate senior international experience after the 2022 World Championship.
The United States won the 2023 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six with Briggs on the roster. In 2024, he appeared during the VNL before taking a more prominent role in the Pan American events later in the year.
The U.S. earned silver at the 2024 Pan American Cup and then won the 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six. Briggs was named Best Receiver at the Final Six, adding another international individual award to his defensive résumé.
He also captained the U.S. roster at the 2024 Final Six, a role that reflected his increasing experience within national-team groups despite still being early in his professional club career.
Briggs returned to VNL action in 2025 as the United States continued to develop depth behind long-time starting libero Erik Shoji.
2026 VNL Silver
The 2026 Volleyball Nations League became Briggs’s biggest senior team result to that point.
He was selected for the U.S. preliminary roster and appeared during Weeks One and Three. The United States finished the preliminary round 8–4 and qualified for the VNL Finals in Ningbo Beilun.
Briggs remained on the 15-player roster for the knockout stage alongside Erik Shoji.
The United States defeated reigning world champion Italy 3–0 in the quarterfinal and then survived a five-set semifinal against previously unbeaten Japan. Poland won the championship match in five sets, giving the U.S. the silver medal.
It was the United States’ first VNL medal since 2023 and Briggs’s first medal at the competition.
2026 NORCECA Champion
Briggs remained with the national team for the September 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship in Moncton, Canada.
The United States won every match, defeating Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Cuba in pool play before receiving a quarterfinal bye. A semifinal sweep of the Dominican Republic secured qualification for the 2027 Men’s World Cup.
The championship match against Canada went five sets. The United States won 15–13 in the fifth to complete an unbeaten tournament and claim continental gold.
Briggs wore No. 3 throughout the competition and served as one of two liberos alongside Erik Shoji. The championship closed a national-team season in which he had been part of both the VNL silver-medal roster and the NORCECA title-winning squad.
Playing Style & Strengths
Briggs’s game is built around the two areas that define elite libero play: serve reception and floor defense.
His college career provides a strong statistical base for that assessment. He repeatedly ranked among the Big West and national leaders in digs per set, including 2.51 in 2022, 2.38 in 2023 and 2.24 in his final season. By the end of his Long Beach State career, he had accumulated 928 digs.
Reception may be even more central to his value. The 2022 Steve Shondell Award specifically recognized him as the nation’s top collegiate passer, and Long Beach State reported a 94.8 percent successful passing mark during his 2023 season.
For a libero, those numbers are not simply individual statistics. A controlled first contact determines how many attacking options the setter can use. When Briggs keeps the ball close to the setter’s ideal zone, the middle attack remains available and opposing blockers have less freedom to commit early to the pins.
His defensive game also depends on reading rather than reach. At roughly 182 cm, Briggs has a typical libero build, so his effectiveness comes from positioning, anticipation and his ability to turn hard-driven attacks into playable second contacts.
His background at other positions contributes to that reading process. Briggs played setter and outside hitter before specializing at libero, giving him firsthand familiarity with what attackers see when approaching and how setters disguise their intentions.
Internationally, his role has increasingly required adaptation. Playing alongside Erik Shoji means Briggs may move between starting, specialist and depth responsibilities depending on the roster and match. The progression from age-group volleyball to the 2026 VNL Final demonstrates that he has remained within the U.S. pipeline while transitioning from collegiate standout to professional libero.
Major Achievements
Selected National Team Honors
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | NORCECA U19 Championship | Silver Medal |
| 2022 | Pan American Cup | Bronze Medal |
| 2022 | NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six | Bronze Medal |
| 2023 | NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six | Gold Medal |
| 2024 | Pan American Cup | Silver Medal |
| 2024 | NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six | Gold Medal |
| 2026 | Volleyball Nations League | Silver Medal |
| 2026 | NORCECA Continental Championship | Gold Medal |
Selected Club Honors
| Year / Season | Competition | Result | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Big West Regular Season | Champion | Long Beach State |
| 2022 | NCAA Championship | Runner-up | Long Beach State |
| 2023 | Big West Regular Season | Champion | Long Beach State |
| 2024 | Big West Regular Season | Champion | Long Beach State |
| 2024 | Big West Championship | Champion | Long Beach State |
| 2024 | NCAA Championship | Runner-up | Long Beach State |
| 2025–26 | Coupe de France | Runner-up | Nice Volley-Ball |
Selected Individual Awards
| Year | Competition / Organization | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Big West | Co-Freshman of the Year |
| 2020 | AVCA | Second Team All-American |
| 2021 | AVCA | All-America Honorable Mention |
| 2022 | AVCA | First Team All-American |
| 2022 | Off the Block | Erik Shoji Award |
| 2022 | Off the Block | Steve Shondell Award |
| 2022 | Pan American Cup | Best Digger |
| 2022 | NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six | Best Receiver |
| 2023 | AVCA | First Team All-American |
| 2023 | Off the Block | Erik Shoji Award |
| 2024 | AVCA | First Team All-American |
| 2024 | NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six | Best Receiver |
Briggs’s back-to-back Erik Shoji Awards in 2022 and 2023 are particularly significant because the award is selected specifically for the best libero in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball.
Personal Life & Interests
Volleyball has been a family sport for Briggs. His older brother Trevor played for Long Beach State, while Tanner competed at Vanguard University. Staying in Southern California was one factor in Briggs choosing Long Beach State, allowing the brothers to remain close while pursuing college volleyball.
Briggs also completed his degree in Business Finance with a minor in Consumer Affairs.
Away from the court, his personal website describes his upbringing in Valencia, his Catholic-school education and his achievement of the Eagle Scout rank. He has also developed a substantial public profile around volleyball training, media and his pursuit of a larger role with the U.S. national team.
That public-facing activity has grown alongside his playing career rather than replacing it. Briggs has continued professional volleyball in France while producing volleyball-focused content and maintaining a direct connection with younger players and supporters online.
Where Is Mason Briggs Playing Now?
Mason Briggs plays for Nice Volley-Ball in France’s top men’s division.
The official French league roster for 2026–27 lists him as Nice’s No. 3 libero, confirming a third consecutive season with the club after he arrived from Long Beach State in 2024.
His previous season included Nice’s run to the 2026 Coupe de France final. Nice defeated Tours in five sets in the semifinal before losing 3–1 to Paris Volley at Adidas Arena.
Briggs also remains active with the United States Men’s National Volleyball Team, wearing No. 3. His 2026 international season included a VNL silver medal and NORCECA Continental Championship gold.
Recent Performance Snapshot
| Competition / Period | Team | Result / Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 Coupe de France | Nice Volley-Ball | Runner-up |
| 2026 Volleyball Nations League | United States | Silver Medal |
| 2026 VNL Final | United States | Selected as one of two liberos |
| 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship | United States | Gold Medal |
| 2026–27 French top division | Nice Volley-Ball | No. 3 libero |
The 2026 results show Briggs continuing to balance a full professional club schedule in France with an expanding role in the U.S. senior national-team program.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Mason Briggs?
Mason Briggs was born on 21 January 2001. He is 25 years old as of October 2026.
How tall is Mason Briggs?
Volleyball World lists Briggs at 182 cm. USA Volleyball and Long Beach State list him at six feet, which is approximately 183 cm.
What position does Mason Briggs play?
Briggs plays libero. His primary responsibilities are serve reception, floor defense and helping turn defensive contacts into playable transition opportunities.
Which club does Mason Briggs play for?
Briggs plays for Nice Volley-Ball in France. He remains on the club’s roster for the 2026–27 season.
What number does Mason Briggs wear?
Briggs wears No. 3 for Nice Volley-Ball and No. 3 for the United States men’s national team.
Where did Mason Briggs play college volleyball?
Briggs played at Long Beach State from 2020 through 2024. He was a five-time All-American and finished his college career with 928 digs.
Has Mason Briggs played for the U.S. senior national team?
Yes. Briggs made his senior debut at the 2021 NORCECA Continental Championship and has since represented the United States in the VNL, World Championship, Pan American competitions and NORCECA Championship.
What are Mason Briggs’s biggest international achievements?
His senior national-team honors include silver at the 2026 Volleyball Nations League and gold at the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship. He also won the 2023 and 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup Final Six.
References
- USA Volleyball — Mason Briggs athlete profile
- Volleyball World — Mason Briggs VNL 2026 player profile
- USA Volleyball — 2026 Men’s Volleyball Nations League Final
- USA Volleyball — U.S. Men capture gold at the 2026 NORCECA Continental Championship
- USA Volleyball — 2026 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship
- Ligue Nationale de Volley — Nice Volley-Ball 2026–27 roster
- Nice Volley-Ball — 2025–26 season review and Coupe de France final run
- Long Beach State — Mason Briggs player biography and career statistics
- Long Beach State — Mason Briggs wins the 2023 Erik Shoji Award
- Long Beach State — Mason Briggs wins the 2022 Erik Shoji and Steve Shondell Awards
- Long Beach State — 2024 Big West Championship victory
- Long Beach State — 2024 NCAA National Championship final
- Big West — Mason Briggs 2024 Defensive Player of the Week profile
- Mason Briggs — Personal biography
- Volleybox — Mason Briggs player data and club history
