LBSU Men's Volleyball Has Record Three Players Earn Freshman All-America Honors
4/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LONG BEACH - The Long Beach State men's volleyball team had a record three players named to the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Freshmen All-American Team as selected by a nationwide voting committee on Monday.
The more than 25-member voting committee was comprised of college men's volleyball head coaches and reporters from around the nation.
The Beach is the first team to have three Freshman All-America selections in the three-year history of the award. Outside hitter TJ DeFalco received the most votes of any player, while setter Josh Tuaniga and opposite Kyle Ensing were among the top-five vote-getters.
DeFalco, who was tabbed the MPSF Freshman of the Year last week, leads the conference and ranks among the top-five in the nation with 541 points (5.01/set) and 462 kills (4.28/set), while hitting a solid .300. The Huntington Beach, Calif., native has reached double figures in kills in 27 of 29 matches played. He also surpassed the 20-kill mark on eight occasions and owns a team-best seven double-doubles. DeFalco, who was a first-team All-MPSF selection, was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on Jan. 19 and was a two-time conference player of the week.
Tuaniga is tops in the MPSF and fourth in the nation with 11.13 assists per set. He has directed Long Beach State to a .329 hitting percentage, which is good for fourth in all of NCAA Division I-II. The Long Beach native has dished out 45 or more assists on 12 occasions and finished with a season-high 63 at UC Santa Barbara and at Pepperdine. He also registered a double-double with 40 assists and 11 digs vs. BYU on Jan. 22.
Ensing has started 29 of LBSU's 30 matches and ranks second on the squad with 3.09 kills and 1.90 digs per set. He has reached double digits in kills 18 times with four double-doubles. The Valencia, Calif., native put down a season-best 27 kills, while committing only four errors on 50 swings for a .460 clip at Pepperdine.
Tuaniga and Ensing were both second-team All-MPSF selections.
No. 4 Long Beach State (24-6) is back in action this week with an MPSF Tournament semifinal match against No. 3 UCLA (24-5) in Provo, Utah, on Thursday, April 21. First serve is set for 5 p.m. (MDT)/4 p.m. (PDT).
OFF THE BLOCK/SPRINGBAK, INC. FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Setter: Micah Ma'a UCLA
Setter: Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Opposite: Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State
Opposite: Mitch Perinar, Lewis
Opposite: Joao Victor Santos, Coker
Opposite: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai'i
Outside Hitter: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
Outside Hitter: Dimitar Kalchev, CSUN
Outside Hitter: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
