Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Nets Five AVCA All-Americans
4/30/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LONG BEACH – Five Long Beach State men's volleyball players have earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American honors. The organization made the announcement Monday morning. The Beach have three First Team All-Americans in TJ DeFalco, Kyle Ensing and Josh Tuaniga, while Nick Amado earned All-Second Team accolades, and Simon Anderson collected Honorable Mention.
Long Beach State leads all programs in this year's class with its five selections. The awards will be presented at the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Banquet on the campus of UCLA on Wednesday, May 2.
On the heels of being named Big West Conference Player of the year, DeFalco, a junior outside hitter, earns his third AVCA First Team All-America selection. This season DeFalco leads the Beach with 3.61 kills per set and 0.55 service aces per set. His kills per set average is good for fifth in the league and 16th in the nation, while he leads the Big West and is fifth in aces per set. DeFalco also owns a .375 attack percentage which ranks him second in the conference and 12th in the NCAA. Earlier this season, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native became the 21st player in program history to record 1,000 career kills and since then, has moved up to 12th all-time with 1,261.
Ensing, a junior opposite, collects AVCA First Team All-American honors after being named to the Second Team a year ago. The First Team All-Big West Conference selection joined DeFalco with 1,000 career kills earlier this season and has now amassed 1,019. Ensing is second on the team with 3.46 kills per set which ranks him fifth in the Big West and 16th in the nation. He also boasts an attack percentage of .357 which is third-best in the league and 14th in the country. The product out of Valencia, Calif., also averages 1.48 digs per set, 0.86 blocks per set, and 0.34 service aces per set.
Tuaniga, a junior setter, has been the key component to Long Beach State's offensive success piloting the Beach to a nation-leading .379 hitting percentage. Tuaniga garners AVCA First Team All-American accolades for the second time in his career. He was selected to the first team last year and the second team in his rookie season. A Long Beach, Calif., native, Tuaniga has distributed 10.50 assists per set this season to rank third in the Big West and sixth in the nation. He has racked up 3,437 career assists to become just the seventh player in LBSU men's volleyball program history to reach 3,000 assists in his career. Tuaniga was named MVP of the Big West Conference Tournament as he helped the Beach win the league and punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships.
Amado is a redshirt junior middle blocker who takes home AVCA Second Team All-American honors for the first time in his career. Amado has led the Beach at the net this season with 1.18 blocks per set which is good for second in the Big West and fifth in the country. He owns an attack percentage of .462 (130-21-236) and averages 1.57 kills per set. He has led Long Beach State in blocks on 10 occasions this season and recorded a career-high nine blocks at then-No. 4 UC Irvine to help lift the Beach over the Anteaters in four sets.
Rounding out Long Beach State's All-American selections is Anderson, a freshman middle blocker, who garnered Honorable Mention selection. The Middlefart, Denmark native has racked up the honors in his rookie campaign after having been named to the Big West All-Freshman Team, Big West Honorable Mention, Off the Block All-American Freshman Team, as well as being named Big West Freshman of the Week on seven occasions. Anderson owns a .490 attack percentage and is third on the team with 0.84 blocks per set.
Long Beach State now totals 36 AVCA All-Americans in program history. The Beach will take on the winner of the UC Irvine/Ohio State match in the NCAA Semifinals on Thursday, May 3 at 5 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.
