TJ DeFalco Named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week

4/16/2019 10:59:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

DeFalco picks up the honors for the fourth time in his career after closing the regular season with an outstanding performance

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. – A day after being named Big West Conference Player of the Week, Long Beach State senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco garnered Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honors. The announcement came Tuesday morning from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

DeFalco earned the honors for the fourth time in his career after closing out the regular season with an extraordinary performance. The 6-foot-4 senior led the Beach to a pair of five-set victories over previously undefeated and top-ranked Hawaii last week to help Long Beach State win the Big West Regular Season Title and clinch the No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament.

The product out of Huntington Beach, Calif., hit .389 on the week with 39 kills, 20 digs, nine blocks, seven assists, and six aces.

On Friday night, DeFalco hit .500 as he registered 18 kills on 28 swings with just four errors. He added nine digs, four aces, four assists, and one block.

DeFalco took the court the next day, one senior night, and turned in a season-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs for his 17th career double-double. In that match, he also put up a career-high eight blocks to lead the Beach on blocking defense.