VolleyballMag.com Selects TJ DeFalco as Player of the Year, Alan Knipe as Coach of the Year

5/28/2019 5:07:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach garners four VolleyballMag.com All-America selections

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. – VolleyballMag.com announced its All-Americans on Tuesday afternoon and Long Beach State's TJ DeFalco was named Player of the Year, while head coach Alan Knipe took home Coach of the Year honors. Additionally, DeFalco, Josh Tuaniga, and Kyle Ensing were named to the All-America First Team, while Nick Amado was an Honorable Mention selection.

DeFalco was named VolleyballMag.com Player of the Year for the second-straight season after sharing the honors will Tuaniga a year ago. This season, DeFalco, a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year (2017 and 2019) and four-time First Team AVCA All-American, takes home the honors after an outstanding senior season in which he helped lead LBSU to its second consecutive NCAA National Championship. DeFalco was named 2019 NCAA Tournament MVP and finished his collegiate career as Long Beach State's all-time service aces leader with 183. Additionally, he is ranked fifth all-time at the Beach with 1,661 career kills.

Knipe collected VolleyballMag.com Coach of the Year honors after leading the Beach to back-to-back NCAA National Titles and a 28-2 overall record in 2019. With Knipe at the helm, Long Beach State posted a perfect 10-0 Big West Conference mark becoming the first LBSU men's volleyball program to ever go undefeated in conference action. If that weren't enough, Knipe guided the Beach to an undefeated 43-0 record inside the Walter Pyramid as the squad has not dropped a contest at home since 2016.

Joining DeFalco on the VolleyballMag.com All-American First Team are Tuaniga and Ensing. Tuaniga turned in a solid senior campaign as he piloted the LBSU offense to a .414 attack percentage which is good for second in the country. He racked up 4,607 career assists in his collegiate career to finish fourth all-time at Long Beach State.

Ensing collected VolleyballMag.com First Team All-American honors after being named the 2019 Big West Conference Player of the Year and an AVCA First Team All-American. He was a key component to Long Beach State's success as he led the team in kills for the majority of the season. Ensing wrapped up his career at the Beach with 1,421 career assists to rank 10th all-time at LBSU.

Amado rounds out the Beach's VolleyballMag.com All-Americans as the middle blocker earned Honorable Mention status after a solid senior season. The AVCA Second Team All-American led the Beach in blocks per set with 0.96 to rank in the top 25 in the country. Amado contributed on both sides of the ball as he added 1.81 kills per set on .545 hitting.