TJ DeFalco Is The 2017 Men's Volleyball Player Of The Year

At the men’s volleyball All-Americans banquet in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, May 3, the American Volleyball Coaches Association named Long Beach State sophomore outside hitter TJ DeFalco the 2017 Team Snap/AVCA Division I-II Men’s Player of the Year.

In his second collegiate season, DeFalco averaged 3.99 kills per set, good for sixth in the nation. His .394 hitting percentage is the best average in the nation for a non-middle, and seventh-best overall.

DeFalco also earned the 2017 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year award after leading his team to the regular-season conference title. He was then named the MPSF Tournament Most Outstanding Player honor after contributing 12 kills and nine digs in the 49ers’ conference championship defeat of Hawaii.

The Huntington Beach native is the fourth Long Beach State player to earn the award, following in the footsteps of University of Brent Hilliard (1992), who is now the assistant coach at the University of San Diego; Paul Lotman (2008), a former member of the U.S. Men’s National Team and a 2012 Olympian; and Taylor Crabb (2013), who is now playing beach volleyball professionally on the AVP and FIVB tours.