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Long Beach State along with the No. 1 overall seed will now enter the upcoming VolleyFour with the most All-Americans.
The 49ers led all schools with four players earning All-American honors as the AVCA unveiled the 20 recipients of the national honor on Monday.
Outside attacker TJ DeFalco, opposite Kyle Ensing and setter Josh Tuaniga all earned First-Team All-American honors. In addition, middle attacker Nick Amado was named a Second-Team All-American.
DeFalco, the 2018 Big West Player of the Year, also is attempting to repeat as the AVCA National Player of the Year. The top individual honor in college men’s volleyball will be announced Wednesday night at the NCAA Tournament banquet.
Hawai’i finished behind Long Beach State with three All-American selections, including outside attacker Stijn Van Tilburg and libero Larry Tuileta earning first-team honors.
NCAA Tournament participants BYU, UCLA, Ohio State and UC Irvine each had multiple players earn All-American honors. In addition, CSUN, Lewis, Loyola, Pepperdine and Stanford all had one player make an All-American Team.
Along with the All-American Teams, BYU freshman opposite Gabi Garcia Fernandez was named the 2018 National Newcomer of the Year. Fernandez ended the season among the national leaders with averaging both 3.44 kills per game and 0.48 aces per game.
The AVCA All-American Teams are determined by a 10-person voting committed comprised of head coaches from all five men’s volleyball conferences.
AVCA First-Team All-Americans
Setter: Micah Ma’a, UCLA
Setter: Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Opposite: Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: Brenden Sander, BYU
Outside attacker: Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State
Outside attacker: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
Middle attacker: Daenan Gyimah, UCLA
Middle attacker: Jeff Jendryk, Loyola
Libero: Larry Tuileta, Hawai’i
AVCA Second-Team All-Americans
Setter: Joe Worsley, Hawai’i
Opposite: Karl Apfelbach, UC Irvine
Opposite: Gabi Garica Fernandez, BYU
Opposite: Arvis Greene, CSUN
Outside attacker: Ryan Coenen, Lewis
Outside attacker: Maxime Hervoir, Ohio State
Outside attacker: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Middle attacker: Nick Amado, Long Beach State
Middle attacker: Scott Stadick, UC Irvine
Libero: Evan Enriques, Stanford
AVCA All-American Honorable Mentions
Setter: Leo Durkin, BYU
Setter: Brian Negron, George Mason
Setter: Sanil Thomas, Ohio State
Setter: Matt Yoshimoto, Lewis
Setter: Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Opposite: George Huhmann, Princeton
Opposite: Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
Opposite: Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
Opposite: Tanner Syftestad, UC San Diego
Opposite: Hayden Wagner, George Mason
Outside attacker: Jake Arnitz, UCLA
Outside attacker: Christian Hessenauer, UCLA
Outside attacker: JT Hatch, UCLA
Outside attacker: Aaron Koubi, UC Irvine
Outside attacker: Collin Mahan, Loyola
Outside attacker: Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine
Outside attacker: Jeff Sprayberry, King
Outside attacker: Pelegrin Vargas, Fort Wayne
Outside attacker: Jack Wyett, USC
Middle attacker: Simon Anderson, Long Beach State
Middle attacker: Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Middle attacker: Hunter Howell, Concordia-Irvine
Middle attacker: Price Jarman, BYU
Middle attacker: Matt Walsh, Ball State
Libero: Joshua Ayzenberg, Sacred Heart
Libero: Michael Simmons, Lewis