OTB/Springbak unveil 2019 Preseason All-American Teams

A nationwide voting committee selected 21 players to the 2019 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Preseason All-American Teams.

The annual Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Preseason All-American Teams recognizes the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball players projected to be the best in the nation during the upcoming season.

The defending NCAA champions Long Beach State led all schools with five Preseason All-Americans. This also set a single-year record for most Preseason All-American selections by a team since Off the Block introduced this national award in 2012.

Along with Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Hawai’i, Lewis and UCLA had multiple players named to a Preseason All-American Team. BYU, Loyola, Ohio State, Pepperdine, Princeton, Stanford and USC each had one player earn the preseason national honor.

Players eligible for the Preseason All-American Teams had to be on an active roster of a Division I-II men’s volleyball team.

The 19-member voting committee for the preseason award was comprised of men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.

The 10 players receiving the most votes were named Preseason First-Team All-Americans, while the next top 10 vote-getters were selected as Preseason Second-Team All-Americans. A requirement that the top vote-getter from each position makes the Preseason All-American First Team resulted in 11 players earning a spot on the top team.

Outside attacker TJ DeFalco, setter Josh Tuaniga and middle attacker Daemen Gyimah all were unanimously voted as Preseason First-Team All-Americans.

DeFalco, the 2017 AVCA National Player of the Year, and Tuaniga, the 2018 AVCA National Player of the Year, guided Long Beach State last season to the program’s first national championship in 27 years. Gyimah won the 2018 Ryan Millar Award as the nation’s top middle attacker and helped UCLA make the NCAA Tournament finals.

This is the eighth consecutive season that Off the Block has presented the men’s volleyball Division I-II Preseason All-American Teams. Off the Block is the only volleyball organization to present men’s volleyball Preseason All-American Teams.

Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is nation’s leader in college men’s volleyball coverage.

Springbak, Inc. is the official sponsor of the 2019 Preseason All-American Teams. Springbak, Inc. produces high performance footwear used by professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, U.S. Olympic teams and the top college teams in the nation.

The NCAA men’s volleyball season begins on Dec. 30 and concludes with the seven-team NCAA Tournament in May.

Off the Block/Springbak Preseason First-Team All-Americans

Setter: Micah Ma’a, UCLA
Setter: Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
Opposite: Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State
Opposite: Gabi Garcia Fernandez, BYU
Outside attacker: Ryan Coenen, Lewis
Outside attacker: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai’i
Outside attacker: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Middle attacker: Daemen Gyimah, UCLA
Middle attacker: Scott Stadick, UC Irvine
Libero: Michael Simmons, Lewis

Off the Block/Springbak Preseason Second-Team All-Americans

Setter: Joe Worsley, Hawai’i
Setter: Garrett Zolg, Loyola
Opposite: Karl Apfelbach, UC Irvine
Opposite: Jake Hanes, Ohio State
Opposite: George Huhmann, Princeton
Opposite: Jaylen Jasper, Stanford
Outside attacker: Joel Schneidmiller, UC Irvine
Middle attacker: Nick Amado, Long Beach State
Middle attacker: Sam Lewis, USC
Libero: Jordan Molina, Long Beach State

Players receiving votes on multiple ballots

Kyle Dagastino, Stanford
Aaron Kobui, UC Irvine
Garland Peed, UCLA
Simon Andersen, Long Beach State
Dylan Missry, UCLA
Matt Yoshimoto, Lewis
Collin Mahan, Loyola
Patrick Gasman, Hawai’i
Gage Worsley, Hawai’i
Jack Wyett, USC
Emmet Enriques, CSUN
Angelos Mandilaris, Barton
Brett Rosenmeier, Hawai’i
Sanil Thomas, Ohio State
Rado Parapunov, Hawai’i
Pelegrin Vargas, Purdue Fort Wayne
Liam Maxwell, Belmont Abbey
Calvin Mende, Penn State
Dante Chakravorti, UC Irvine
Austin Matautia, UCLA
Cory Chavers, UC Santa Barbara
Alvaro Gimeno, NJIT
Evan Cory, Lincoln Memorial