MEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK • TJ DeFALCO, LONG BEACH STATE
Senior • Outside Hitter • Huntington Beach, Calif. • Huntington Beach HS
• Earning his fourth career Big West Men’s Volleyball Player of the Week award, Long Beach State senior TJ DeFalco was brilliant in a pair of five-set wins over No. 1 Hawai‘i.
• With both LBSU and UH entering a two-match series with identical 8-0 Big West records, DeFalco hit .389 (39-11-72) with 39 kills, 20 digs, nine blocks, seven assists, and six aces over a marathon 10 sets.
• LBSU trailed in both matches two sets to one, but DeFalco contributed heavily to back-to-back comeback wins and helped hand the previously undefeated ‘Bows their first two defeats of 2019.
• The 6-foot-4 outside hitter hit .500 (18-4-28) on Friday with nine digs, four assists, four aces and a block.
• With the Big West title on the line Saturday, DeFalco slammed a career-high 21 kills and added 11 digs to secure his 17th career double-double. He chipped in with a career-best eight blocks to hold off the UH attack.
Others nominated: Dimitar Kalchev (CSUN); Karl Apfelbach (UC Irvine); Corey Chavers (UC Santa Barbara)
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK •
ETHAN SIEGFRIED, LONG BEACH STATE
Sophomore • Outside Hitter • Honolulu, Hawai‘i • Punahou HS
• Long Beach State sophomore Ethan Siegfried captured his first career Big West Men’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week as an outstanding contributor in a pair of wins against No. 1 Hawai‘i.
• The 6-foot-1 outside hitter came off the bench on Friday and helped the Beach to a five-set comeback with six kills, four digs, six block assists and two aces.
• Siegfried earned the start on Saturday and had a career-best performance, notching his first career double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs in another five-set triumph that clinched the Big West regular season title for LBSU.
• He added four more block assists in the rematch, averaging 1.00 blocks per set for the week.
Others nominated: Scott Stadick (UC Irvine); Ryan Lew (UC San Diego); Hayden Boehle (UC Santa Barbara); Gage Worsley (Hawai‘i)
BIG WEST MEN'S VOLLEYBALL FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE WEEK •
TAYLOR ITTNER, CSUN
Setter • Meadow Vista, Calif. • Placer HS
• Securing his third Big West Men’s Volleyball Freshman Player of the Week award, CSUN setter Taylor Ittner averaged 12.29 assists as the Matadors capped the regular season with two wins over UC San Diego.
• Ittner tallied 86 assists over seven sets and led the CSUN offense to a .339 hitting percentage in Saturday’s four-set win with 45 helpers.
• He added 10 digs in Saturday’s win to cement his third double-double of the season. Ittner averaged 2.43 digs and 1.00 blocks per set for the week.
Others nominated: Jonny Bowles (UC Irvine); Logan Clark (UC San Diego); Ryan Wilcox (UC Santa Barbara)