Men’s 2018 Preseason Player of the Year Watch: Can TJ DeFalco Repeat?

The 2018 Men’s Volleyball season commences this week, so who are some players to keep an eye on that have the spotlight on them to start 2018? Below is the VolleyMob Men’s 2018 Preseason Player of the Year Watch List.

One thing we know about the National Player of the Year is that he will come from one of the top teams in the country, which at the very least makes the list a bit more narrowed. The following below are the top 10 but there is no actual order to those 10 as the list comes in alphabetical order based on last name.

Jake Arnitz – 6’7″ | Senior | OH | UCLA

• 2017 Second-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 3.51 kills per set (.386), 0.99 digs per set, 0.62 blocks per set, 0.19 aces per set
• UCLA is ranked fourth in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Ryan Coenen – 6’9″ | RS Sophomore | OH | Lewis

• 2017 AVCA Newcomer of the Year, Second-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MIVA
• 2017 Stats: 3.20 kills per set (.288), 1.13 digs per set, 0.66 blocks per set, 0.25 aces per set
• Lewis is ranked fifth in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

TJ DeFalco – 6’4″ | Junior | OH | Long Beach State

• 2017 AVCA National Player of the Year, First-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 3.99 kills per set (.389), 1.70 digs per set, 0.71 blocks per set, 0.31 aces per set
• Long Beach State is ranked second in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Jeff Jendryk – 6’10” | Senior | MB | Loyola-Chicago

• 2017 First-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MIVA
• 2017 Stats: 2.15 kills per set (.431), 1.16 blocks per set, 0.41 digs per set, 0.21 aces per set
•  ranked fourth in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Kevin Rakestraw – 7’0″ | Redshirt Senior | MB | Stanford

• 2017 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, Second-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 2.16 kills per set (.433), 1.04 blocks per set, 0.25 digs per set, 0.19 aces per set
• Stanford is ranked sixth in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Brenden Sander – 6’4″ | Senior | OH | BYU

• 2017 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, Second-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 2.95 kills per set (.290), 1.05 digs per set, 0.69 blocks per set, 0.35 aces per set
• BYU is ranked third in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Scott Stadick – 7’0″ | Sophomore | MB | UC Irvine

• 2017 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, MPSF Freshman of the Year, MPSF Honorable Mention
• 2017 Stats: 1.88 kills per set (.421), 1.19 blocks per set, 0.21 digs per set, 0.08 aces per set
• UC Irvine is ranked eighth in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Nicolas Szerszen – 6’4″ | Senior | OH | Ohio State

• 2017 First-Team AVCA All-American, MIVA Player of the Year, 2016 AVCA Player of the Year
• 2017 Stats: 3.73 kills per set (.389), 1.65 digs per set, 0.38 blocks per set, 0.64 aces per set
• Ohio State is ranked first in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Josh Tuaniga – 6’3″ | Junior | S | Long Beach State

• 2017 First-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 11.06 assists per set, 1.38 digs per set, 0.69 kills per set (.475), 0.60 blocks per set, 0.29 aces per set
• Long Beach State is ranked second in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20

Stijn van Tilbrurg – RS | Hawaii

• 2017 First-Team AVCA All-American, First-Team All-MPSF
• 2017 Stats: 4.25 kills per set (.370), 1.21 digs per set, 0.69 blocks per set, 0.14 aces per set
• Hawaii is ranked seventh in the preseason VolleyMob Top 20