All-MPSF Volleyball Announced
April 14, 2016 2016 All-MPSF Men's Volleyball Selections
2016 MPSF Player of the Year
JAMES SHAW - #8 - SENIOR - SETTER - STANFORD
Stanford senior setter James Shaw (Woodside, CA/St. Francis HS) played a major role in taking the Cardinal from ninth-place in 2015 to tying for second in 2016. After missing half of last year due to injury, Shaw has set Stanford to a .334 team hitting percentage through the regular season, ranking second in the MPSF and third nationally. Shaw has served 32 aces entering the postseason, while tying for seventh in the conference in aces per set (0.36). In a five-set win at BYU on January 15, he dished a season-high 54 assists and served three aces. The following night, he collected a career-high 16 digs with 46 assists, one of four double-doubles on the year. He has accumulated 3,649 career assists to date, ranking third on Stanford's rally scoring list. Shaw was named AVCA National Player of the Week on April 5, after averaging 12.75 assists in Stanford's collective .372 hitting clip through wins over No. 10 CSUN and No. 5 Long Beach State. A four-time All-MPSF selection (twice on the first-team) and seeking a third All-American honor, Shaw is the third Cardinal to be named MPSF Player of the Year (Brad Lawson, 2010; Canyon Ceman, 1993). He is also the first setter to earn the honor since 2007 (Jon Winder, Pepperdine).
2016 MPSF Freshman of the Year
TJ DeFALCO - #11 - FRESHMAN - OUTSIDE HITTER - LONG BEACH STATE
Long Beach State freshman outside hitter TJ DeFalco (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach HS) has accumulated 2016 MPSF-highs of 523 points ( 4.98 p/s) and 449 kills (4.28 k/s), while hitting a solid .304 on the year. His 36 aces ties for fourth in the conference through the regular season. DeFalco also plays a key role defensively, picking up an MPSF third-most 215 digs to date. DeFalco was a two-time MPSF Player of the Week. His first honor came after serving a career-high six aces and putting away 21 kills (.432) vs. Cal Baptist (Jan. 15), along with 19 kills (.361) and three aces vs. USC (Jan. 16). His second weekly award came after a pair of double-doubles at Hawaii (Feb. 24-26), which included a career-high 15 digs in the second of two wins. DeFalco has recorded double-digit kills in 26 of his 28 matches, while picking up seven double-doubles. One of two freshmen to be named to the All-MPSF first team, DeFalco is the fourth 49er to earn MPSF Freshman of the Year (Mike Klipsch, 2008; Tyler Hildebrand, 2003; Scott Touzinsky, 2001-co).