It just sounds different, when the ball comes off the whip of an arm from TJ DeFalco. As it should. The 24-year-old from Missouri is fresh off his first Olympics, playing outside hitter on the United States indoor team, specializing in a back row hit few in the world put away at a higher clip.
TJ DeFalco joins Nick Lucena in entertaining opening day at Manhattan Beach
DeFalco may be playing his first AVP event in four years, but he's picked it back up in no time
Published 07:11, 21 Aug 2021
Photo: AVP
Now he’s in Manhattan Beach, playing in his first AVP tournament since Manhattan Beach of 2017, when he fell in the first round of the qualifier.
A lot can change in four years.
A lot has.
DeFalco graduated from Long Beach State in 2019 as an All-American, the two-time AVCA Player of the Year. He was unanimously considered one of the best in the country. He signed to play for an Italian club, Volley Callipo, and in that same season he won a NORCECA Championship with the United States national team and was named Best Outside Spiker.
But he had a gap between the Olympics and when he had to return overseas to AZS Olsztyn, a club in Poland with whom he recently signed. It just so happened that Nick Lucena also had a gap for a partner, as Phil Dalhausser couldn’t play the Manhattan Beach Open because of a family emergency.
Lucena phoned Matt Fuerbringer, his old partner from 2010-2012, asked if he knew of any blockers who weren’t yet signed up for the Manhattan Open. Fuerbringer currently coaches the women’s indoor team at Long Beach State. He’s still well attuned to the comings and goings on the beaches of Southern California.
What about DeFalco?
Their first practice was on Tuesday, with the tournament beginning Friday. Lucena came straight off a flight and it wasn’t as bad as he figured it might have gone, all things considered: the fact that they had never played together, that DeFalco’s last AVP event was four years prior, that neither is a true blocker, that, uh, you know, DeFalco doesn't play beach anymore.
DeFalco knew there was much, much more that could be done. They showed as much on Friday in Manhattan Beach, putting on a wildly entertaining show in both of their matches on stadium court. DeFalco and Lucena lost to Billy Allen and Andy Benesh, 25-23, 14-21, 12-15, in the second round, but they did so in such a crowd-pleasing manner it didn't really feel as if anyone actually lost. Lucena opened the match with a skyball serve. DeFalco bounced one out of the stadium after the next. The rallies were endless, and endlessly entertaining.
It was fun for all involved. Fun for Lucena to play without the pressure of Olympic qualification. Fun for DeFalco, who is, yes, a phenomenal beach volleyball player, to get back in the sand. Fun for the fans to see such a live arm, an arm many don’t see much on the beach, an arm that “sounds like it’s hitting a drum,” NBC commentator Kevin Wong said.
No matter what it was hitting, it was being hit hard.
“TJ DeFalco likes the exclamation point plays,” Wong said. “There are a couple ways for him to put the ball down, but he’s going to take the most violent one.”
Indeed, Lucena and DeFalco won their second match of the day, 21-10, 21-12, and will meet Lev Priima and Jake Landel at 11:20 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday.
"Unbelievable talent," said Jason Lochhead, who is coaching Lucena and DeFalco this week. "He's got a crazy fast arm, really nice touch, and he's fast in the sand. If he wanted to play beach full time he could be a top player in the world for sure."
Entertaining as they were, and are, Lucena and DeFalco will not be the main attraction on Saturday. That title belongs to the much-anticipated clash between Olympic gold medalists April Ross and Alix Klineman and rising stars Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth. In Atlanta one week ago, it was Nuss and Kloth who emerged from the qualifier in their first AVP event together and won the entire event, winning every single match along the way. Now they’re pitted against the best team in the world, in a primetime morning matchup that will pack the stands early.
Immediately after is another match sure to keep the fans planted: USC’s Megan Kraft and Tina Graudina, who finished fourth at both the Olympics and European Championships, vs. Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil, one of the brightest young American teams.
All of which is a long way of saying that the entertainment will begin early, at 9 a.m., and won't end until sunset.
It's the Manhattan Beach Open, after all.
