#5 49ers Face #1 UCLA; UC Irvine This Week
LBSU Looking For Back-to-Back Road Wins
February 10, 2004 PDF VERSION of this RELEASE 9-3, 4-2 MPSF
Home: 5-2 • Away: 2-0 • Neutral: 2-1
No. 5 AVCA / No. 6 Volleyball Magazine
Quickly:
#5-ranked Long Beach State (9-3, 4-2) squares off against the #1-ranked Bruins of UCLA (10-1, 5-1) on Wednesday, February 11 in Pauley Pavilion, before returning home to face the #8-ranked UC Irvine Anteaters (5-7) on Friday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. in The Pyramid. The UCLA-Long Beach State match can be heard on www.longbeachstate.com.
Last Match:
Long Beach State snapped its six-match losing streak to the Pepperdine Waves on Feb. 4 with a 3-1 victory at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu. Scott Touzinsky led The Beach with a match-high 25 kills. In fact Touzinsky's 25th kill ended the match. Touzinsky, who also added one ace, four digs, and two blocks, has recorded 65 kills in his last two matches played (7.22 kills/gm). Jeff Wootton added 20 kills and three blocks. Duncan Budinger chipped in with a season-high 12 kills, while David Lee rounded out the top 49er kill leaders with 10. Paul Munoz registered a season-high 18 digs, while Nate Hagstrom poured in a career-best 11 digs. Tyler Hildebrand netted a match-best 67 assists to go along with six digs and three blocks. As a team, LBSU registered for a .382 attack percentage (75-20-144). In fact the 49ers recorded a .049 attack percentage in game one (9-8-23), and committed just 12 attack errors the rest of the way.
Head coach Alan Knipe rested his starters in a 3-0 sweep over UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6. The match lasted just 1 hour and 10 minutes. Teddy Liles saw his first action of the season, and recorded 10 kills on 15 attempts (one error) for a .600 attack percentage. Nate Hagstrom added 11 kills (no errors) on 17 swings for a .647 clip, while Duncan Budinger added nine kills for a .818 hitting percentage. In fact LBSU registered a .553 hitting percentage for the entire match (60-8-94). UC Santa Cruz did not record a single block.
The Bruins 411:
#1 UCLA has won six straight matches, and four out of its last five by 3-0 sweeps. Steve Klosterman leads the Bruin offense with 4.41 kills per game. Dennis Gonzales runs the offense with 14.00 assists per game. The Bruins are hitting .397 as a team, while limiting its opponents to just a .191 clip. UCLA averages 16.13 kills per game.
Touzinsky: 1,300 and Climbing:
Last season, Scott Touzinsky became just the 12th player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. Now Touzinsky stands No. 6 all-time at the Beach with 1,312 career kills. Touzinsky collected 71 kills at the UCSB E-Bar Tournament (Jan. 9-10), including 29 versus Stanford (1/9) and a then season-high, 30 versus CS Northridge (1/10). Touzinsky has passed Matt Prosser (1,147 kills), Geoff Cryst (1,167 kills), Zack Small (1,169 kills), Tom Hoff (1,230) and recently Gaby Amar (1,308 kills) for No. 6 all-time on the 49er career kill chart with 1,312. This season Touzinsky has recorded 20 or more kills six times, including a new career-high and 2004 MPSF season-high, 40 kills established versus BYU on Jan. 30. In fact Touzinsky posted his first double-double of the season in that 40 kill match, adding a season-high 15 digs versus the Cougars (1/31). Touzinsky recorded 25 kills at Pepperdine to help Long Beach State snap a six-match losing streak to the Waves. Touzinsky has recorded a team-best 222 kills this season for a 5.05 per game average Touzinsky is hitting .379 on the season (222-64-417).
Ace in the Hole:
Senior Scott Touzinsky, as mentioned earlier, broke the school record for career aces with his 133rd versus Stanford (1/23). Touzinsky broke the 11 year mark held by Brent Hilliard who had 132 career aces from 1990-93. Currently Touzinsky holds the school record with 134.
Exclusive Company:
Scott Touzinsky became the third player in NCAA men's volleyball history, since rally scoring was introduced in 2001, to record 40 or more kills in a single match. In fact Touzinsky tied former LBSU great Dave McKienze who had 40 kills against UCLA on January 26, 2001. The record for most kills (in rally scoring) is 43 by Jeff Ptak of IPFW on March 21, 2003. Touzinsky's 40 kills have been the most since Ptak set the record. Furthermore, Touzinsky became the eighth player in Long Beach State history to record 40 or more kills in a single match. Brent Hilliard registered 40 or more kills 13 times in his career.
Wootton Back in The Groove with #900:
Senior Jeff Wootton recorded his 900th career kill at Pepperdine on February 4, after recording 20. Wootton slammed home 15 kills (.571 attack percentage) at USC on Jan. 16 in the MPSF opener. Wootton recorded a season and match-high 21 kills in a 3-1 victory over Stanford on Jan. 23. He recorded a team-high 18 kills versus BYU on Jan. 28, and recorded his first double-double of the season with 17 kills and career-high 13 digs versus BYU on Jan. 30. Wootton (904 career kills) who has recorded double-digit kills in five of his last six matches, needs just 96 more kills to become the 13th player in Long Beach State history to reach the 1,000 kill mark.
Running the Offense:
Last year's AVCA Newcomer of the Year and MPSF Freshman of the Year, Tyler Hildebrand has netted 646 assists this season (14.04/gm) and 2,239 for his career. His 2,239 assists are sixth all-time at Long Beach State since 1998. Hildebrand netted a season and MPSF season-high 81 assists versus BYU on Jan. 30, while also chipping in a career-high four aces. Hildebrand collected a double-double (65 assists, 10 digs) versus CS Northridge on 1/10. He compiled 68 assists, four digs, and a career-high 2 block solos versus Stanford on Jan. 9. Hildebrand chipped in 36 assists, six digs, three blocks, and three kills at USC on 1/16. Hildebrand poured in three kills, 67 assists, eight digs and one ace versus Stanford on Jan. 23. He is averaging 13.50 assists, 1.57 digs, and .53 blocks per game this season. Hildebrand set a career-best 10 digs vs. CS Northridge at the UCSB Tournament in January (1/10).
Lee Maintains .400 Hitting Percentage:
Entering the 2004 season David Lee compiled a career attack percentage of .415, 4th highest all-time at Long Beach State. This season Lee has 103 kills (24 errors) on 192 total attempts for a .411 attack percentage. Currently Lee's career hitting percentage stands at .414 (4th highest in program history). Lee connected for his 700th career kill in the season opener vs. La Verne (1/6), and needs just three kills to reach #800. This season Lee registered double-digits in kills seven times, and posted back-to-back double digit kill performances versus Pacific (10) and Stanford (11), and versus BYU on Jan. 28 with a season-high 18 and Jan. 30 with 13. In fact Lee tallied a .645 attack percentage in two victories over Pacific an Stanford (Jan. 22-23) (21-1-31). Lee also leads the team at 1.32 blocks per game (2 BS, 44 BA).
Patrolling the Backrow:
Junior Paul Munoz has recorded a team-best 99 digs (2.25 per game average), including back-to-back 12 dig performances versus Stanford (1/9) and CS Northridge on 1/10. Munoz connected for a season-high 18 digs in a 3-1 victory over Pepperdine on Feb. 4. Munoz has five double-digit dig performances this season.
Depth Not an Issue at The Beach:
One of the luxuries head coach Alan Knipe has this season is his bench. Knipe has inserted in the rotations this season, Robert Tarr (2.32 kills/gm), Clint Coe (1.32 kills/gm), Nate Hagstrom (1.11 digs/gm, seven aces), and Duncan Budinger (2.63 kills per game and a team-best .611 attack percentage). Tarr celebrated his birthday earlier this season with 17 kills versus Stanford at the UCSB Tournament (1/9), and recorded a career-high four aces versus Pacific on Jan. 22. Budinger recorded an MPSF season-high .692 attack percentage vs. BYU on Jan. 30. Hagstrom established a career-high 11 kills vs. UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6, and a career-high 11 digs at Pepperdine on Feb. 4. Hagstrom netted his first career solo block versus Stanford on Jan. 23. Other reserves saw playing time versus UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6, including Teddy Liles (10 kills), Kevin Cape (4 kills), and Robert Kijewski (16 assists).
Barbosa Debut:
Redshirt freshman transfer Thiago Barbosa made his 49er debut at Pepperdine on Feb. 4. Barbosa got more playing time versus UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6, recording seven kills on nine swings.
LBSU Nets High Percentage:
Long Beach State has hit for a .364 attack percentage this season, while limiting its opponents to just a .256 clip. The 49ers have compiled 759 kills for a 16.15 per game average. In fact LBSU owns the MPSF high for kills in a match with 86 versus BYU on Jan. 30. Long Beach State has hit over .350 six times this season including a .553 attack percentage versus UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 6 (60-8-94), a .454 clip (75-16-130) vs. Stanford on Jan. 9 and a .395 clip at USC on Jan. 16 (50-16-86). The all-time best hitting percentage in program history was set by the 1992 squad (.377).
49ers Climb #5:
Long Beach State (9-3, 4-2) moved up one slot to No. 5 in the latest AVCA Top-15 poll released Feb. 10. The 49ers occupied the No. 2 slot for two weeks from Jan. 20-26, and have not dropped below No. 6 this season. |
