No. 1 49ers Face Trojans; UC San Diego
LBSU Moves to No. 1 in the Latest Volleyball Magazine Poll
February 17, 2004 PDF VERSION of this RELEASE 11-3, 6-2 MPSF
Home: 6-2 • Away: 3-0 • Neutral: 2-1
AVCA Rank: #3 / VB Mag Rank: #1 Quickly:
No. 1-ranked Long Beach State (11-3, 6-2)faces the Trojans of USC (3-11, 2-6) on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in The Pyramid, before travelling to No. 13-ranked UC San Diego (5-7) on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:00 p.m. Both matches can be heard live at www.longbeachstate.com.
Last Match:
Long Beach State upset the top-ranked Bruins of UCLA, 3-0 on Feb. 11 behind Jeff Wootton's team-high 15 kills and one ace. It was Wootton's lone ace that ended the match. Scott Touzinsky poured in his second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs. Nate Hagstrom chipped in with a career-tying high 11 kills. David Lee and Duncan Budinger combined for 14 kills (no errors) on 23 swings for a .609 attack percentage. Tyler Hildebrand set the offense with 48 assists to move past Mark Ekins for fifth all-time (since 1988) with 2,287 career assists. As a team, Long Beach State connected for a .394 attack percentage (53-12-104). It was the seventh time that LBSU has hit for .350 or better this season. The loss snapped UCLA's six-match winning streak.
The 49ers concluded the week 2-0 after a 3-0 victory over No. 8-ranked UC Irvine, 3-0 on Feb. 13. Duncan Budinger and David Lee paced The Beach with 10 kills each. In fact the duo combined for a .575 attack percentage (20-1-33). Scott Touzinsky and Paul Munoz both recorded 12 digs each.
New No. 1:
Long Beach State (11-3, 6-2) jumped four spots to No. 1 in the latest Volleyball Magazine Top-10 poll released on Tuesday, Feb. 17. LBSU also jumped two spots to No. 3 in the latest AVCA Top-15 poll released on Tuesday, Feb. 17, behind UCLA (2) and Hawaii (1). LBSU has not been below No. 6 all season in the AVCA poll, and achieved its highest ranking in the AVCA poll at No. 2 for two weeks (Jan. 20-Feb. 3).
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 1,332 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 1,332. 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 earned MPSF Player of the Week honors after recording 25 kills at Pepperdine to help Long Beach State snap a six-match losing streak to the Waves. Touzinsky connected for his second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 11 digs at UCLA on Feb. 11. Touzinsky has recorded a team-best 242 kills this season for a 4.84 per game average. Touzinsky leads in kills per game in conference matches with 5.13.
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 136.
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.
Touzinsky: MPSF Player of the Week:
Senior Scott Touzinsky was named as the MPSF Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 10. Touzinsky notched 25 kills in a 3-1 road win a Pepperdine on Feb. 4. The win helped snap LBSU's six-match losing streak to the Waves.
Wootton Back in The Groove with #900:
Senior Jeff Wootton recorded his 900th career kill at Pepperdine on February 4, after posting 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 paved the way with a team-high 15 kills to defeat No. 1-ranked UCLA, 3-0 on Feb. 11. Wootton (927 career kills) who has recorded double-digit kills in six of his last eight matches, needs just 73 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 732 assists this season (14.08/gm) and 2,325 for his career. His 2,325 assists are sixth all-time at Long Beach State since 1988. 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. Hildebrand recorded 48 assists in three games (16.00/gm) at UCLA on Feb. 11. He is No. 1 in the nation in assists per game (14.08), and No. 1 in the MPSF (14.80). Hildebrand set a career-best 10 digs vs. CS Northridge at the UCSB Tournament in January (1/10).
Lee Maintains .400 Hitting Percentage/Reaches Career Kill #800:
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 119 kills (24 errors) on 221 total attempts for a .430 attack percentage. Currently Lee's career hitting percentage stands at .417 (4th highest in program history). Lee connected for his 700th career kill in the season opener vs. La Verne (1/6), and slammed career kill No. 800 at UCLA on Feb. 11. This season Lee registered double-digits in kills eight 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 combined went error-free in back-to-back matches against UCLA and UC Irvine, recording 16 kills on 29 swings for a .552 attack percentage. Lee also leads the team at 1.36 blocks per game (3 BS, 61 BA).
Patrolling the Backrow:
Junior Paul Munoz has recorded a team-best 118 digs (2.36 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. He reached 12 digs for the third time this season vs. UCI on Feb. 13. Munoz has six double-digit dig performances this season.
Work the Middle:
Duncan Budinger and David Lee dominated the net last week at UCLA (2/11) and vs. UC Irvine (2/13). The duo combined for 34 kills on 56 swings (1 error) for a .589 attack percentage. Lee and Budinger also combined for 11 blocks at UCLA on Feb. 13.
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 (2.12 kills/gm), Clint Coe (1.32 kills/gm), Nate Hagstrom (1.21 kills/gm, 1.15 digs/gm, eight aces), and Duncan Budinger (2.72 kills per game and a team-best .616 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 .361 attack percentage this season, while limiting its opponents to just a .254 clip. The 49ers have compiled 858 kills for a 15.11 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 seven 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). |
