Two More Road Matches for LBSU in February
No. 1 49ers Travel to CS Northridge and UC Santa Barbara
February 24, 2004 PDF VERSION of this RELEASE 13-3, 8-2 MPSF
Home: 7-2 • Away: 4-0 • Neutral: 2-1
AVCA Rank: #3 / VB Mag Rank: #1 Quickly:
No. 1-ranked Long Beach State (13-3, 8-2) travels to CS Northridge (10-5, 5-4) on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m., and finishes its road trip at UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Feb. 27 at 7:00 p.m. Both matches can be heard live at:
www.longbeachstate.com.
Last Match:
Long Beach State improved to 13-3 on the season behind David Lee's 14 kills and nine blocks at UC San Diego on Feb. 21. Lee tallied a .650 attack percentage as well. Duncan Budinger chipped in with nine kills and five blocks, while Jeff Wootton added eight kills, two aces, and four digs. Scott Touzinsky poured in six kills and six blocks. Nate Hagstrom registered a match-high seven digs. Tyler Hildebrand ran the offense with 38 assists, four digs, four blocks, and one ace. As a team, LBSU registered a .421 attack percentage (43-11-76). It marked the eighth time this season that the 49ers have hit .350 or better. The biggest difference however, was blocking. Long Beach State out-blocked UCSD, 15.5-6.5 (27 BA, 2 BS, and out-dug the Tritons, 27-19.
LBSU swept the season series versus USC, with a 3-0 victory at The Pyramid on Feb. 19. Scott Touzinsky paced The Beach with 13 kills and seven digs. Jeff Wootton, Nate Hagstrom, and Duncan Budinger all recorded 12 kills. In fact it was a career-high 12 kills for Hagstrom, who also added a team-high 10 digs and two aces. Tyler Hildebrand netted 49 assists.
On a Roll:
Long Beach State has won six straight matches, and five out of the last six by 3-0 sweeps. The 49ers have not lost a game since their game one loss to Pepperdine on Feb. 4. -- that is a streak of 18 consecutive games.
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 139 kills (28 errors) on 254 total attempts for a .437 attack percentage. Currently Lee's career hitting percentage stands at .419 (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 nine 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 1.43 blocks per game (4 BS, 72 BA), which is 7th in the country (as of 2/20).
In the Zone:
Over his last four matches, Lee has accumulated 36 kills on 62 attempts, with just four errors for a .516 hitting percentage, and a 3.00 kills per game average. Lee has also added three aces and 22 blocks for a 1.83 blocks per game average in that span.
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 1,351 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 1,351. 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). He was named as the MPSF Player of the Week for the period ending Feb. 10. when he 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. 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 261 kills this season for a 4.66 per game average (6th in the nation). Touzinsky ranks in the top half of the conference in kills per game at 4.81.
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.
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 recorded 12 kills and seven digs versus USC on 2/19. Wootton (947 career kills) who has recorded double-digit kills in seven of his last nine matches, needs just 53 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 819 assists this season (14.12/gm) and 2,412 for his career. His 2,412 assists are fourth 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. Hildebrand netted 49 assists and three blocks vs. USC on 2/19. He is No. 1 in the nation in total assists (819), and No. 1 in the MPSF for per game average (14.75). Hildebrand also set a career-best 10 digs vs. CS Northridge at the UCSB Tournament in January (1/10).
Patrolling the Backrow:
Junior Paul Munoz has recorded a team-best 129 digs (2.30 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. Munoz ranks fourth in the MPSF in digs per game 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 (2.12 kills/gm), Clint Coe (1.20 kills/gm), Nate Hagstrom (1.36 kills/gm, 1.32 digs/gm, 11 aces), and Duncan Budinger (2.87 kills per game and a team-best .569 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 ranks fifth in the MPSF in attack percentage. Hagstrom established a career-high 12 kills vs. USC on Feb. 19, 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. He recorded his first service ace ar UC San Diego on Feb. 21.
LBSU Nets High Percentage:
Long Beach State has hit for a .358 attack percentage this season, while limiting its opponents to just a .245 clip. The 49ers have compiled 958 kills for a 15.17 per game average. In fact LBSU owns the MPSF high for kills in a match with 86 versus BYU on Jan. 30. Moreover, Long Beach State leads the MPSF in kills per game (17.00) and attack percentage (.355) as of Feb. 20. Long Beach State has hit over .350 eight 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).
No. 1:
Long Beach State (13-3, 8-2) 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. 24, 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). |
