Hildebrand Sets Up Teammates
by Gordon Verrell, Long Beach Press-Telegram
April 22, 2004 Tyler Hildebrand is the ultimate middle man.
He's the setter on Long Beach State's powerhouse men's volleyball team, and he's piling up assists like nobody before him.
The 49ers have had some good setters, too. One of them, Jason Stimfig, Long Beach State's all- time assist leader, was on the U.S. National team for a year. Another, Chris Seifert, who's second on the career list, is on the U.S. team now.
Yet here's Hildebrand, a shaggy-haired 6-foot-4 sophomore from Arizona, who, in two years, has already surpassed Seifert's freshman and sophomore assist records. He's already fourth on the all-time career list, and, at the rate he's going, he just might pass all of them.
Naturally, he's pretty upbeat about it all, right?
Uh, no.
"I don't even know how many assists I have,' he said this week after a practice at the Pyramid.
"To me,' he said, "an assist means virtually nothing.'
Let's have that again.
"It's not something I do,' he explained. "It's what happens before I get the ball and what happens after I set it. A lot goes into it.
"And,' he said, smiling, "we've got the best hitters in the country, and the best middle blockers, and the best passers.
"It makes my job easy.'
But not as easy as he says it is. Hildebrand burst onto the local volleyball scene last year as a mere freshman, rang up a shade under 1,600 assists and was selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as the Newcomer of the Year and by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation as the Freshman of the Year.
If they gave out a Sophomore of the Year award, he'd probably get that, too.
"He's a great athlete playing a skill position,' said his coach, Alan Knipe, who no doubt thinks assists mean a whole lot more than Hildebrand lets on.
"Tyler's probably our best athlete,' Knipe said. "He's similar to (former 49er women's volleyball star) Misty May, who was even a better athlete, a better competitor, than she was a setter.'
Even more remarkable, Hildebrand has been playing organized volleyball for only a handful of years, just since his senior year in high school, making this only the third year he's been setting.
"I picked up volleyball late,' Hildebrand said. "I always wanted to play basketball.'
Yet, even what he has accomplished in so short a time, and in such a hotbed of volleyball as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, doesn't seem to faze the ever- confident Hildebrand.
"It doesn't surprise me,' he said. "I've never doubted myself.
"What does surprise me,' he said, "is that I've been given this opportunity. I have been very lucky, and I've tried to make the most of the opportunity.'
The opportunity he talks about is coming into Long Beach State as "a pretty raw player from Arizona where there's not much volleyball' his words and winding up as the starting setter his freshman year.
That probably wasn't Knipe's plan, but he'd seen enough of Hildebrand not to be concerned just because he was a freshman. Hildebrand had already committed to Long Beach State when he showed up at a major club tournament in Dallas, one in which Knipe was also playing.
"It was the U.S. Open, all club teams with guys who had been playing a lot of volleyball,' said Knipe, who was an All-American at Long Beach State, played on the 49ers' 1991 national championship team and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team and the U.S. National team. "And here was this kid, just out of high school, and he made us work.'
Hildebrand got a taste of international volleyball last summer, playing with 49er teammates Scott Touzinsky and David Lee in the World University Games and savoring the competition.
"It's one thing playing for your school,' he said, "but playing for your country, that's different.'
Hildebrand says a crack at the Olympics is in his future, but right now, he said, "The only thing I'm thinking about is Santa Barbara.'
The No. 2-ranked 49ers will open MPSF tournament play Saturday night at the Pyramid against UC Santa Barbara. UCSB handed the 49ers one of their five losses during the regular season, and the Gauchos are the only team to beat the 49ers, 3-0.
"Maybe we overlooked them,' Hildebrand said, "but we certainly won't be overlooking them this time.'
Even if Hildebrand doesn't mind overlooking the fact, he'll be climbing higher on Long Beach State's assist list. He's already fourth on the 49ers' all-time career list and needs only 26 more to make it No. 3. |
