49ers Hit The Road This Weekend
January 17, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 5-0 / MPSF: 1-0 / National Rank: #1 | Long Beach State at Stanford
Friday, January 20, 7 pm, Stanford, CA | Long Beach State at Pacific
Saturday, January 21, 7 pm, Stockton, CA |
THE RECORDS
•Beach a perfect 5-0 thus far
Long Beach State improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF with two wins last week. The 49ers reamined No. 1 in the nation for the second consecutive week. The 49ers won at UC San Diego in their MPSF opener in three games and then defeated Cal Baptist on Saturday at home in three games. Stanford is 1-5 on the year and 0-2 in the MPSF. The Cardinal lost to Pepperdine (30-26, 30-18, 29-31, 30-24) and USC (28-30, 30-27, 34-32, 30-21) this past weekend. Pacific is 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the MPSF. The Tigers lost to USC (30-21, 27-30, 31-33, 30-26, 17-15) and Pepperdine (30-23, 30-20, 26-30, 32-30) on the road.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe enters his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 103-55 (.652) in five years as the Head Coach at Long Beach State. Knipe was an assistant at LBSU for five years before taking over the program in 2001.
THE SERIES
•49ers split with Stanford & Pacific last year
Long Beach State leads its series with Stanford by a 33-20 count. The two teams split last season. The 49ers won in Long Beach 30-27, 30-23, 34-32 and lost at Stanford 15-30, 27-30, 29-31. The 49ers lead their series with Pacific by a 19-7 count, also splitting last year with the Tigers. The 49ers won 30-20, 30-19, 30-17 at home and lost in Stockton 21-30, 40-42, 28-30.
TWO WINS LAST WEEK
•49ers win MPSF opener
Long Beach State opened up MPSF play with a resounding 30-24, 30-21, 30-21 win at UC San Diego last Wednesday evening. Duncan Budinger led the way with 13 kills and seven blocks while hitting 812 (13-0-16). Robert Tarr added eight kills and Teddy Liles and Paul Lotman both had seven. The 49ers hit .353 for the match and out-blocked the Tritons 16.0 to 4.5. Saturday night the 49ers defeated Cal Baptist 30-20, 30-14, 30-25. LBSU hit .402 for the match and out-blocked the Lancers 14.0 to 4.0. Tarr led the way with 14 kills, eight digs and seven blocks, while Francisco Valdez had eight kills and four aces. Duncan Budinger chipped in with seven blocks and Teddy Liles added five. Cal Baptist hit .149 on the evening.
E-BAR RECAP
•49ers were the No. 2 seed
The 49ers went into the opening weekend of play at the UCSB/E-Bar Collegiate Classic as the number two seed. In the opener the 49ers defeated USC in three games (30-23, 30-18, 30-19). Long Beach then slipped past CS Northridge in the semi-finals 23-30, 31-29, 30-27, 26-30, 15-8 as Robert Tarr pounded down 35 kills. In the title match the 49ers lost game one to UCLA 30-25, but came back to win the next three 36-34, 30-25, 30-22 to win the title. Tarr had 21 kills against the Bruins and Teddy Liles had 11 kills and 12 blocks. Tyler Hildebrand was named the MVP of the tournament, and Tarr and Liles were selected to the all-tournament team.
HILDEBRAND EARNS HONORS
•MVP at UCSB/E-Bar Tournament
The season has just started but senior setter Tyler Hildebrand is off to a great start. Hildebrand was selected as the Most Valuable Player at the UCSB/E-Bar Collegiate Classic the opening weekend of the season, leading the 49ers to the tournament title. Hildebrand averaged 14.67 assists, 1.33 digs and 1.00 blocks per game in the three victories. Hildebrand was also named the MPSF Molten Player of the Week (1/9) for his efforts.
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
•49ers hitting .326 this year
The 49ers have been impressive on offense this year as they are hitting .326 and averaging 15.78 kills per game. Five players are averaging at least 2.22 kills per game as setter Tyler Hildebrand has distributed the ball evenly to his lineup. Three starters are hitting .300 or better as well.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 1-0 at home this year
The Walter Pyramid has been kind to the 49ers. Last year the 49ers were 13-2 at home and in 2004 they were 15-2. In the last two-plus years the 49ers are 29-4 (.879) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 128-32 (.800) at home.
PUTTING UP A WALL
•Beach averaging 4.03 blocks per game
The 49ers have been very impressive at the net this year as they are averaging 4.03 blocks per game. The 49ers are out-blocking their opponents 4.03 to 2.39 per game and have out-blocked four of their five opponents this season. In the win over UCLA they recorded a season-high 19.5 team blocks (3 BS, 33 BA). Five players are averaging at least 1.00 blocks per game (Liles 1.78, Budinger 1.61, Tarr 1.17, Hildebrand 1.11, Lotman 1.00). Last year the 49ers averaged 2.50 blocks per game.
HILDEBRAND ON CAREER CHART
•Third all-time with 5,222 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) has had a brilliant career thus far and is looking to close things out with a 2006 National Championship. Hildebrand, a two-time first team All-American, stands third all-time at Long Beach State with 5,222 career assists. His 1,613 assists last season was the fifth-best single season performance in school history. This season he is averaging 13.50 assists per game, including a season-high 74 assists in the five-game win over CS Northridge. This past week the led the 49ers to two victories as The Beach hit an impressive .377 (90-27-167). Hildebrand himself hit .545 (7-1-11) in the two wins while dishing out 67 assists and recording eight blocks. Hildebrand is moving up the all-time blocking chart at LBSU as he has 256 career blocks, good for No. 17 all-time.
BUDINGER RANKS NO. 1 IN HITTING
•Career .475 hitting percentage
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) is off to a strong start for the 49ers as he is averaging 2.61 kills and 1.61 blocks per game. He has an impressive .494 (47-7-81) hitting percentage through the first five matches. Budinger continues to rank No. 1 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at 475. He also moved up to No. 13 in career blocking with 306 blocks and he is heading towards 1,000 career kills, as he stands at 807 thus far. In the win at UC San Diego last week, Budinger hit .812 (13-0-16) and added seven block assists.
TARR LEADS IN KILLS
•Leads team with 91 kills
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) leads the 49ers in kills, averaging5.06 kills per game. He surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark in the second match of the season and currently stands at No. 14 all-time with 1,050 career kills. In the two wins last week Tarr accumulated 22 kills. He led the 49ers with 14 kills, while adding eight digs and a career-high seven blocks, in their three-game sweep over Cal Baptist. Tarr, an all-tournament pick at the UCSB/E-Bar Tournament, recorded a season-high 35 kills against CS Northridge in the tournament semi-finals. He had 21 in the title victory over UCLA. Tarr led the 49ers in kills last season with 545 (4.87 kpg) en route to being named first team AVCA All-American.
LILES A FORCE AT THE NET
•Led 49ers in blocking with 32 blocks
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) has been a force at the net thus far for the 49ers as he leads the team in blocking with 32 blocks (1.78 bpg). Liles is also averaging 2.50 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .500 (45-9-72). Last week he averaged 2.50 kills and 1.33 blocks per game in the two victories. He had eight kills and five blocks while hitting .636 (8-1-11) in the win over Cal Baptist. Liles was named to the UCSB/E-Bar All-Tournament team after averaging 2.50 kills and 1.92 blocks per game and hitting .521 (30-5-48). In the championship match win over UCLA he had 11 kills and 12 blocks while hitting .526 (11-1-19). The 12 blocks against the Bruins was a career-high for him.
LOTMAN MAKES AN IMPACT
•Career-high 13 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) has started every match this season for the 49ers and is averaging 2.22 kills per game while hitting .250. Lotman had a career-high 13 kills in the 49ers season-opening win over USC. He also added seven digs and hit .500 (13-3-20) in the match. In the 49ers MPSF win at UC San Diego (1/11), he had seven kills, four digs, four block assist and three assists in the victory. Lotman had nine kills, four digs and six block assists in the win over CS Northridge. His 28 digs (1.56 dpg) are third-most on the squad this season.
VALDEZ ADDS PUNCH
•Career-high 14 kills vs. CS Northridge
Sophomore Francisco Valdez (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic) recorded a career-high 14 kills in the 49ers five-game win over CS Northridge at the UCSB/E-Bar Tournament. Valdez hit .281 in the match and added five digs. He has hit for double-digits in kills twice, scoring 12 kills in the win over USC, while hitting .375. Valdez is currently averaging 2.61 kills per game this year. In the win over Cal Baptist last Saturday, Valdez finished with eight kills, five digs and a career-high four service aces. He hit .571 (8-0-14) in the match.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•Second on team with 36 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) is off to a great start this season. Caldwell is averaging 2.00 digs per game as his 36 total digs is second-best on the squad. Caldwell also has added seven assists. He recorded a career-high 11 digs in the win over CS Northridge at the UCSB/E-Bar Tournament. He recorded nine digs in the MPSF opening win at UC San Diego last Wednesday.
LAST SEASON
•49ers finish 2005 campaign at 22-10
The 49ers made a great run the last half of the season, advancing to the championship match of the 2005 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament, only to fall to eventual national champion Pepperdine. The Beach concluded the season at 22-10 overall and 14-8 in the MPSF, good for a tie for fifth place. Long Beach State won 11 of its last 13 matches heading into the MPSF Tournament. The 49ers won at Hawaii in the opening round of the playoffs, winning 30-23, 30-25, 23-30, 30-22. In the MPSF semi-finals at Pepperdine, the 49ers defeated UCSB in three games, 30-20, 30-24, 30-25. The Beach then fell in the title match to No. 1-ranked Pepperdine 31-29, 30-21, 30-27.
2005 HONORS
•Two 49ers earn first team All-America honors
The 2005 season saw numerous honors for the 49ers as junior Tyler Hildebrand and Robert Tarr were named first team AVCA All-Americans. In the Volleyball Magazine awards, Hildebrand was a first team All-American, while Tarr and Duncan Budinger were second team picks. On the All-MPSF team Hildebrand was first team all-league, Tarr second team, Budinger third team and Yassir Sliti and Paul Munoz earned honorable mention all-league accolades.
2006 Roster
2006 Schedule/Results |
