49ers Kick Off Season On Wednesday
January 2, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 0-0 / MPSF: 0-0 / National Rank: tba | Alberta at Long Beach State (Exhibition Match)
Wednesday, January 4, 7:30 pm, Walter Pyramid | 42nd Annual UCSB/E-Bar Collegiate Invitational
Friday, January 6 vs. USC, 1 pm
Friday, January 6 vs. CS Northridge or Pacific, 7 pm
Saturday, January 7 vs. tba | Long Beach State at UC San Diego
Wednesday, January 11, 7 pm, La Jolla, CA |
THE RECORDS
•Beach coming off a 22-10 mark in 2005
Long Beach State kicks off its 2006 season on January 4 when they host the University of Alberta in an exhibition match at 7:30 pm in the Walter Pyramid. The regular season gets underway this weekend at the UCSB E-Bar Tournament. The 49ers will take on USC in its first match at 1 pm on Friday afternoon at the Events Center. Win or lose, the 49ers will play at 7 pm Friday night against either Cal State Northridge or Pacific. Saturday's matches will be determined from Friday's outcomes.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe enters his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 98-55 (.641) 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 have won 10 in a row over USC
Long Beach State trails in its all-time series with USC by a 47-37 count, but the 49ers have won the last 10 meetings from the Trojans. Last year the 49ers went 2-0 vs. USC winning at home in three games (30-22, 30-26, 30-23) and in five games at USC (30-23, 30-18, 25-30, 27-30, 17-15).
E-BAR SCHEDULE
•49ers are the No. 2 seed
The eight-team 42nd Annual UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate Invitational will take play this Friday and Saturday on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. The 49ers are the No. 2 seed in the bracket and take on No. 7 seed USC in its first match on Friday. Other first round match-ups include: #1 UCLA vs. #8 Stanford; #4 UCSB vs. #5 UC Irvine, #3 CS Northridge vs. #6 Pacific. Second round matches will be played at 7 pm on Friday night and Saturday each team will play a third match. The championship match is scheduled for 6:30 pm in Robertson Gym. The seventh place match will take place at 11 am, 5th place at 1:30 pm and third place at 4 pm.
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. Juniors Tyler Hildebrand and Robert Tarr were both named first team AVCA All-Americans and the 49ers finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation.
LAST YEAR AT THE E-BAR
•49ers take third place
The 49ers finished in third place at the 2005 E-Bar Tournament. Long Beach won its opener against the host Gauchos 30-25, 30-22, 30-26, but then fell in the semi-finals to UCLA 23-30, 24-30, 26-30. The 49ers came back to capture the third place trophy with a five-game win over Stanford (25-30, 31-29, 33-31, 23-30, 19-17). Yassir Sliti was named to the All-Tournament Team after posting 50 kills (4.55 kpg) in the three matches. He recorded a career-high 26 kills in the 49ers victory over Stanford.
ALBERTA FACTS
•Defeated UCI last week
The University of Alberta comes into Wednesday's exhibition match with the 49ers with a record of 18-1 overall and 9-1 in their league. The Bears defeated UC Irvine on December 30 30-25, 30-25, 30-24 and play at UCSB on January 2. Earlier this season at the Can-Am Tournament in October, Alberta won the tournament title with wins over Lewis (3-0), UCLA (3-2), BYU (3-0) and Pepperdine (3-1). In the victory over UCI, Nicholas Cundy led the way with 13 kills while Dallas Soonias added 11 kills and three blocks. Alberta hit .344 for the match and limited UCI to a .183 hitting percentage. In Canada West league play Soonias is averaging 3.37 kills per game with a .360 hitting percentage while Cundy checks in at 2.74 kills per outing.
NO. 1 RECRUITING CLASS
•Eight true freshmen on team
The January, 2006 issue of Volleyball Magazine lists its picks of the Top 10 Men's College Recruiting Classes and the 2006 class of Long Beach State is ranked No. 1 in the nation. Head Coach Alan Knipe brought in eight true freshmen and one junior in the class.
The new faces on the 2006 49er roster are:
Dan Alexander, 6-7, MB, Fr., Arcadia, CA
Bryce Baum, 6-0, S, Jr., Dana Point, CA/Irvine Valley College
Dean Bittner, 6-7, MB, Fr., Lakewood, CA
Gavin Christensen, 6-5, OH, Fr. Long Beach, CA
Daniel Fabry, 6-6, MB, Fr., Park Ridge, IL
Derek Hutton, 6-5, OH, Fr., Fountain Valley, CA
Michael Iandolo, 6-7, S, Fr., Orlando, FL
Steve Klipsch, 6-6, OH, Fr., St. Louis, MO
Ben Nichols, 6-5, OH, Fr., Northbrook, IL
Volleyball Magazine's Top 10 Recruiting Classes
1. Long Beach State
2. UCLA
3. UC Santa Barbara
4. Stanford
5. USC
6. BYU
7. Pepperdine
8. Penn State
9. Ohio State
10. Loyola-Chicago
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.
HILDEBRAND ON CAREER CHART
•Third all-time with 4,980 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 Stae with 4,980 career assists. His 1,613 assists last season was the fifth-best single season performance in school history. Hildebrand needs 1,345 assists to take over the No. 1 spot at LBSU from Jason Stimpfig (1990-93) who accumulated 6,324 career assists.
BUDINGER RANKS NO. 1 IN HITTING
•Career .474 hitting percentage
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) heads into his senior season at Long Beach State ranked No. 1 in career hitting percentage with a .474 mark. His lead over the two me who trail him at the No. 2 spot is 27 percentage points (.474 to .447). Budinger hit .451 last year (297-61-523), averaging 2.58 kills per game playing in all 115 games. As a freshman in 2003 he hit .469 and in 2004 as a sophomore he hit a school-record .512 (232-39-377). Budinger also finds him name on two other career charts. He has 760 kills and could be one of a select few to reach 1,000 career kills at LBSU. He also ranked No. 16 in career blocks with 277.
TARR AN ALL-AMERICAN
•Leads team with 545 kills
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) led the 49ers in kills last season with 545 (4.87 kpg). A first team AVCA All-American, Tarr has accumulated 959 career kills in his three years and needs just 41 more kills to become the 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills. Tarr hit an impressive .342 last year on 1,104 swings and added 1.25 digs and 0.66 blocks per game as well.
LILES A FORCE AT THE NET
•Led 49ers in blocking last year with 111
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) hit an impressive .433 last year and led the team in blocking with 111 blocks (1.11 bpg). In MPSF matches last year Liles ranked fifth in hitting percentage (.474) and ninth in blocking (1.02). He has a career .447 hitting percentage, a mark which is tied for second all-time at LBSU.
2006 Roster
2006 Schedule/Results |
