49ers Face A Busy Week
January 30, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 8-1 / MPSF: 4-1/ National Rank: #3 | UC Santa Barbara at Long Beach State
Wednesday, February 1, 7:30 pm, Walter Pyramid
Internet Radio: www.longbeachstate.com | Long Beach State vs. IPFW
Friday, February 3, 2 pm, State College, PA | Long Beach State at Penn State
Saturday, February 4, 5 pm, State College, PA |
THE RECORDS
•Beach 8-1 overall, 4-1 in MPSF
Long Beach State will play three matches this week as they head into the week at 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Beach is ranked No. 3 in the nation this week. Last week the 49ers lost at home to Pepperdine in four games and defeated USC in four games. UCSB, Wednesday's opponent, is 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the MPSF. The Gauchos are ranked No. 9 this week. IPFW is 2-4 on the year and is unranked. Penn State is 2-4 this season and is ranked No. 12 nationally.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe enters his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 106-56 (.654) in five-plus 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 trail series with UCSB, 40-28
•49ers leads series with IPFW, 14-3
•49ers lead series with Penn State, 11-3
Long Beach State leads in its series with UCSB by a 40-28 count, going 2-2 against the Gauchos last season. The 49ers eliminated UCSB from the MPSF Tournament in the semi-finals last year, winning 30-20, 30-24, 30-25. The 49ers are 14-3 all-time against IPFW and have won the last seven meetings between the two. Last year the 49ers won 30-21, 30-23, 30-21 at the 2005 Active Ankle/Carson Doubletree Classic. Long Beach leads its series with Penn State 11-3, having won the last two times the squads have met. The last meeting came on May 6, 2004 in the NCAA Championship semi-finals in Honolulu, HI and the 49ers prevailed 30-26, 30-26, 30-26.
49ERS SPLIT TWO AT HOME
•49ers 4-1 in the MPSF
Long Beach State went 1-1 last week in two home matches in the Walter Pyramid. On Thursday night Pepperdine came in and defeated the 49ers 30-25, 30-22, 26-30, 30-28. Long Beach hit just .188 in the match and were out-blocked 16.0 to 10.5. Robert Tarr led the way with 28 kills and Teddy Liles added 10. They were the only 49ers in double digit kills. Tyler Caldwell had a career-high 12 digs and Tyler Hildebrand finished with 51 assists, eight digs and four block assists. Duncan Budinger was the only 49er to hit above .300 in the match, hitting .357 (6-1-14), but he had only six kills. Friday night the 49ers came back to defeat USC 31-33, 30-18, 30-20, 30-26. The Beach hit .299 on the evening and had four players hit double digits in kills. Paul Lotman and Francisco Valdez both had a career-high 16 kills against the Trojans, while Tarr added 16 as well. Lotman recorded his first double-double as he picked up a team-high 12 digs to go along with his 16 kills. USC hurt its own cause by committing a total of 47 errors (27 hitting errors, 20 service errors). Budinger led the 49ers with seven blocks while adding 10 kills and hitting .500 (10-0-20).
ROAD WARRIORS
•49ers are 6-0 away from home
The 49ers are home on Wednesday and then hit the road again this weekend for two matches. The 49ers are currently 6-0 away from the Walter Pyramid this season. Last season the 49ers were 9-8 away from home, but won five of its last seven matches on the road.
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
•49ers hitting .325 this year
The 49ers have been impressive on offense this year as they are hitting .325 and averaging 16.39 kills per game. Five players are averaging at least 2.40 kills per game as setter Tyler Hildebrand has distributed the ball evenly to his lineup. Four starters are hitting .318 or better as well. Long Beach has hit .400 or better four times this season.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 2-1 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 30-5 (.857) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 129-33 (.796) at home.
PUTTING UP A WALL
•Beach averaging 3.80 blocks per game
The 49ers have been very impressive at the net this year as they are averaging 3.80 blocks per game. The 49ers are out-blocking their opponents 3.80 to 2.73 per game and have out-blocked six of their nine opponents this season. In the win over UCLA (1/7) they recorded a season-high 19.5 team blocks (3 BS, 33 BA). Four players are averaging at least 1.00 blocks per game (Liles 1.73, Budinger 1.55, Tarr 1.15, and Hildebrand 1.03). Last year the 49ers averaged 2.50 blocks per game.
PICKING UP SWEEPS
•Four 3-0 sweeps this year
The 49ers have recorded four 3-0 sweeps this season through their first nine matches. They have been extended to five games just once (CS Northridge). The 49ers have a cumulative games record of 25-8 (.758) thus far.
HILDEBRAND ON CAREER CHART
•Third all-time with 5,435 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) stands third all-time at Long Beach State with 5,435 career assists. Standing ahead of him in the No. 2 spot is Chris Seiffert (1997-00) who registered 6,099 career assists. Hildebrand's 1,613 assists last season was the fifth-best single season performance in school history. This season he is averaging 13.82 assists per game, including a season-high 74 assists in the five-game win over CS Northridge. In Friday's win over USC he finished with 49 assists, two kills and five digs. Besides dishing out assists, Hildebrand is hitting .349 (24-9-43) and averaging 1.24 digs and 1.03 blocks per outing. Hildebrand is moving up the all-time blocking chart at LBSU as he has 270 career blocks, good for No. 17 all-time.
BUDINGER RANKS NO. 1 IN HITTING
•Career .479 hitting percentage
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) hit .441 (16-1-34) in the two matches last week. He had 10 kills and hit .500 (10-0-20) in the victory over USC. Budinger has a .517 hitting percentage this season and is averaging 2.67 kills and 1.55 blocks per outing. He has seven outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and five outings hitting .500 or higher. In the win over Pacific he hit .611 (12-1-18) with five block assists and at Stanford he hit .667 (13-1-18) with five block assists and two service aces. Budinger continues to rank No. 1 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at .479. He also moved up to No. 11 in career blocking with 328 blocks and he is heading towards 1,000 career kills, as he stands at 848.
TARR MOVING UP THE CAREER CHART
•Leads team with 184 kills
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) had 44 kills (5.5 kpg) in the two matches last week, including 28 against Pepperdine. He has hit double-digits in kills eight times this season and he has 20 or more kills in five matches. Tarr leads the 49ers in kills, averaging 5.58 kills per game. He also checks in at 1.70 digs and 1.15 blocks per game while hitting .318. Tarr surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark in the second match of the season and currently stands at No. 13 all-time with 1,143 career kills. 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 LEADS 49ERS IN BLOCKING
•Led 49ers in blocking with 52 blocks
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) continues to be a force at the net thus far for the 49ers as he leads the team in blocking with 52 blocks (1.73 bpg). Against Pepperdine he had four block assists and 10 kills. Liles is averaging 2.43 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .390. He 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 RECORDS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) has started every match this season for the 49ers and had his best overall match in Friday's win over USC. Lotman recorded a career-high 16 kills in the win over the Trojans while hitting .440 (16-5-25). He also had four block assists and a career-high 12 digs, giving him his first double-double as a 49er. The 12 digs tied for the most digs any player has had this season (Caldwell vs. Pepperdine, Tarr vs. CSUN). Lotman is averaging 2.48 kills per game while hitting .279. Lotman had hit double digits in kills three times this year, with two coming against USC (13 in opener). His 61 digs (1.85 dpg) are second-most on the squad this season.
VALDEZ HAS BIG MATCH VS. USC
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Francisco Valdez (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic) recorded a career-high 16 kills in the 49ers four-game win over USC on Friday. He added eight digs and five blocks while hitting .344 (16-5-32). Valdez, who has three double-figure kill matches this season (14 vs. CSUN, 12 vs. USC), is averaging 2.55 kills and 1.39 digs per game while hitting .200.
SHEA SHINES
•5 kills in win over USC
Redshirt freshman Luke Shea (Fullerton) played in his first match as a 49er in Friday's win over USC. Shea played in all four games and finished the match with five kills, two aces, two digs and two block assists. He hit .385 (5-0-13) for the evening. Shea prepped at Servite High School.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•First on team with 74 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) is off to a great start this season. Caldwell had a career-high 12 digs in the four-game loss to Pepperdine and then came back with 10 digs in the win over USC. He also added two assists vs. the Trojans. Caldwell has hit double figures in digs four times this year, including three of the last four matches. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 2.24 digs per game and he's dished out 14 assists in 33 games as well.
WATTEN SEES ACTION
•Four digs at Stanford
Redshirt freshman Dustin Watten (Long Beach) is seeing increased playing time for the 49ers. This past weekend he had one dig vs. Pepperdine and one assist against USC. Watten had a career-high four digs at Stanford, adding one assist. Watten has seen action in every match this year, playing in a total of 26 games. The four digs at Stanford were his first of the year.
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 |
