49ers Head To Hawaii
February 14, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 11-2/ MPSF: 6-1/ National Rank: #4 | Long Beach State at Hawaii
Thursday, February 16, 9 pm, Honolulu, HI
Friday, Febraury 17, 9 pm, Honolulu, HI | UC Irvine at Long Beach State
Friday, February 24, 7:30 pm, Walter Pyramid
Internet: www.longbeachstate.com | UCLA at Long Beach State
Saturday, February 25, 7 pm, Walter Pyramid
Internet: www.longbeachstate.com |
THE RECORDS
•Beach 6-1 in the MPSF
Long Beach State improved to 11-2 overall and 6-1 in the MPSF with a three-game home sweep over UC San Diego on Friday night. This week the 49ers hit the road, traveling to Hawaii for two matches on Thursday and Friday evenings. Hawaii is 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the MPSF. The Warriors lost at Pepperdine in five on Thursday night and then came back and won in three games on Friday evening. The 49ers remained ranked No. 4 in the nation in the latest CSTV/AVCA Top 15 Poll, while Hawaii stands at No. 6.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe enters his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 109-57 (.657) 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 and Rainbows tied 29-29 in series
Long Beach State and Hawaii are tied 29-29 in their all-time series. Last year the two teams split their two regular season matches in Long Beach. The 49ers won the opener on April 7 30-23, 30-19, 30-28 and then fell the next night in three games, 31-29, 30-22, 30-28. Long Beach won the season series though by recording a 30-23, 30-25, 25-30, 30-22 win in Honolulu in the first round of the MPSF Tournament on April 22.
49ERS ROLL PAST UCSD
•Beach wins in three over Tritons
Long Beach made relatively quick work of UC San Diego on Friday night winning 30-25, 30-21, 30-27 in the Walter Pyramid. Robert Tarr led the 49ers with 12 kills and three service aces, while Duncan Budinger and Francisco Valdez each had 11 kills. Long Beach hit .330 on the evening and recorded seven service aces. UCSD, which was led by Chris Sayers' 10 kills, hit .294, but had 18 service errors. Libero Tyler Caldwell finished with 10 digs as the 49ers out-dug UCSD 27 to 23.
HAWAII FACTS
•Warriors 5-4 on the year
Hawaii is 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the MPSF. Last week the Warriors lost at Pepperdine in five games before downing the Waves in three games (30-26, 30-21, 30-20) the next evening. Jose Delgado led Hawaii with 16 kills in the three-game sweep. On the year, Delgado checks in at 4.08 kills and 1.46 digs per game while hitting .316. Outside hitter Lauri Hakala is averaging 3.69 kills per game while hitting .348 and fellow outside Matt Carere is averaging 3.53 kills per game and hitting. 310. Setter Brian Beckwith is averaging 13.03 assists per game. As a team Hawaii is hitting an impressive .346 and averaging 16.25 kills per game.
ROAD WARRIORS
•49ers are 7-1 away from home
The 49ers are currently 7-1 away from the Walter Pyramid this season. The 49ers won their first seven matches of the season away from home, but lost on Saturday at Penn State. 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 .320 this year
The 49ers have been impressive on offense this year as they are hitting .320 and averaging 16.08 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. Three starters are hitting .332 or better as well. Long Beach has hit .400 or better four times this season.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 4-1 at home this year
The Walter Pyramid has been kind to the 49ers as they are 4-1 at home this season. 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 32-5 (.865) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 131-33 (.799) at home.
THREE AND OUT IS GOOD
•Beach has recorded six 3-0 sweeps
The 49ers have recorded six 3-0 sweeps this season, most recently accomplishing the feat last Friday at home against UC San Diego. In those six outings the 49ers have hit an impressive .393 (310-87-567) and limited their opponents to a .192 (253-139-595) hitting percentage. Long Beach has not been swept this season.
HILDEBRAND ON CAREER CHART
•Third all-time with 5,630 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) stands third all-time at Long Beach State with 5,630 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 13.56 assists per game, including a season-high 74 assists in the five-game win over CS Northridge. Besides dishing out assists, Hildebrand is hitting .317 and averaging 1.23 digs and 0.88 blocks per outing. Hildebrand is moving up the all-time blocking chart at LBSU as he has 278 career blocks, good for No. 17 all-time.
BUDINGER RANKS NO. 1 IN HITTING
•Career .475 hitting percentage
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) hit .421 (11-3-19) in the three-game sweep of UC San Diego last week and the previous week he hit a combined .400 (27-5-55) in the three matches. Budinger has a .480 hitting percentage this season and is averaging 2.62 kills and 1.44 blocks per outing. He has 10 outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and six outings hitting .500 or higher. He is also second on the team with nine matches with double figures in kills, including a season-high 13 kills at Stanford and at UC San Diego. Budinger continues to rank No. 1 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at .475. He also moved up to No. 9 in career blocking with 346 blocks and he is heading towards 1,000 career kills, as he stands at 886.
TARR NO. 9 ALL-TIME IN KILLS
•Averaging 5.58 kills per game
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) tallied a team-high 12 kills in the 49ers win over UC San Diego last week. He also added three aces and four digs while hitting .333. In the loss to Penn State on February 4 he recorded 25 kills and hit .409 (25-7-44). He has hit double-digits in kills 12 times this season and he has 20 or more kills in seven of the 13 matches. Tarr leads the 49ers in kills, averaging 5.58 kills per game. He also checks in at 1.58 digs and 1.00 blocks per game while hitting .332. Tarr also is tied for first on the team with 12 service aces. Tarr surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark in the second match of the season and currently stands at No. 9 all-time with 1,227 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 AT THE NET
•Second on team with 66 blocks
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) continues to be a force at the net thus far for the 49ers as he is second on the team in blocking with 66 blocks (1.47 bpg). Liles had five kills and and hit .400 (5-1-10) in the win over UCSD last Friday. Liles is averaging 2.18 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .396. 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. He currently ranks No. 5 all-time in career hitting percentage at .431.
HUTTON STEPS UP
•Career-high 17 kills vs. IPFW
Sophomore Norm Hutton (Fountain Valley) had a big match in the win over IPFW on February 3. He came off the bench to record a career-high 17 kills and hit .583 (17-3-24). He also added three digs and two block assists. His previous career-best in kills was last season as a redshirt freshman when he had 13 kills at UC San Diego. Hutton played three games on Saturday against Penn State, finishing with four kills and one block assist. Hutton, who has played in nine games this season, is averaging 2.44 kills per game and hitting .308.
LOTMAN RECORDS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is averaging 2.38 kills and 1.71 digs per game this season for the 49ers. He had six kills, five digs and three aces last Friday against UC San Diego. Lotman recorded a career-high 16 kills in the win over USC on January 27 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 had hit double digits in kills four times this year, with two coming against USC (13 in opener). His 82 digs (1.71 dpg) are second-most on the squad this season. Lotman has also contributed 11 service aces, second-best on the team. He has played in all 48 games 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 (1/27) on Friday. He added eight digs and five blocks while hitting .344 (16-5-32). Valdez had 11 kills and two block assists in last Friday's win over UC San DIego. Valdez, who has four double-figure kill matches this season (16 vs. USC, 14 vs. CSUN, 12 vs. USC, 11 vs. UCSD), is averaging 2.21 kills and 1.13 digs per game while hitting .176. He is tied for the team lead in service aces with 12.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•First on team with 93 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. Friday in the win over UCSD he recorded 10 digs. Caldwell has hit double figures in digs five times this year. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 2.16 digs per game and he's dished out 18 assists in 43 games as well.
WATTEN SEES ACTION
•Four digs at Stanford
Redshirt freshman Dustin Watten (Long Beach) is seeing increased playing time for the 49ers. He had a career-high five digs against Penn State and added two assists. He also had five digs against IPFW. In the win at Stanford he had four digs and one assist. Watten is currently averaging 0.43 digs per game.
SHEA SHINES
•5 kills in win over USC
Redshirt freshman Luke Shea (Fullerton) played in his first match as a 49er in the win over USC (1/27). 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.
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 |
