49ers Face A Big Week On The Road
February 28, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 12-5/ MPSF: 7-4/ National Rank: #5 | Long Beach State at UC Santa Barbara
Wednesday, March 1, 7 pm, Santa Barbara | Long Beach State at CS Northridge
Friday, March 3, 7 pm, Northridge |
THE RECORDS
•Beach snaps three-game skid with win over UCLA
Long Beach State stands at 12-5 overall and 7-4 in the MPSF after defeated UCLA at home on Saturday night in three games. The 49ers moved up to No. 5 in the latest CSTV/AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll. The 49ers hit the road for their next four matches. Wednesday they are at UC Santa Barbara and Friday at Cal State Northridge. UCSB is 9-8 overall and 6-6 in the MPSF and are ranked No. 8 in the nation. CS Northridge is 8-7 overall and 4-6 in the MPSF and ranked No. 6 nationally.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe enters his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 110-60 (.647) 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 lead series with CS Northridge, 32-20
•49ers trail series with UCSB 40-29
Long Beach State trails in its series with UCSB by a 40-29 count, but Long Beach has won the last two meetings. The two teams met earlier in Long Beach on February 1 and the 49ers won 30-26, 30-25, 30-24. The 49ers lead their series with CS Northridge by a 32-20 count. On January 6 at the UCSB E-Bar Tournament the 49ers won in five games, 23-30, 31-29, 30-27, 26-30, 15-8. Long Beach has won the last five meetings against the Matadors.
49ERS SPLIT TWO MATCHES AT HOME
•Beach beats UCLA in three games
The 49ers went 1-1 at home last week losing to UC Irvine (30-26, 27-30, 30-32, 26-30) and defeated UCLA (30-23, 32-30, 30-21). Against UCI, Robert Tarr had 17 kills and Kevin Cape and Duncan Budinger 14 each, but the Anteaters hit .395 in the match and won in four games. Jayson Jablonsky led UCI with 19 kills while hitting .444. On Saturday the 49ers rebounded with a three-game sweep of UCLA. Budinger had a career-high 24 kills and Tarr added 15 as the 49ers hit .424.
CS NORTHRIDGE FACTS
•Matadors 8-7 on the season
Cal State Northridge is 8-7 overall and 4-6 in the MPSF heading into the week. Last week CSUN lost twice at home to Hawaii. The first match went five with UH winning 15-11 in the fifth. Saturday's match was won by Hawaii in three games (30-27, 41-39, 30-27). Leading the way for CSUN is Dan Rhodes at 4.29 kills per game. Brian Waite checks in at 2.86 kills per game while hitting .354 and setter Travis Bluemling is averaging 13.36 assists per game. CSUN is hitting .280 on the year, but is being out-blocked 3.64 to 2.71.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 5-2 at home this year
The Walter Pyramid has been kind to the 49ers as they are 5-2 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 33-6 (.846) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 132-34 (.795) at home.
49ERS IN NATIONAL STATS
• Tarr No. 4 In Kills Per Game
The 49ers have several players ranked in the latest national statistics. Senior Robert Tarr ranks fourth in the country in kills per game at 5.45 and fourth in points per game at 6.21. Tyler Hildebrand is No. 1 nationally at 13.81 assists per game. Duncan Budinger is No. 16 in hitting percentage at .407 and tied for No. 17 in blocking at 1.24. Teddy Liles ranks No. 10 in blocking at 1.36 per outing.
THREE AND OUT IS GOOD
•Beach has recorded seven 3-0 sweeps
The 49ers have recorded seven 3-0 sweeps this season, most recently accomplishing the feat at home against UCLA. In those seven outings the 49ers have hit an impressive .398 (365-100-666) and limited their opponents to a .210 (300-154-695) hitting percentage.
HILDEBRAND NO. 2 IN NATION IN ASSISTS
•Third all-time with 5,835 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) stands third all-time at Long Beach State with 5,835 career assists. Standing ahead of him in the No. 2 spot is Chris Seiffert (1997-00) who registered 6,099 career assists. Hildebrand needs 265 more assists to pass Seiffert. This season he is averaging 13.81 assists per game, a mark which stands No. 1 in the nation. He had a season-high 74 assists in the five-game win over CS Northridge. Besides dishing out assists, Hildebrand is hitting .373 and averaging 1.27 digs and 0.76 blocks per outing.
TARR NO. 8 ALL-TIME IN KILLS
•Fourth in nation at 5.45 kills per game
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) currently ranks No. 4 in the nation in kill average at 5.45. He also is fourth in points per game at 6.21. Tarr recorded 17 kills and eight digs in the loss to UC Irvine, but came back with 15 kills and a .379 (15-4-29) hitting percentage in the three-game win over UCLA. In MPSF matches, Tarr checks in at 5.32 kills per game, second-best in the league. He has hit double-digits in kills 16 times this season and he has 20 or more kills in eight of the 17 matches. He is also averaging 1.77 digs and 0.92 blocks per game while hitting .312. Tarr also is first on the team with 17 service aces. Tarr surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark in the second match of the season and currently stands at No. 8 all-time with 1,297 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.
BUDINGER RANKS NO. 1 IN HITTING
•Career .459 hitting percentage
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) has a .407 hitting percentage this season and is averaging 3.13 kills and 1.24 blocks per outing. Budinger has recently moved to the opposite position from middle blocker. Saturday against UCLA he recorded a career-high 24 kills while hitting .447 (24-7-38). In his last three matches he has recorded 22 (Hawaii), 14 (UCI) and 24 (UCLA) kills. He is averaging 5.45 kills per game in those three matches. Budinger has 12 outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and six outings hitting .500 or higher. Budinger is second on the team with 12 matches with double figures in kills. Nationally, Budinger ranks No. 17 in the country in blocking (1.24) and No. 16 in hitting percentage (.407). Budinger continues to rank No. 1 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at .459. He also moved up to No. 9 in career blocking with 354 blocks and he is heading towards 1,000 career kills, as he stands at 954.
LILES AT THE NET
•First on team with 80 blocks
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) continues to be a force at the net thus far for the 49ers as he first on the team in blocking with 80 blocks (1.36 bpg). Liles had 13 kills and four blocks while hitting .550 (13-2-20) in the loss to UC Irvine last Friday night. Liles is averaging 2.17 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .391. He ranks sixth in the MPSF in blocking at 1.34 blocks per game in conference outings. Nationally he ranks No. 10 in blocking. 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.
CAPED CRUSADER
•Career-high 14 kills vs. UC Irvine
Junior Kevin Cape (Long Beach) has stepped into the starting rotation for the 49ers with the move of Duncan Budinger to opposite. Cape had a career-high 14 kills and hit .591 (14-1-22) against UCI and then came back with eight kills while hitting .727 (8-0-11) vs. UCLA. In the two matches last weekend he averaged 3.14 kills per game while hitting an amazing .636 (22-1-33). Cape has started the last three matches for the 49ers and currently stands at 2.82 kills per game while hitting .562.
LOTMAN RECORDS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is averaging 2.19 kills and 1.81 digs per game this season for the 49ers. Lotman had nine kills and eight digs against UCI last week. In the win over UCLA he had just three kills but led the team with 10 digs. 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. Lotman had hit double digits in kills four times this year, with two coming against USC (13 in opener). His 112 digs (1.81 dpg) are most on the squad this season. Lotman has also contributed 11 service aces, third-best on the team.
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 the 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 1.77 kills and 0.95 digs per game while hitting .165. He is second on the team lead in service aces with 13.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•First on team with 130 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) is off to a great start this season. Caldwell had 12 digs in the four-game loss to UC Irvine and then had eight in the win over UCLA. 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 seven times this year. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 2.28 digs per game and he's dished out 20 assists in 57 games as well.
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. 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 |
