49ers Host Active Ankle Classic
March 14, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 15-6/ MPSF: 10-5/ National Rank: #5 | Friday, March 17, Walter Pyramid
5:30 pm: BYU vs. Ohio State
7:30 pm: LBSU vs. Rutgers-Newark | Saturday, March 18, Walter Pyramid
5:30 pm: BYU vs. Rutgers-Newark
7:30 pm: LBSU vs. Ohio State |
THE RECORDS
•Beach in fifth place in MPSF standings
Long Beach State picked up two big wins on the road last week winning at No. 3 Pepperdine (3-0) and at No. 14 USC (3-1). With the wins the 49ers improve to 15-6 overall and 10-5 in the MPSF. Long Beach moved up to No. 5 in the nation in the latest CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll. This weekend Long Beach will host its annual Active Ankle Classic. Visiting the Walter Pyramid this weekend will be Ohio State, BYU and Rutgers-Newark. The 49ers play Rutgers on Friday and Ohio State on Saturday. Rutgers-Newark is 7-10 on the season, No. 11-ranked Ohio State is 15-4 and No. 2 BYU is 14-4.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe in his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 113-61 (.649) in his sixth year 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 leads Rutgers-Newark, 9-0
•49ers leads Ohio State, 5-0
Long Beach State leads in its series with Rutgers-Newark by a 9-0 count. The last meeting was last season in the Active Ankle Classic as the 49ers prevailed 30-19, 30-24, 30-26. The 49ers lead their series with Ohio State by a 5-0 count. The last meeting though between LBSU and OSU was back in 1993, a 15-9, 13-15, 15-3, 15-10 Long Beach win at the IPFW Tournament.
49ERS WIN TWO ON THE ROAD
•Beach stands 6-3 on the road in MPSF
The 49ers came away with two big wins last week on the road. On Thursday, the 49ers rolled into Malibu and came away one hour and 22 minutes later with a 30-18, 30-23, 30-28 win over No. 3 Pepperdine. Long Beach hit .402 in the match as Duncan Budinger led the way with 19 kills and Robert Tarr added 12. Pepperdine his just .220 in the match. Saturday the 49ers won 30-27, 30-25, 27-30, 30-22 at No. 14 USC. Budinger had 26 kills and Tarr 21 as Long Beach hit .386. Tyler Caldwell 12 digs and setter Tyler Hildebrand finished with 67 assists, nine digs and four blocks.
RUTGERS-NEWARK FACTS
•Scarlet Raiders stand at 7-10
Rutgers-Newark heads to California with a record of 7-10 overall and a 3-3 mark in conference play. Last week the lost at home to Ball State 30-26, 30-18, 30-27 and then defeated Princeton 17-30, 30-25, 30-20, 30-28. Leading the way for URN is Eric Honsberger who is averaging 3.68 kills per game. Brian Honsberger is right behind him at 3.13 kills per game and is hitting .388 and averages a team-best 1.27 blocks per outing. Setter Mark Hulse is averaging 8.52 assists per outing. As a team the Scarlet Raiders are averaging 12.61 kills per game and hitting .220.
OHIO STATE FACTS
•Buckeyes are 15-4 on the year
Ohio State is 15-4 on the year, 3-2 in the MIVA and ranked No. 11 nationally. Last week the Buckeyes defeated Mercyhurst at home 30-28, 33-31, 30-21. The Buckeyes have defeated UC San Diego twice and knocked off UCLA 30-27, 32-30, 30-28 in Hawaii. They have won four matches in a row heading into this weekend. Leading the way are Stuart Katz and Robbie Klein. Katz is averaging 3.31 kills per game and is hitting .268. He also averaged a team-high 2.05 digs per outing. Klein is averaging 2.94 kills per game, but is hitting just .201. Setter Daniel Mathews is averaging 12.65 assists per game. Overall, Ohio State is averaging 15.41 kills per game and is hitting .298.
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. 5 In Kills Per Game
The 49ers have several players ranked in the latest national statistics. Senior Robert Tarr ranks No. 5 in kills per game at 5.18 and No. 5 in points per game at 5.88. Tyler Hildebrand ranks No. 1 nationally at 13.78 assists per game, Teddy Liles is No. 10 in blocks per game (1.42) and Duncan Budinger is No. 14 in hitting percentage at 4.09.
THREE AND OUT IS GOOD
•Beach has recorded eight 3-0 sweeps
The 49ers have recorded eight 3-0 sweeps this season, most recently accomplishing the feat at No. 3-ranked Pepperdine. In those eight outings the 49ers have hit an impressive .398 (415-111-763) and limited their opponents to a .211 (343-175-795) hitting percentage.
HITTING PROWESS
•49ers hitting .326 as a team
The 49ers are hitting an impressive .326 on the season as a team, a mark which ranks No. 7 in the country. They have hit .300 or better in 13 of their 21 matches. In their last five matches they have hit .371 or better, topping the .400 mark three times (UCLA, UCSB, Pepperdine). Overall the 49ers have hit .400 or better seven times this season. The top hitting output came in the opener against USC at the UCSB Tournament as the 49ers hit an impressive .526 (60-9-97).
BUDINGER NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Averaged 6.43 kills per game last week
Senior middle blocker Duncan Budinger (Encinitas) was selected on Monday as the AVCA National Player of the Week. Budinger averaged 6.43 kills per game in the two road wins last week while hitting an impressive .429. Thursday at Pepperdine he had 19 kills while hitting .395 (19-4-38). Saturday at USC he had 26 kills while hitting .457 (26-5-46). It is the second time this year he has won the award. He was also honored as the MPSF co-Player of the Week.
HILDEBRAND NO. 1 IN NATION IN ASSISTS
•Third all-time with 6,068 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) stands third all-time at Long Beach State with 6,068 career assists, but he should jump into the No. 2 spot on Friday. He needs just 32 assists vs. Rutgers-Newark on Friday to pass Chris Seiffert's 6,099 career assists. This season he is averaging 13.78 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 on January 6 and recorded 67 in last Saturday's win at USC. Besides dishing out assists, Hildebrand is hitting .398 and averaging 1.28 digs and 0.85 blocks per outing. He had four blocks in the win over USC and five at Pepperdine last week.
TARR NO. 6 ALL-TIME IN KILLS
•Fifth in nation at 5.18 kills per game
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) currently ranks No. 5 in the nation in kill average at 5.18 per game. He also is No. 5 in points per game at 5.88. Tarr had 12 kills in the win at Pepperdine and 21 in the win at USC. In the two matches last week he hit .414 (33-9-58) and averaged 4.71 kills per game. In MPSF matches, Tarr checks in at 4.96 kills per game, second-best in the league. He has hit double-digits in kills 20 times this season and he has 20 or more kills in 10 of the 21 matches. He is also averaging 1.67 digs and 0.89 blocks per game while hitting .325. Tarr also is first on the team with 19 service aces. Tarr surpassed the 1,000 career kill mark in the second match of the season and currently stands at No. 6 all-time with 1,368 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.
BUDINGER HITS 1,000 CAREER KILLS
•Stands at No. 15 all-time
Since moving to the opposite position from middle blocker on February 17, Budinger is averaging 5.04 kills per game (141 kills in 28 games) in his last seven outings. Last week he became the 16th player in school history to eclipse 1,000 career kills. He stands at No. 15 all-time with 1,035 kills. Budinger has been exceptional this season, averaging 3.48 kills and 1.11 blocks per game while hitting .409. He has 14 outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and six outings hitting .500 or higher. Budinger is second on the team with 15 matches with double figures in kills. Nationally, Budinger ranks No. 14 in the country in hitting percentage (.409). Budinger continues to rank No. 1 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at .456. He also moved up to No. 8 in career blocking with 365 blocks.
LILES AT THE NET
•First on team with 108 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 108 blocks (1.42 bpg). Last week in the two wins, Liles had seven kills and eight blocks, while hitting .875 (7-0-8) at Pepperdine. Saturday at USC he had seven kills and four blocks. Liles is averaging 2.12 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .394. He ranks fifth in the MPSF in blocking at 1.44 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 UC Irvine on February 24 and then came back with eight kills while hitting .727 (8-0-11) vs. UCLA (2/25). Last week he had 10 kills and six digs while hitting .353 (10-4-17) in the four-game win at USC. In the 49ers five-game loss at CS Northridge on March 3 he tallied 13 kills and a career-high tying six blocks. Cape has started the last seven matches for the 49ers and currently stands at 2.32 kills per game while hitting .472.
LOTMAN RECORDS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is averaging 2.27 kills and 1.77 digs per game this season for the 49ers. Lotman had six kills, five digs and four block assists in the win at Pepperdine and followed that with eight kills and eight digs in the win at USC. 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 140 digs (1.77 dpg) are second on the squad this season. Lotman has also contributed 14 service aces, a mark which is tied for second 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 1.47 kills and 0.82 digs per game while hitting .165. He is fourth on the team in service aces with 13.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•First on team with 156 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) is off to a great start this season. Caldwell had 12 digs in the four-game win at USC last Saturday. Caldwell had accumulated 12 digs four times this season. Caldwell has hit double figures in digs a team-best eight times this year. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 2.11 digs per game and he's dished out 24 assists in 74 games.
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.
2006 Roster
2006 Schedule/Results |
