49ers Take On Northridge On Friday
March 21, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 17-6/ MPSF: 10-5/ National Rank: #5 | Friday, March 24, Walter Pyramid
CS Northridge at Long Beach State
Internet Radio: www.longbeachstate.com | Saturday, March 31
Long Beach State at UCLA
7 pm, Los Angeles, CA |
THE RECORDS
•Beach in fifth place in MPSF standings
After winning two non-conference games at home in its Active Ankle Classic last weekend, the Long Beach State men's volleyball team gets back to conference play when they host Cal State Northridge on Friday evening. The 49ers are 17-6 overall and 10-5 in the MPSF, good for fifth place. Long Beach, ranked No. 5 nationally, has won four matches in a row and six of seven. CS Northridge, ranked No. 6, is 14-8 overall and 9-7 in the MPSF, good for sixth place. The Matadors beat UCSB and UCSD last week.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe in his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 115-61 (.653) 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 lead series 32-21
Long Beach State leads in its series with Cal State Northridge by a 32-21 count. The two teams have already split five-game matches this season. On January 6 the 49ers won 23-30, 31-29, 30-27, 26-30, 15-8 at the UCSB E-Bar Classic. On March 3 in Northridge the Matadors won 32-30, 30-28, 21-30, 17-30, 15-12.
49ERS WIN TWO AT HOME
•Beach wins Active Ankle Classic
The 49ers won two matches at their annual Active Ankle Classic last weekend. On Friday the 49ers defeated Rutgers-Newark 30-20, 27-30, 30-21, 30-22. Duncan Budinger led the way with 14 kills and five blocks, Francisco Valdez had 13 kills and hit .722 and Robert Tarr and Teddy Liles both had 12 kills. Tarr had a double-double as he added a team-high 10 digs. The 49ers hit .356 in the match and limited Rutgers to a .173 hitting percentage. Saturday the 49ers rolled over Ohio State 30-16, 30-26, 30-27. Budinger tied his career-high with 28 kills and Tarr added 14 as LBSU hit .485. Budinger was named MVP of the tournament, while Tyler Hildebrand and Tarr were named to the all-tournament team.
CS NORTHRIDGE FACTS
•Matadors in sixth place in MPSF
Cal State Northridge heads into Friday's key match with the 49ers at 14-8 overall and 9-7 in the MPSF. Last week CSUN defeated UCSB on the road 30-28, 30-28, 21-30, 30-23 and UC San Diego on the road 30-23, 30-27, 30-27. The Matadors have won three in a row and six of their last seven. In the win over UCSB, Brian Waite led the way with 17 kills while hitting .682 (17-2-22). Dan Rhodes leads CSUN at 4.17 kills per game while hitting .260. Waite checks in at 2.94 kills and 1.21 blocks per game while hitting .417. As a team CSUN is averaging 15.33 kills per game and hitting .299. Setter Travis Bluemling is averaging 13.22 assists per game.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 7-2 at home this year
The Walter Pyramid has been kind to the 49ers as they are 7-2 at home this season. Five of the 49ers final seven regular season matches are at home. 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 35-6 (.854) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 134-34 (.798) 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 5.12 and No. 5 in points per game at 5.81. Tyler Hildebrand ranks No. 2 nationally at 13.90 assists per game, Teddy Liles is No. 12 in blocks per game (1.36) and Duncan Budinger is tied for No. 12 in hitting percentage at .417.
THREE AND OUT IS GOOD
•Beach has recorded nine 3-0 sweeps
The 49ers have recorded nine 3-0 sweeps this season, most recently accomplishing the feat against Ohio State last Saturday. In those nine outings the 49ers have hit an impressive .408 (474-123-860) and limited their opponents to a .219 (387-192-890) hitting percentage.
HITTING PROWESS
•49ers hitting .333 as a team
The 49ers are hitting an impressive .333 on the season as a team, a mark which ranks No. 6 in the country. They have hit .300 or better in 15 of their 23 matches. In their last seven matches they have hit .356 or better, topping the .400 mark four times (UCLA, UCSB, Pepperdine, Ohio State). Overall the 49ers have hit .400 or better eight 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). In Saturday's win over Ohio State the 49ers hit an impressive .485 (59-12-97).
HILDEBRAND NO. 2 IN NATION IN ASSISTS
•Second all-time with 6,174 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) moved up to the No. 2 spot all-time at Long Beach State last weekend with 6,174 career assists. This season he is averaging 13.90 assists per game, a mark which stands No. 2 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 .400 and averaging 1.27 digs and 0.84 blocks per outing. He was named to the Active Ankle All-Tournament Team last weekend after averaging 15.14 assists per game in the two victories. Long Beach also hit a combined .410 (130-36-229) in the victories. Hildebrand needs just 151 more assists to pass Jason Stimpfig's career mark of 6,324.
TARR NO. 6 ALL-TIME IN KILLS
•Fifth in nation at 5.12 kills per game
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) currently ranks No. 5 in the nation in kill average at 5.12 per game. He also is No. 5 in points per game at 5.81. Tarr had 14 kills and hit .520 (14-1-25) in the win over Ohio State and tallied 12 kills, 10 digs and three service aces against Rutgers-Newark. He was named to the Active Ankle All-Tournament Team this past weekend. In MPSF matches, Tarr checks in at 4.96 kills per game, second-best in the league. He has hit double-digits in kills 22 times this season and he has 20 or more kills in 10 of the 23 matches. He is also averaging 1.73 digs and 0.84 blocks per game while hitting .325. Tarr also is first on the team with 22 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 1,394 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. 14 all-time in kills
Senior Duncan Budinger (Encinitas, CA) has been on a tear recently providing offensive firepower for the 49ers. Since moving to the opposite position from middle blocker on February 17, Budinger is averaging 5.23 kills per game (183 kills in 35 games) in his last nine outings. The MVP of last weekend's Active Ankle Classic, Budinger averaged 6.0 kills per game in the two wins and hit .478 (42-10-67). He tied his career-high on Saturday with 28 kills against Ohio State and hit .590 (28-5-39). He had 14 kills and five block assists in Friday's win over Rutgers-Newark. With 1,077 career kills he stands at No. 14 all-time at LBSU. Overall this year Budinger has been exceptional, averaging 3.69 kills and 1.08 blocks per game while hitting .417. He has 15 outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and seven outings hitting .500 or higher. Budinger is second on the team with 17 matches with double figures in kills. Nationally, Budinger is tied for No. 12 in the country in hitting percentage (.417). 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 370 blocks.
LILES AT THE NET
•First on team with 113 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 113 blocks (1.36 bpg). Last week in the two wins, Liles 12 kills, two aces and three block assists while hitting .588 (12-2-17) in the win over Rutgers-Newark. Saturday night he had four kills and two block assists vs. Ohio State. Liles is averaging 2.13 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .399. He ranks fifth in the MPSF in blocking at 1.44 blocks per game in conference outings. Nationally he ranks No. 12 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 Cape had seven kills and four block assists vs. Rutgers-Newark and the followed that up with four kills while hitting .571 (4-0-7) vs. Ohio State. 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 nine matches for the 49ers and currently stands at 2.17 kills per game while hitting .450.
LOTMAN RECORDS FIRST DOUBLE-DOUBLE
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is averaging 2.29 kills and 1.78 digs per game this season for the 49ers. Lotman had had eight kills and hit .312 (8-3-16) against Rutgers-Newark and then had eight kills and a team-high nine digs in the win over Ohio State. 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 151 digs (1.78 dpg) are first on the squad this season. Lotman has also contributed 17 service aces, a mark which is tied for second on the team.
VALDEZ SHINES VS. RUTGERS
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Francisco Valdez (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic) played just two games on Friday against Rutgers-Newark but he finished with 13 kills and hit .722 (13-0-18). He also added four digs. The double-figure kill match was his fifth of the season. Valdez recorded a career-high 16 kills in the 49ers four-game win over USC on January 27. 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 (2/10). Valdez is averaging 1.61 kills and 0.85 digs per game while hitting .201. He is fourth on the team in service aces with 13.
CALDWELL IN THE BACK ROW
•First on team with 167 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) has played great in the back row for the 49ers this season. Caldwell had seven digs in the win over Ohio State on Saturday. Caldwell had accumulated a career-best 12 digs four times this season. Caldwell has hit double figures in digs a team-best eight times this year. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 2.09 digs per game and he's dished out 27 assists in 80 games.
SCHLESINGER SEE FIRST ACTION
•Five assists vs. Rutgers-Newark
Sophomore setter Adam Schlesinger (Newport Beach) saw his first action of the season on Friday against Rutgers-Newark. He played in two games and tallied a career-best five assists as the 49ers won in four games. Schlesinger played in just three matches and five games last season recording a total of three assists and one dig.
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