49ers Face UCI In MPSF Semi's
April 25, 2006
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LONG BEACH STATE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL | Overall: 22-9/ MPSF: 14-8/ National Rank: #2 | Thursday, April 27
MPSF Tournament Semifinals
5 pm: Pepperdine vs. UCLA
7:30 pm: Long Beach State vs. UC Irvine
Internet Radio: www.mpsports.org or
www.Broadcastmonsters.com | Saturday, April 29
MPSF Tournament Finals
7 pm: Thursday's Winners
Internet Radio: www.mpsports.org or
www.Broadcastmonsters.com
Television: Live on CSTV |
THE RECORDS
•Beach Heads To MPSF Semifinals
Long Beach State, which is ranked No. 2 in the nation, won its fifth consecutive match with a 30-21, 30-23, 25-30, 30-25 win over Brigham Young in a quarterfinal match of the MPSF Tournament. The 49ers improve to 22-9 on the season and advance to Thursday's tournament semifinals, where they will face No. 1-ranked UC Irvine at 7:30 pm in the Bren Events Center. UCI had a bye in the first round and heads into Thursday's match at 27-3 overall, having won 21 consecutive matches. The other semifinal match at 5 pm will feature UCLA (22-12) and Pepperdine (17-7).
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe in his sixth year at head coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 120-64 (.652) 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 UC Irvine, 30-6
•49ers trail Pepperdine, 38-33
•49ers trail UCLA, 70-26
Long Beach State leads in its series with UC Irvine by a 30-6 count, but the Anteaters won both meetings this season against the 49ers. On February 24 UCI won 26-30, 30-27, 32-30, 30-26 in Long Beach and on April 1 the Anteaters won at home 28-30, 30-21, 34-32, 30-26. The 49ers trail in their series with Pepperdine by a 38-33 count. The two teams split their matches on the opponents home court. Pepperdine win in Long Beach (1/26) 30-25, 30-22, 26-30, 30-26 and the 49ers win in Malibu (3/9) 30-18, 30-23, 30-28. UCLA leads its series with Long Beach State by a 70-26 margin. The 49ers have won two of the three meetings this season. On January 7 in the championship match of the UCSB E-Bar Collegiate Classic the 49ers won 25-30, 36-34, 30-25, 30-22. On Feb. 25 in Long Beach the 49ers won 30-23, 32-30, 30-21, but the Bruins won the final meeting 30-21, 30-28, 30-28 on March 31 in Los Angeles.
49ERS DEFEAT BYU
•Hutton records career-high 26 kills
Norm Hutton had a career-high 26 kills and Tyler Hildebrand had 43 assists, five kills, seven digs and four blocks as Long Beach State defeated BYU 30-21, 30-23, 25-30, 30-25 in a MPSF Tournament quarterfinal match in the Walter Pyramid. Long Beach hit .396 (61-19-106) on the evening and limited the Cougars to a .184 (50-29-114) hitting percentage. Robert Tarr chipped in with 12 kills and Teddy Liles had eight kills and eight block assists. Long Beach out-blocked the Cougars 15.5 to 10.0 and out-dug them 27-22. Tyler Caldwell led the 49ers with eight digs and Hildebrand added seven.
49ERS IN MPSF TOURNAMENT
•Beach is 15-14 all-time
Long Beach State is 15-14 all-time in the WIVA/MPSF Tournament since its inception in 1990. Last year (2005) the 49ers defeated Hawaii in the opening round on the road 30-23, 30-25, 23-30, 30-22. In the MPSF semifinals at Pepperdine they defeated UCSB 30-20, 30-24, 30-25. The 49ers then fell in the finals to eventual National Champion Pepperdine 31-29, 30-21, 30-27. The 49ers have advanced to the MPSF Tournament semifinals three consecutive years. They have won semifinal contests the past two seasons (defeated UCLA in 2004; defeated UCSB in 2005).
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
•Four players earn accolades
The 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) all-conference teams were announced on Monday and four 49ers earned all-league honors. Senior setter Tyler Hildebrand earned first team honors for the third consecutive season. Senior outside hitter Robert Tarr was also named first team all-league after being a second team selection last season. Senior opposite/MB Duncan Budinger was named second team all-league and junior middle Teddy Liles earned honorable mention honors. Budinger was a third team pick last year and this is the first all-conference honor for Liles. UC Irvine's Jayson Jablonsky was selected as the MPSF Player of the Year, UCI's John Speraw was the Coach of the Year and UCI's libero Brent Asuka was the Newcomer of the Year.
BIG CROWDS
•Season-high 1,476 in attendance on April 6
On April 6 the 49ers and Cougars drew a season-high crowd of 1,476 at the Walter Pyramid. The next night 1,459 came through the turnstiles. The 1,476 was the largest crowd this season and the 1,459 was the third-largest. On January 26 there were 1,461 in attendance when LBSU hosted Pepperdine. The 1,476 crowd vs. BYU was the 11th largest in school history and the 1,459 represented the 13th largest. This past Saturday there were 1,441 fans in the house to watch the 49ers defeat BYU in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinal match, the 14th largest crowd in school history. This season the 49ers are averaging 1,137 for their home contests, a mark which breaks the previous school record for average attendance (1,008 in 2000). The total attendance of 17,055 also is a school record, breaking the old mark of 16,128 set in 2000. Long Beach had 10 crowds of 1,000 or better this season.
WALTER PYRAMID ADVANTAGE
•49ers 12-3 at home this year
The Walter Pyramid was kind to the 49ers as they were 12-3 at home this season. Last year the 49ers were 13-2 at home and in 2004 they were 15-2. In the last three years the 49ers are 40-7 (.851) at home. Overall since 1995 the 49ers are 139-35 (.799) at home. ANOTHER 20 WIN SEASON
•Beach claims 22 wins
The 49ers hit the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season this year, having recorded 22 victories this season. This is the 14th time in school history that a 49er men's volleyball team has reached 20 or more victories. The school record for win is 31 (31-4), set in the 1991 NCAA Championship season. Last year the 49ers were 22-10 and in 2004 they were 28-7.
49ERS IN NATIONAL STATS
• Hildebrand No. 3 in assists per game
The 49ers have several players ranked in the latest national statistics. Senior Robert Tarr ranks No. 5 in kills per game at 4.91, No. 5 in points per game at 5.68 and No. 18 in aces per game (0.336). Tyler Hildebrand is No. 3 nationally at 13.48 assists per game and Teddy Liles is No. 11 in blocks per game (1.40). As a team the 49ers are tied for sixth in the nation in hitting percentage at .328.
THREE AND OUT IS GOOD
•Beach has recorded eleven 3-0 sweeps
The 49ers have recorded 11 3-0 sweeps this season, most recently accomplishing the feat against Pacific and Stanford. In those 11 outings the 49ers have hit an impressive .423 (571-144-1010) and limited their opponents to a .215 (453-229-1041) hitting percentage.
TYLER HILDEBRAND
•First all-time at LBSU with 6,557 assists
Senior Tyler Hildebrand (Mesa, AZ) became the career assist leader at Long Beach State on April 6 with his second assist of the game number one against BYU. Hildebrand currently stands first all-time with 6,557 career assists. He passes Jason Stimpfig's 6,324 assists (1990-93). Unofficially, he also stands No. 5 all-time in NCAA history in career assists. No. 1 all-time is Ball State's Chris Cooper with 7,281 assists. Hildebrand was named first team ALL-MPSF for the third consecutive season. This year Hildebrand is averaging 13.48 assists per game this season, a mark which ranks No. 3 in the nation. He had a season-high 74 assists in the five-game win over CS Northridge on January 6. In Saturday's four-game win over BYU in the MPSF quarterfinals, Hildebrand had 43 assists, five kills, seven digs and four blocks while leading the 49ers to a .396 hitting percentage. Besides dishing out assists, Hildebrand is hitting .428 and averaging 1.26 digs and 0.80 blocks per outing. Hildebrand was named the MVP of the UCSB E-Bar Collegiate Classic in January and was the MPSF/Molten Player of the Week on January 9. He was named to the Active Ankle All-Tournament Team in March after averaging 15.14 assists per game in the two 49er victories. Hildebrand also finds his name on the 49er career chart in blocks and digs. His 330 total blocks rank No. 12 all-time at LBSU and his 614 digs ranks No. 9 all-time.
ROBERT TARR
•Fifth in nation at 4.91 kills per game
Senior Robert Tarr (Rockledge, FL) was selected first team All-MPSF on Monday. Last season Tarr was a second team all-league pick. Tarr was selected on April 10 as the MPSF Molten Player of the Week. In the two matches against BYU that week he had 21 kills in both outings and averaged 1.44 digs and 4.67 kills per game. Tarr currently ranks No. 5 in the nation in kill average at 4.91 per game. He also is No. 5 in points per game at 5.68 and No. 18 in aces per game (0.336). In Saturday's MPSF quarterfinal win over BYU Tarr had 12 kills, four blocks and three digs. Tarr currently has 1,529 career kills to rank No. 6 all-time at Long Beach State. He has hit double-digits in kills 30 times this season, he has 20 or more kills in 13 of the 31 matches and he has hit .300 or better 19 times. Tarr is also averaging 1.65 digs and 0.81 blocks per game while hitting .327. Tarr also is first on the team with 39 service aces and leads the squad with five double-double's. In the MPSF only stats, Tarr was second in kills per game at 4.83 in league matches, seconds in points per game at 5.62 and fourth in service aces at 0.354. 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 was also named to the all-tournament team at the Active Ankle Classic.
DUNCAN BUDINGER
•Stands at No. 11 all-time in kills
Senior Duncan Budinger (Encinitas, CA) was selected second team All-MPSF on Monday. He had two good matches over the final weekend of the regular season averaging 2.67 kills and hitting .462 (16-4-26) in wins over Pacific and Stanford. The previous weekend in the two wins over BYU he averaged 2.78 kills per game and hit .360 (25-7-50). Budinger has recorded a career-high 28 kills in three matches this season (CSUN, Ohio State, at CSUN). He was the MVP of the Active Ankle Classic in March, averaging 6.0 kills per game in the two wins and hitting .478 (42-10-67). He tied his career-high against Ohio State with 28 kills and hit .590 (28-5-39). With 1,187 career kills he stands at No. 11 all-time at LBSU. Overall this year Budinger has been exceptional, averaging 3.65 kills and 1.00 blocks per game while hitting .386. He has 17 outings this year where he has hit .400 or better and eight outings hitting .500 or higher. Budinger is second on the team with 23 matches with double figures in kills. Budinger is ranked No. 3 at LBSU in hitting percentage as he now stands at .440. He also moved up to No. 7 in career blocking with 394 blocks. Two times this season he has been selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week ( January 17, March 13) and on March 13 he was the Molten MPSF co-Player of the Week.
TEDDY LILES
•First on team with 160 blocks
Junior Teddy Liles (Tucson, AZ) has been having a solid season for the 49ers and was named honorable mention All-MPSF on Monday. He is first on the team in blocking with 160 blocks (1.40 bpg). Liles is averaging 2.01 kills per game and is hitting an impressive .398. Saturday against BYU in the MPSF quarterfinal match he had eight kills and eight block assists while hitting .583 (8-1-12). In the April 14 win over Pacific Liles had eight kills, hit .636 (8-1-11) and recorded 10 block assists. It was his second double-digit blocking effort this season. Liles ranked sixth in the MPSF in blocking at 1.44 blocks per game in conference outings. Nationally he ranks No. 11 in blocking. Eight times he has hit double digits in kills including a season-high 13 kills in a win at UCSB and at home against UC Irvine. 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.
NORM HUTTON
•Career-high 26 kills vs. BYU
Sophomore Norm Hutton (Fountain Valley) has moved into the 49er starting lineup the past four matches and has responded brilliantly. In Saturday's MPSF quarterfinal win over BYU he had a career-high 26 kills, adding four blocks and hitting .568 (26-5-37). For his efforts he was selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. Three weeks ago against BYU (4/6) he came off the bench to record 10 kills, four digs and four blocks while hitting .300 as the 49ers won in five games. The next night he started against the Cougars, finishing with a then career-high 20 kills while adding eight digs, two aces and two block assists. The next weekend Hutton had 10 kills, four digs, three aces and three blocks in the win over Pacific and 12 kills and a career-high four aces against Stanford. In his last five matches Hutton has hit double figures in each while averaging 4.59 kills and 0.76 blocks per game while hitting .338 (78-29-145). He also has recorded 10 service aces in that time. Prior to the past five matches Hutton's previous career-high in kills was 13, set earlier this season against IPFW at the Penn State Tournament. Hutton is currently averaging 2.35 kills, 0.59 digs and 0.24 aces per game while hitting .305.
PAUL LOTMAN
•Averaging 1.63 digs per game
Sophomore Paul Lotman (Lakewood) had a solid this past Saturday against BYU with seven kills, five digs and four blocks while hitting .455 (7-2-11). Lotman is currently averaging 2.06 kills and 1.63 digs per game while hitting .235. On April 1 at UC Irvine he tallied 13 kills, four digs and four block assists. The double-digit kill effort was the seventh of the season. He 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. His 189 digs (1.63 dpg) are third on the squad this season and he has led the 49ers in digs nine times this season. Lotman has also contributed 26 service aces, second on the team.
TYLER CALDWELL
•First on team with 220 digs
Junior libero Tyler Caldwell (Hermosa Beach) has played great in the back row for the 49ers this season. Caldwell had eight digs and a career-high five assists in Saturday's MPSF Tournament win over BYU. He had 11 digs in the four-game win over BYU on April 7, his ninth double figure dig match this year. Caldwell had accumulated a career-best 12 digs four times this season (at USC, UC Irvine, at Hawaii, Pepperdine). Caldwell ranked sixth in the MPSF in digs per game at 2.11 in MPSF matches. Overall, Caldwell is averaging 1.98 digs per game and he's dished out 47 assists in 111 games.
KEVIN CAPE
•Career-high 14 kills vs. UC Irvine
Junior Kevin Cape (Long Beach) stepped into the starting rotation for the 49ers when Duncan Budinger to opposite. Cape started 13 matches on the season. He 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). In the 49ers five-game loss at CS Northridge on March 3 he tallied 13 kills and a career-high tying six blocks. Cape stands at 1.88 kills and 0.68 blocks per game while hitting .393. He reached double figures in kills three times on the season.
FRANCISCO VALDEZ
•Career-high 16 kills vs. USC
Sophomore Francisco Valdez (Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic) played just two games against Rutgers-Newark on March 17 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 1.29 kills and 0.70 digs per game while hitting .198. He is fifth on the team in service aces with 16.
DUSTIN WATTEN
Redshirt freshman Dustin Watten (Long Beach) has appeared in 71 games this season. He has recorded 38 digs (0.54 dpg), including a career-high 14 digs in the five-game loss at CS Northridge. He also had his lone kill of the year in that CSUN match. Watten recorded three assists and four digs in the win at UCSB and had two assists and five digs at Penn State. On April 15 he had a service ace in the win over Stanford.
LUKE SHEA
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. On the year Shea played in 14 games, recording six kills and five block assists while hitting .250 (6-2-16).
GAVIN CHRISTENSEN
True freshman Gavin Christensen (Lakewood) has played in 33 games this season for the 49ers and had recorded one kill (vs. IPFW), six service aces and 13 digs. Christensen had a career-best five digs in the win over IPFW and added two at UCLA.
DANIEL FABRY
True freshman Daniel Fabry (Park Ridge, IL) has appeared in 26 games this season. He has four kills and is hitting .182 (4-2-11). In Saturday's win over BYU he came into the front line on one rotation in game number one and recorded a block assist. His kills this season have come against Rutgers-Newark and three against Hawaii. He had two kills on four swings (2-1-4) and one block assist on February 17 at Hawaii.
2006 Roster
2006 Schedule/Results
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