49ers Host UC Irvine This Week
Beach Wins Both In Hawai'i
January 15, 2008
PDF Version of Release | OVERALL RECORD • 4-0 | | MPSF RECORD • 2-0 | | NATIONAL RANKING • No. 5-AVCA • No. 5-Molten | THIS WEEK:
MATCH NO. 6
Wednesday, January 16, 7 pm
#7 UC Irvine at #5 Long Beach State
Walter Pyramid (4,200), Long Beach, Calif.
Internet Radio: www.longbeachstate.com
MATCH NO. 7
Friday, January 18, 7 pm
#5 Long Beach State at #4 UCLA
Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, Calif.
Internet Radio: www.longbeachstate.com
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THE RECORDS
•Beach 4-0 On Season
Long Beach State improved to 4-0 on the season, and 2-0 in the MPSF, with two wins at Hawai'i. The sweep on the islands was the first for a 49er squad since 1992. Long Beach State is ranked No. 5 in the country this week in the latest CSTV/AVCA Poll. This week the 49ers host No. 7 UC Irvine on Wednesday and travel to No. 4 UCLA on Friday. UCI is 3-3 on the year and 1-1 in the MPSF, while UCLA is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in league play.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe In Eighth Year as Coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 136-82 (.624) in his eighth year as the head coach of the 49er men's. Knipe, the 2004 AVCA National Coach of the Year, is in his 16th year in association with 49er men's volleyball (3 years as a player, 5 years as an assistant, 8th year as the head coach).
THE SERIES
•49ers Lead UC Irvine, 31-8
•49ers Trail UCLA, 72-27
Long Beach State leads in its series with UC Irvine by a 31-8 margin, but the Anteaters swept the season series last year. UCI won in five games at the Walter Pyramid and prevailed in three games in the 2007 regular season finale in Irvine. The 49ers trail in their series with UCLA, 72-27. Last year the 49ers beat the Bruins at home in five games, winning 16-14 in game number five. Long Beach lost at UCLA in the return match in three games. The 49ers have dropped their last three regular season matches at Pauley Pavilion.
BLACK & BLUE RIVALRY SERIES
•UCI Leads, 9-7
Wednesday match with UC Irvine will continue the 2007-08 version of the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's. UC Irvine currently leads the series by a score of 9-7.
LOTMAN CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Second Honor This Season For A 49er
Paul Lotman was named the MPSF Molten co-Player of the Week on January 14 for his efforts in the two victories in Hawai'i. He shared the honor with Pepperdine's Paul Carroll. Lotman averaged 6.71 kills per game and hit .400 in the two victories.
HAWAI'I RESULTS
•49ers Win Both On The Islands
The 49ers picked up a rare sweep of their two-match series last week in Hawai'i. The last time Long Beach won both matches on the islands was in 1992. Thursday the 49ers won 32-30, 30-20, 30-22 as Paul Lotman tallied 21 kills and hit .444. Dean Bittner added 12 kills and six blocks as the 49ers hit .413 and limited UH to a .150 hitting percentage. On Friday the 49ers won in four games, 30-32, 30-20, 32-30, 30-26. Lotman had a season-high 26 kills and 10 digs and Bittner had a career-high 26 kills. Dan Alexander had 14 kills and setter Mike Klipsch had 69 assists, five digs and four blocks.
LOTMAN ON CAREER CHART
•20th All-Time In Kills
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is currently No. 20 on the 49er career kill chart with 895 kills. Lotman needs just 105 kills to become the 17th player in 49er history to reach 1,000 career kills. Lotman also has accumulated 493 career digs and needs just seven more digs to become the 17th player in school history to reach 500 career digs.
MPSF STATISTICS
•49ers First In Hitting Percentage
In MPSF matches the 49ers rank extremely high in numerous categories. LBSU is tied for first in hitting percentage (.377) and ranks first in assists (17.86), kills (18.14) and digs (12.57). Individually, setter Mike Klipsch is first in assists (16.29) while Paul Lotman is tied for first in kills per game (6.71) and is second in points (7.71). Libero Dustin Watten is tied for second in digs per game at 3.43 and Dan Alexander is third in hitting percentage (.535).
KLIPSCH SHINES AT SETTER
•Freshman Earns Starting Spot
True freshman Mike Klipsch (St. Louis, MO) has begun the season as the starting setter for the 49ers. Klipsch is averaging 15.23 assists per game this season. He guided the team to a .367 hitting percentage as the 49ers have hit. 350 or better in all four of their matches. Friday at Hawai'i he had a career-high 69 assists, adding five digs and four blocks. Klipsch is tied for third on the team with 13 blocks (1.00 bpg) and he's fourth in digs with 18 (1.38 dpg).
BITTNER COMES UP BIG
•Career-High 26 Kills at Hawai'i
Sophomore Dean Bittner (Lakewood) continues to impress. Bittner had a career-high 26 kills on Friday at Hawai'i, adding seven digs and a .358 hitting percentage. In Thursday three-game sweep he had 12 kills and six blocks while hitting .429. Bittner, who was named to the All-Tournament Team at the UCSB E-Bar Invitational and was the MPSF Molten co-Player of the Week (1/7), is averaging 5.31 kills per game while hitting .385. He averaged 5.17 kills per game at the UCSB E-Bar. He has hit double digits in kills in all four matches this season.
ALEXANDER HEALTHY AND READY
•Sophomore Off To A Strong Start
Sophomore Dan Alexander (Arcadia) has battled through back problems the past two years, but is now healthy and is off to a great start in 2008. Alexander is averaging 3.31 kills and 1.23 blocks per game while hitting an impressive .556. He is second on the team in blocking and hitting percentage and third in kills per game. Thursday at Hawai'i he had 10 kills and hit .500 (10-1-18) and Friday he had a season-high 14 kills while hitting .560 (14-0-25). Alexander has just three hitting errors this season on 72 swings.
FRIEND ON THE OUTSIDE
•Freshman A Starter For The 49ers
Freshman Kyle Friend (Boca Raton, Fla.) has started each match this season for the 49ers and is averaging 1.33 kills and 2.58 digs per game. Last week at Hawai'i he had four kills, five digs and three blocks in Thursday's three-game sweep. Friday he had a season-high tying five kills, while adding a career-best 17 digs and three aces. Friend is second on the team with 31 digs.
LOTMAN SHINES IN SENIOR SEASON
•Primed To Make Mark In History Books
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) heads into his senior season as the "go-to" player this season for the 49ers. An honorable mention All-MPSF selection a year ago, Lotman improved his stock by competing on the USA Team at the World University Games this past summer, leading the U.S. squad to the bronze medal. He has already begun the season with a bang, being named the Tournament MVP at the Innisbrook Resort Volleyball Invitational in Clearwater, Fla. Lotman led the 49ers in kills, averaging 4.1 kills per game as the 49ers went a perfect 4-0 and captured the tourney title. This season he is averaging 5.69 kills and 1.92 digs per game while hitting .345. Lotman had 21 kills on Thursday at Hawai'i, hitting .444 in the process, and then followed that up with a season-high 26 kills (.370) on Friday. In the two matches he averaged 6.71 kills per game and hit .400. Lotman also leads the squad with seven service aces. WATTEN EXCELS IN BACK ROW
•Junior Leads Team In Digs
Junior libero Dustin Watten (Long Beach) is averaging 2.85 digs per game for the 49ers, having appeared in all 13 games. Last week in Hawai'i Watten had a career-high 19 digs in the four-game win on Friday, his first double-figure dig effort of the 2008 season. Last year Watten appeared in 99 games, averaging 1.69 digs per game, with his previous career-high of 17 digs coming against CS Northridge. He was second on the squad with 167 digs, hitting double-figures in digs seven times.
ANDERSON STRONG IN THE MIDDLE
•Leads Team With .600 Hitting Percentage
Senior Fletcher Anderson (Los Gatos) is off to a strong start this year. Anderson is averaging 1.77 kills and 1.46 blocks per game while leading the 49ers with his .600 hitting percentage (23-2-35). Anderson had five blocks in each of the Hawai'i matches last week and tallied six kills on Friday evening. His 19 total blocks lead the squad this season and he had a career-high seven blocks in the opener against USC. In the win over UC Irvine at the UCSB E-Bar he had a season-high nine kills while hitting .692 (9-0-13).
LOTMAN AND KNIPE REPRESENT USA
•Led USA To Bronze Medal
This past summer senior Paul Lotman and Head Coach Alan Knipe were part of the USA Men's Team at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Knipe served as Team USA's head coach, while Lotman was a starting outside hitter. Also joining the squad was graduated 49er senior Robert Tarr. The trio of 49ers helped lead Team USA to a 7-1 record and the bronze medal. The only loss came in the tournament semifinals to the eventual gold medalists, Turkey. Team USA defeated Italy in the bronze medal match, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16.
2008 Schedule/Results
2008 Roster
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