Long Beach State University Athletics
49ers Face BYU In Critical Conference Matches
3/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Complete Release in PDF Format 
March 18, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif. -
THE RECORDS
•Beach 17-3 On Season
Long Beach State is 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the MPSF after a three-game sweep at UC San Diego on Wednesday evening, a four-game win at home over IPFW and a five-game loss to Penn State on Saturday. Long Beach State is ranked No. 4 this week in the CSTV/ AVCA Coaches Poll and No. 4 in Molten/Volleyball. This week the 49ers tangle with third-ranked BYU on Thursday and Friday at the Walter Pyramid. The 49ers and the Cougars are tied for first place in the MPSF with 12-2 records. BYU is 17-2 overall.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe In Eighth Year as Coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 149-84 (.639) 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 BYU, 19-16
The 49ers lead their series with BYU by a 19-16 count. The Cougars swept the season series in 2007 winning in four games on the first night in Provo and in three games in the second match. The last 49er win was on April 22, 2006 as Long Beach beat the Cougars 30-21, 30-23, 25-30, 30-25 in the first round of the 2006 MPSF Tournament in the Walter Pyramid.
49ERS SWEEP UCSD
•Hit Season-High .562
The 49ers began the week with a 30-28, 30-25, 30-19 win at UC San Diego on Wednesday. Long Beach hit a season-best .562 (52-7-80) in the match. Paul Lotman had 18 kills and seven digs while hitting .720 (18-0-25). Dean Bittner added 14 kills while hitting .423 and Dan Alexander (.889) and Fletcher Anderson (.778) both had impressive hitting credentials.
ACTIVE ANKLE ROUND-UP
•Beach Falls To Penn State In Finals
Friday night the 49ers defeated IPFW 30-26, 30-22, 26-30, 30-23. The 49ers hit .446 (67-13-121) in the match as Paul Lotman recorded 22 kills, Adam Schlesinger a career-high 16 and Dan Alexander 11. The 49ers limited the Mastadons to a .223 hitting percentage. Defensively, Dustin Watten picked up 12 digs. Saturday night the 49ers and the Nittany Lions went five games, with Penn State winning 15-12 in the fifth game. Lotman had 29 kills and Dean Bittner 27. Penn State hit .375 in the match and out-blocked the 49ers 14.0 to 10.0. Lotman was named the tournament MVP and libero Dustin Watten was named to the ASICS All-Tournament Team.
LOTMAN ON CAREER CHART
•Hits 1,000 Career Kills/500 Career Digs
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is currently No. 10 on the 49er career kill chart with 1,226 kills. Lotman is the 17th player in 49er history to reach 1,000 career kills. He had a car eer-high 32 kills in the win at Ohio State on February 22. Lotman also has accumulated 575 career digs and is the 17th player in school history to reach 500 career digs. He needs 14 more digs to move into the No. 10 spot on the 49er career chart. He also stands third on the 49er service ace chart with 114 aces.
NATIONAL STATISTICS
•Five 49ers Are Nationally Ranked
In the most recent NCAA National Statistics, the 49ers are second in the country in hitting percentage at .332. Individually, setter Mike Klipsch leads the country in assists at 14.15 per game. Paul Lotman ranks second in kills per game at 5.62, first in points per game at 6.65 and third in aces per game at 0.54. Dan Alexander is second nationally in hitting percentage (.521) and third in blocking at 1.53 blocks per game. Dean Bittner is fifth in kills (4.75) and tied for third in points (5.62). Rounding out the 49ers in the national rankings is libero Dustin Watten who is tied for 14th in digs at 2.47 per game.
Paul Lotman
•Primed To Make Mark In History Books
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) currently is averaging a team-best 5.62 kills per game while adding 1.49 digs per contest, all while hitting an impressive .350. Lotman, who was named the MVP of the Active Ankle/Long Beach GuestHouse Classic last week, averaged 5.75 kills per game in the three matches while hitting .455 (69-14-121). He had 29 kills and hit .420 in the five-game loss to Penn State and in Wednesday's sweep at UC San Diego he had 18 kills and seven digs while hitting .720 (18-0-25).For his efforts he was named the MPSF Molten co-Player of the Week, the second time he has won that honor this year. Lotman had 24 kills and 10 digs in the five-game loss to CS Northridge on February 29th, his double-double of the season. Lotman had a career-high 32 kills, hitting .373 (32-10-59), in the 49ers win over Ohio State on February 22. Lotman ranks first in the MPSF in kills, points and aces in all matches and in MPSF matches. He has hit double figures in kills in all 20 matches and he's topped 20 kills 10 times. He had a double-double in the second Hawai'i match with a season-high 26 kills and 10 digs. Lotman also leads the squad with 39 service aces. He needs just five more to set the 49er single season mark (43 set by Scott Touzinsky in 2002). Lotman is third on the 49er career service ace chart with 114 aces. He was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on January 22 and was the MPSF co-Player of the Week on January 14.
•Leads Nation In Assists
True freshman Mike Klipsch (St. Louis, Mo.) continues his strong play as the starting setter for the 49ers. Klipsch is averaging 14.15 assists per game this season, a mark which leads the nation. In league outings his 14.20 assists per game also tops the league charts. He has guided the team to a .332 hitting percentage this season (.324 in MPSF matches) as the 49ers have hit .300 or better in 12 of their 20 matches. In the three matches last week the 49ers hit an impressive .406 (191-49-350). The 49ers hit a season-high .562 (52-7-80) on March 12 at UC San Diego. On January 18 at UCLA he recorded his first double-double as a 49er with 56 assists and 11 digs. On January 11 in Hawai'i he had a career-high 69 assists, adding five digs and four blocks. Klipsch is fifth on the team with 50 blocks and he's third in digs with 102 (1.42 dpg).
•Career-High 29 Kills vs. CS Northridge
Sophomore Dean Bittner (Lakewood) continues to impress this season for the 49ers. Bittner had tallied 14 kills at UC San Diego and 27 against Penn State on Saturday. Bittner had a career-high 29 kills, while hitting .333, against CS Northridge on February 29. Bittner has hit double digits in kills in 17 of the 19 matches he's played, and he's eclipsed 20 kills six times. Earlier this year at Hawai'i he had 26 kills and seven digs in the 49ers four-game win. 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 4.75 kills per game while hitting .283. Bittner ranks tied for third nationally in points per game (5.62) and fifth in kills per game (4.75).
•Leads Nation In Blocking
Sophomore Dan Alexander (Arcadia) leads the squad with his .521 hitting percentage and 110 total blocks. Alexander is averaging 2.76 kills per game and a team-high 1.53 blocks per outing. In Friday's win over IPFW he had 11 kills and five blocks while hitting .588 (11-1-17). He ranks second in the nation in hitting percentage and he's third in blocking. He had a great weekend at Ohio State, averaging 4.43 kills and 1.43 blocks per game while hitting an amazing .789 (31-1-38). In Friday's win over the Buckeyes he had a career-high 18 kills while hitting .818 (18-0-22) in the four-game win. Alexander has recorded two double-double's this season in kills and blocks. On Feb. 8 vs. UC San Diego he had 13 kills and 10 blocks. On Jan. 30 vs. Pepperdine he had 11 kills and 10 blocks. Alexander has just 29 hitting errors all season on 326 swings. He had hit double figures in kills in 11 times this season and in blocking three times.
•Season-High 8 Kills vs. UCSD
Sophomore Tommy Pestolesi (Huntington Beach) recorded a season-best eight kills in the win over UC San Diego on February 8. Pestolesi added three blocks and a team-high nine digs. In the win over UCSB on March 1 he had six kills and a career-high seven blocks. He had been in the starting lineup 13 straight matches, until missing last Friday's match vs. IPFW. Pestolesi earned a spot in the starting unit on January 16 when he came off the bench at the end of game two and led the 49ers to the win. Pestolesi finished with four kills, three aces, five digs and three blocks against the Anteaters . On the year he is averaging 1.32 kills and 1.21 digs per game and he ranks ninth in the MPSF in aces at 0.34.
•Junior Leads Team In Digs
Junior libero Dustin Watten (Long Beach) is averaging a team-high 2.47 digs per game for the 49ers, having appeared in all 72 games. He has hit double digits in digs eight times this year, including six of the past nine matches. He recorded 12 digs in the win on Friday over IPFW and he was named to the ASICS All-Tournament Team last weekend. He currently is tied for 14th in the nation, and seventh in the MPSF, in digs per game. On January 11 in Hawai'i Watten had a career-high 19 digs in the four-game win.
Fletcher Anderson
•2nd On Team With .422 Hitting Percentage
Senior Fletcher Anderson (Los Gatos) is currently second on the team with his .422 hitting percentage. Anderson is averaging 1.33 kills and 0.97 blocks per game as well. He has hit .444 or better in 11 of the 20 matches this season. This past week he hit .778 (7-0-9) in the win at UC San Diego and followed that up with a .538 (8-1-13) percentage against IPFW. At Pepperdine (2/13) he hit a career-high .778 (7-0-9). Anderson's 67 total blocks is third on the squad 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).
•Career-High 8 Kills vs. IPFW
Freshman Josh Riley (Manhattan Beach) had a solid weekend for the 49ers. Friday night he had a career-high eight kills, hitting .467 (8-1-15) in the win over IPFW. He also had two aces and five digs. Saturday vs. Penn State he had seven kills, three digs and three blocks. For the weekend he averaged 1.88 kills and 1.00 digs per game while hitting .345 (15-5-29). Heading into last weekend Riley had played in a total of just four games, totaling one kill and two digs. He currently is averaging 1.33 kills and 0.83 digs per game while hitting .344.
Adam Schlesinger
•Career-High 16 Kills Vs. IPFW
Senior Adam Schlesinger (Newport Beach) earned a start on Friday night at opposite against IPFW as regular starter Dean Bittner rested a sore ankle. Schlesinger came through in a big way finishing with a career-high 16 kills and hitting .444 (16-4-27) in the four-game win. He also added three digs, three blocks and two aces. Previously this season Schlesinger had been used mainly as a blocking sub in the front line for setter Mike Klipsch. In his first three seasons Schlesinger was a setter, appearing in a total of 11 matches and 20 games. He had a career-high 47 assists against Cal State Northridge on January 5, 2007. Schlesinger had one kill in that CSUN match, his only kill as a 49er until Friday's outstanding effort against IPFW.
•Freshman Sees Action For The 49ers
Freshman Kyle Friend (Boca Raton, Fla.) is averaging 1.15 kills and 2.10 digs per game. He played at Pepperdine (2/13), his first appearance in five matches, playing two games and finishing with a kill and four digs. Friday night he played one game against IPFW, finishing with one kill and four digs. In Friday's four-game win at Hawai'i he had a season-high tying five kills, while adding a career-best 17 digs and three aces.
•Career-High 5 Blocks vs. UCSB
Senior Luke Shea (Fullerton) saw action against CS Northridge and UCSB at home. Friday against CS Northridge he had two digs and three blocks. Saturday vs. UCSB he picked up his first kill of the season, while adding a career-high five blocks in the victory. Shea has appeared in 15 games this year and has recorded 10 blocks (0.67 bpg).
Gavin Christensen
•Season-High 4 Kills vs. Pacific
Junior Gavin Christensen (Long Beach) played in all three games in the win over Pacific, recording a season-high four kills, two digs and two blocks. Christensen then played three games vs. Stanford in the back row, recording one service ace. Heading into last weekend he had appeared in just four games on the season.
