Long Beach State University Athletics
Senior Night On Saturday As 49ers Host UCLA
3/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
March 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LONG BEACH, Calif. -
THE RECORDS
•Beach 19-3 On Season
Long Beach State is 19-3 overall and 14-2 in the MPSF after a three-game sweep BYU on Thursday evening and a four-game win over the Cougars on Friday night. The 49ers are in first place in the MPSF, with a one game lead over CS Northridge. Long Beach State is ranked No. 3 this week in the CSTV/ AVCA Coaches Poll and No. 3 in Molten/Volleyball Poll. UC Irvine is 11-12 overall and 7-9 in the MPSF, ranked No. 9 nationally. UCLA is 14-10 overall and 9-7 in the MPSF and ranked No. 8.
THE COACH
•Alan Knipe In Eighth Year as Coach
Alan Knipe (Long Beach State, 1992) is 151-84 (.642) 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, 33-8 •49ers Trail UCLA, 72-28
The 49ers lead their series with UC Irvine by a 33-8 count. Long Beach has won two matches over the Anteaters this year, winning 30-25, 30-27, 30-2 at the UCSB E-Bar Invitational, and 36-34, 30-28, 30-24 on January 16 in Long Beach. Long Beach trails in its series with UCLA 72-28, but won the earlier meeting this season between the two schools. The 49ers prevailed on January 18 at Pauley Pavilion, 30-27, 30-18, 24-30, 30-28. Long Beach has won the last five meetings with the Bruins in the Walter Pyramid.
SENIOR NIGHT ON SATURDAY VS. UCLA
•Three Seniors To Be Honored
Saturday's match vs. UCLA will be the final regular season home match for three Long Beach State seniors. Fletcher Anderson, Paul Lotman, and Adam Schlesinger will be honored prior to Saturday's home match. Lotman and Schlesinger are both four-year letterwinners for Long Beach State, while Anderson is in his second year. Anderson transferred from Golden West JC, Lotman prepped at Los Alamitos High School and Schlesinger attended Newport Harbor High School.
BLACK & BLUE RIVALRY SERIES
•Thursday at UC Irvine
Thursday's match at UC Irvine will continue the Black & Blue Rivalry Series, presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach. UC Irvine currently leads the series this year by a 19-14 margin. There are still regular season match-ups in men's volleyball, baseball and women's water polo, plus the Big West Championship results in men's and women's golf, women's tennis and men's and women's track and field. Long Beach State won the first two trophies in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
49ERS WIN BOTH OVER BYU
•Beach Wins In Three On Thursday
The 49ers won round one with BYU, 30-23, 30-28, 30-27 on Thursday night. Paul Lotman and Dean Bittner both had 18 kills in the win. Bittner also added a career-high five aces. Long Beach hit .282 and limited the Cougars to a .237 hitting percentage. Andrew Stewart led BYU with 12 kills and Ivan Perez had 10. Josh Riley had another solid match, tying his previous career-high with eight kills. Friday night the 49ers won in four games 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 30-24. Lotman had 24 kills and Bittner 22 as the 49ers hit .338 in the match. Riley tallied 11 kills to set a new career-high, while Dan Alexander had 10 kills and seven blocks. Long Beach recorded 14.0 team blocks in the contest. Defensively, Dustin Watten had 12 digs and Bittner eight.
LOTMAN ON CAREER CHART
•Hits 1,000 Career Kills/500 Career Digs
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) is currently No. 9 on the 49er career kill chart with 1,268 kills. Lotman is the 17th player in 49er history to reach 1,000 career kills. He had a career-high 32 kills in the win at Ohio State on February 22. Lotman also has accumulated 585 career digs and is the 17th player in school history to reach 500 career digs. He needs four 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 119 aces.
BITTNER NAMED AVCA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
•Averaged 5.71 Kills In Wins Over BYU
Sophomore Dean Bittner (Lakewood) was named the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. Bittner led the 49ers to two wins this week over BYU, averaging 5.71 kills per game while hitting .351. In Friday's four-game victory he had 22 kills, eight digs and six blocks. Thursday he had 18 kills, hit .387 and had a career-best five service aces. He is the second 49er to win the honor this year as Paul Lotman was named the Player of the Week on January 22.
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 .330. Individually, setter Mike Klipsch leads the country in assists at 14.28 per game. Paul Lotman ranks second in kills per game at 5.66, first in points per game at 6.69 and first in aces per game at 0.56. Dan Alexander is second nationally in hitting percentage (.513) and third in blocking at 1.56 blocks per game. Dean Bittner is fifth in kills (4.84) and third in points per game (5.75). Rounding out the 49ers in the national rankings is libero Dustin Watten who is 15th in digs at 2.46 per game.
SINGLE SEASON MARKS
•Lotman Breaks Service Ace Record
Senior Paul Lotman has 44 aces this season breaking the old 49er single season mark of 43 set by Scott Touzinsky in 2001 and 2002. His .056 aces average also ranks first, surpassing the old mark of .049 by Touzinsky in 2001. Here's where some current 49ers rank right now on the single season charts. Dan Alexander is first in hitting percentage at .513. The old mark is .512 set by Duncan Budinger in 2004. Dustin Watten's 2.46 dig average ranks fourth-best all-time. The single season mark of 2.53 was set by Curtis Jackson in 2000 and Zack Small in 1993.
Paul Lotman
•Making A Mark In The History Books
Senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood) currently is averaging a team-best 5.66 kills per game while adding 1.48 digs per contest, all while hitting an impressive .345. Lotman had 18 kills in the first win over BYU on Thursday and then added 24 kills, three aces and five blocks in Friday's four-game win. He averaged 6.0 kills per game in the two victories. Lotman has tallied 20 or more kills in three of the past four matches and 11 times this season. He has tallied double-figures in kills in every match (22). Lotman was named the MVP of the Active Ankle/Long Beach GuestHouse Classic where he averaged 5.67 kills per game. He had 29 kills and hit .420 in the five-game loss to Penn State. For his efforts that week 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 second 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 aces and he's second in the league in kills and points. He had his first double-double in the second Hawai'i match with 26 kills and 10 digs. Lotman also possesses a potent serve as he leads the team with his 44 service aces, a new 49er single season record. Lotman is third on the 49er career service ace chart with 119 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 14.28 assists per game this season, a mark which leads the nation. In league outings his 14.37 assists per game also tops the league charts. He has guided the team to a .330 hitting percentage this season (.322 in MPSF matches) as the 49ers have hit .300 or better in 13 of their 22 matches. Last week vs. BYU he had 47 assists and four digs in the three-game win and then followed that up with 62 assists and four blocks in the four-game victory. He averaged 15.57 assists per game last week. 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 56 blocks and he's third in digs with 109 (1.38 dpg).
•Career-High 29 Kills vs. CS Northridge
Sophomore Dean Bittner (Lakewood) was outstanding in the two wins over BYU this past week. Thursday he had 18 kills and a career-high five service aces while hitting .387. Friday he had 22 kills, eight digs and six blocks while hitting .326. In the two matches he averaged 5.71 kills per game and hit .351 (40-14-74). He was named the Sports Import/AVCA National Player of the Week and the MPSF co-Player of the Week. Bittner has hit double-figure in kills in 19 of the 21 matches in which he has played. He's topped 20 kills seven times including a career-high 29 kills vs. CS Northridge on February 29 and 27 against Penn State on March 15. 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 4.84 kills per game while hitting .289. Bittner ranks third nationally in points per game (5.75) and fifth in kills per game (4.84).
•Second In Nation In Blocking
Sophomore Dan Alexander (Arcadia) leads the squad with his .513 hitting percentage and 123 total blocks. Alexander is averaging 2.73 kills per game and a team-high 1.56 blocks per outing. He ranks second in the nation in hitting percentage and he's third in blocking. In Friday's four-game win over BYU he had 10 kills and seven blocks while hitting .600 (10-1-15). 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). 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 33 hitting errors all season on 357 swings. He had hit double figures in kills in 12 times this season and in blocking three times.
•Junior Leads Team In Digs
Junior libero Dustin Watten (Long Beach) is averaging a team-high 2.46 digs per game for the 49ers, having appeared in all 79 games. He has hit double digits in digs nine times this year, including seven of the past 10 matches. In Friday's four-game win over BYU he led the team with 12 digs. He recorded 12 digs in the win over IPFW and he was named to the ASICS All-Tournament Team. He currently is 15th in the nation, and 8th 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 .399 Hitting Percentage
Senior Fletcher Anderson (Los Gatos) is currently second on the team with his .399 hitting percentage. Anderson is averaging 1.30 kills and 0.96 blocks per game as well. He has hit .444 or better in 12 of the 22 matches this season. In Friday's four-game win over BYU he hit .444 (4-0-9) and recorded two service aces and six blocks. At Pepperdine (2/13) he hit a career-high .778 (7-0-9). Anderson's 73 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 11 Kills vs. BYU
Freshman Josh Riley (Manhattan Beach) has been in the starting line-up in three of the past four matches. This past weekend he averaged 2.71 kills and 1.29 digs per game in the two wins over BYU. Thursday he had eight kills and three digs in the three-game victory. Friday he had a career-high 11 kills, adding six digs, while hitting a solid .400 (11-3-20) in the four-game win. Riley had eight kills, hitting .467 (8-1-15), in the win over IPFW on march 14. Against Penn State he had seven kills, three digs and three blocks. He currently is averaging 1.84 kills and 1.00 digs per game while hitting .300.
Adam Schlesinger
•Career-High 16 Kills Vs. IPFW
Senior Adam Schlesinger (Newport Beach) earned a start on March 14 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.
•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. Pestolesi, who has started 13 times this season, 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.
•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. He played one game on March 14 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. Christensen has played in a total of 28 games this season, mainly as a serving sub.
