Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Men's Volleyball Begins MPSF Tournament at Hawai'i
4/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
MPSF TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
Long Beach State (15-12, 11-11 MPSF) at
Hawai'i (23-5, 18-4 MPSF)
Date: Saturday, April 25
Time: 7:30 p.m. (HT)/10:30 p.m. (PT)
Location: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300) - Honolulu, Hawaii
Watch | Listen | Live Stats
The seventh-seeded Long Beach State men's volleyball team will make its way to Honolulu this weekend as it begins the postseason with an MPSF Tournament quarterfinal match at No. 2 seed Hawai'i on Saturday, April 25. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. (HT)/10:30 p.m. (PT) at the Stan Sheriff Center.
QUICK HITS
• Long Beach State is one of the top defensive teams in the country as it ranks first in digs per set (10.09) and third in blocks per set (2.95).
• The Beach owns an all-time record of 9-9 in MPSF Tournament quarterfinal matches.
• The 49ers have faced Hawai'i twice in the postseason, both times in Honolulu. They defeated the Rainbow Warriors, 3-1, in 2005 and lost, 3-0, in 2002.
• Junior John La Rusch has reached double figures in kills in each of the last seven matches.
• Junior Taylor Gregory ranks second in all of NCAA Division I-II with 1.53 blocks per set.
IN THE RANKINGS
Long Beach State remained at No. 11 in the most recent AVCA Men's Division I-II Poll. After spending five weeks at No. 1, Hawai'i was knocked out of the top spot by Lewis. The Flyers were followed by UC Irvine, UH, Loyola-Chicago and Pepperdine to make up the top-five.
LBSU IN THE MPSF TOURNAMENT
This is the fifth-straight year, and 20th overall, that Long Beach State has qualified for the MPSF Tournament. In their previous 19 appearances, the 49ers are 14-19, reaching the semifinals 10 times and making five trips to the championship match. The Beach has faced Hawai'i twice in the postseason, with both meetings coming in the quarterfinal round in Honolulu. LBSU defeated the `Bows, 3-1, in 2005 and lost, 3-0, in 2002.
SCOUTING THE RAINBOW WARRIORS
Second-seeded and third-ranked Hawai'i (23-5, 18-4 MPSF) saw its 14-match win streak snapped last weekend as it fell at No. 6 BYU in four sets on Friday and five sets on Saturday. It was the first time this season the Rainbow Warriors suffered back-to-back defeats. Brook Sedore and Sinisa Zarkovic lead UH with 3.46 and 3.08 kills per set, respectively. Taylor Averill is also averaging 2.91 kills and 1.31 blocks per set, while Kolby Kanetake has anchored the back row with a team-best 2.83 digs per set.
SERIES RECORD
Long Beach State trails in its all-time series with Hawai'i, 40-38. The `Bows extended their win streak to three matches after sweeping the regular-season series in February. UH defeated the Beach, 3-1 and 3-0, at the Walter Pyramid.
HOMETOWN HERO
Junior opposite and Long Beach native John La Rusch is tops on the team with 3.09 kills per set.
• La Rusch has a team-best 17 double-figure kill matches.
• He has reached double digits and led LBSU in kills in each of the last seven outings.
• He also registered his second 20-plus kill match of the season, finishing with 22 in a win over CSUN on April 18.
• La Rusch pounded down a career-high 23 kills at No. 5 UC Irvine on April 3.
• He also had a career-best .688 (12-1-16) hitting percentage at UC San Diego on April 4.
• La Rusch recorded his first career double-double with 14 kills and a career-best 12 digs at UCLA on March 6.
GREAT WALL OF GREGORY
Junior middle blocker Taylor Gregory ranks second in the nation with 1.53 blocks per set.
• He has totaled six or more blocks on 13 occasions, reaching double figures twice.
• Gregory had a monster performance in a 3-1 win at UCSB with a career-high and LBSU rally-scoring era record 15 blocks (1 solo, 14 assists).
• Gregory also finished with 10 blocks (2 solo, 8 assists) vs. Pepperdine.
• He ranks ninth in school history with 399 career blocks.
• Gregory was recently named a finalist for the Off The Block/Springbak National Blocker of the Year award for the second time in his career.
CODY'S RETURN
Junior outside hitter Cody Martin, who missed five matches with an injury, earned his first start in four weeks on March 26.
• Martin notched his second career double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs vs. CSUN last Saturday.
• He has at least one ace in six-straight contests and has served up nine aces over the last three matches.
• In his second start back from injury, Martin registered 10 kills and five digs, while hitting at a .471 clip in a 3-0 win over Stanford.
• He followed that outing with 17 kills, eight digs and three aces at UC Irvine on April 3.
• In February, he established career bests in kills (20) and aces (4) against UC Santa Barbara.
• Martin also had a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs at BYU.
• He finished with a career-high 14 digs at Stanford.
• Martin is averaging 2.73 kills per set and ranks third in the MPSF with 0.41 aces per set.
UP NEXT
The MPSF Tournament continues next weekend with the semifinals (April 30) and finals (May 1) being held at the campus site of the highest remaining seed.
