Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State Hosts BYU in Top-Three Battle
1/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
No. 3 BYU (3-1, 1-1 MPSF) at
No. 2 Long Beach State (5-0, 2-0 MPSF)
Date: Friday, Jan. 22
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Walter Pyramid (4,200) - Long Beach, Calif.
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No. 3 BYU (3-1, 1-1 MPSF) at
No. 2 Long Beach State (5-0, 2-0 MPSF)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 23
Time: 7 p.m. (PST)
Location: Walter Pyramid (4,200) - Long Beach, Calif.
Watch | Listen |
Match Notes: Long Beach State 
| BYU
The second-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team will face its first top-five opponent this weekend when No. 3 BYU visits the Walter Pyramid. The Beach and Cougars are set to square off at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22, and Saturday, Jan. 23.
QUICK HITS
• Long Beach State is off to its first 5-0 start since 2008, when the Beach claimed a share of the MPSF title.
• Freshman TJ DeFalco averaged 5.00 kills, 2.12 digs and 1.12 aces per set in his MPSF debut last weekend.
• He had 21 kills and six aces, which is tied for third in program history, against Cal Baptist on Jan. 15.
• DeFalco was named the AVCA National Player of the Week and the MPSF Player of the Week for his effort.
• LBSU has hit better than .300 in each of its first five contests and sits at .392 overall.
• Middle blockers Taylor Gregory and Bryce Yould have combined for 72 kills and a .705 attack percentage.
• Gregory has not committed a hitting error and has 36 kills on 46 swings (.783).
• Josh Tuaniga ranks second in the MPSF with 11.83 assists per set.
IN THE RANKINGS
Long Beach State moved up one spot to No. 2 in this week's AVCA Men's Division I-II Poll. UCLA took over the No. 1 ranking, while previous No. 1 BYU dropped to third. UC Irvine (4th) and Loyola-Chicago (5th) rounded out the top-five.
DEFALCO EARNS AVCA AND MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Freshman TJ DeFalco (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was named the AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week and the MPSF/Molten Player of the Week for his performance in a pair of conference wins last weekend.
DeFalco averaged 5.00 kills, 2.12 digs and 1.12 aces per set in his first two MPSF matches. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter opened the weekend with a season-best 21 kills on .432 hitting, while narrowly missing out on a double-double with nine digs in a 3-1 win over Cal Baptist (Jan. 15). He added six aces against the Lancers, which is tied for third in program history and are the most by a 49er in a match since 2001. One night later, DeFalco put down a match-high 19 kills (.361) in a four-set victory against No. 13 USC. He filled out the stat sheet with eight digs, four blocks and three aces.
DeFalco is the first 49er to earn both AVCA and MPSF Player of the Week honors since Taylor Crabb in 2014.
LAST TIME OUT
The third-ranked 49ers continued their perfect start to the season with a 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-17 win over No. 13 USC last Saturday at the Walter Pyramid. The Beach improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in MPSF play, marking their best five-match start since 2008.
Freshman TJ DeFalco led the Beach attack for the third-straight outing as he finished with 19 kills on .361 hitting. He also totaled eight digs, four blocks and three aces. Senior Taylor Gregory had a career-high 11 kills on 12 attempts for a blistering .917 clip. He added a season-best five blocks. Junior Bryce Yould contributed 11 kills (.625) and a match-high six blocks.
Junior Andrew Sato registered his second consecutive double-figure dig match with 10, while freshman Josh Tuaniga guided the LBSU offense to .377 hitting with 49 assists. Tuaniga chipped in seven digs and four blocks.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
No. 3 BYU (3-1, 1-1 MPSF) suffered its first loss of the young season with a 3-2 defeat to No. 11 Stanford in its MPSF opener on Friday, Jan. 15. The Cougars bounced back the following evening to top the Cardinal in another five-set match. Ben Patch leads the team and the conference with 4.71 kills per set. Michael Hatch is also averaging 1.56 blocks per set, while Erik Sikes is tops on the squad with 1.50 digs per set.
SERIES RECORD
Long Beach State trails in its all-time series with BYU, 30-24. The Cougars swept the regular-season series in Provo, Utah, last year.
LBSU is 14-9 in the series when playing in Long Beach. The last time the two teams met in the Pyramid, the 49ers defeated BYU in four sets (March 7, 2014). The Cougars were ranked second and the Beach was third at the time.
ACES WILD
The Beach is averaging 1.7 aces per set as it has had at least four in every match so far. They finished with a season-high nine vs. Cal Baptist on Jan. 15, six of which came from TJ DeFalco. DeFalco's six aces are tied for third in program history and are the most by a 49er in a match since 2001. He leads LBSU with 12 aces, while Josh Tuaniga has five.
ATTACK ON POINT
Long Beach State has also registered an impressive .392 attack percentage over its first five matches. LBSU has hit better than .300 in every contest and notched a season-best .522 clip against Sacred Heart.
UP NEXT
Long Beach State will play its first true road matches next week when it heads to No. 1 UCLA (Jan. 27) and No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.
