Top-Ranked Beach Visits No. 11 USC in Non-Conference Contest

Saturday, March 23

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

Long Beach State University

USC

Photo by: Ryan Redira

Top-Ranked Beach Visits No. 11 USC in Non-Conference Contest

3/22/2019 9:42:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

LBSU takes on USC on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the North Gym

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match #20
#1 Long Beach State at #11 USC
Date: Saturday, March 23
Time: 7:00 PM
Arena: North Gym
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stats: USCTrojans.com
Live Stream: Pac-12.com/live/usc
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Instagram: @LBSUMVB

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

Top-Ranked Beach Visits No. 11 USC in Non-Conference Contest
The No. 1 Long Beach State men's volleyball team will travel to No. 11 USC for a Saturday evening non-conference match. The Beach and the Trojans will face off on March 23 at 7 p.m. at the North Gym located inside the PE Building on the campus of USC.

Catch All The Action
Saturday's road match at USC will be streamed on Pac-12.com/live/usc. Fans can also follow the game via live stats.

Staying Social
Follow Long Beach State men's volleyball on Instagram and Twitter at @LBSUMVB. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook (Long Beach State Men's Volleyball).

You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU.

And don't forget our hashtags #GoBeach and #LBNation.

In the Rankings
Long Beach State remains in the No. 1 spot in the AVCA Division I-II Poll after opening the season with 19-straight victories. The Beach have been ranked No. 1 since Jan. 15, 2018.

USC comes into the match against the Beach ranked No. 11 in the National Poll after having won five of its last six matches.

About The Beach
• No. 1 Long Beach State owns a 19-0 record and is on a 23-match winning streak dating back to last season.
• The Beach have won a program-record 37 straight home matches dating back to March 26, 2016.
• The Beach offense is hitting .440 on the year, after setting a single-match program record with an attack percentage of .655 against No. 8 Stanford two weeks ago. LBSU's season clip of .440 is good for second in the nation, as well as in the Big West.
• Key components to Long Beach State's hot hitting come in the form of TJ DeFalco (.420), Kyle Ensing (.375), and Louis Richard (.373). The trio are all ranked in the top 10 in the Big West and in the top 20 in the NCAA.
• Senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco became Long Beach State's all-time aces leader last week as he now owns 159 career service aces.
• Senior setter Josh Tuaniga reached a major milestone as he eclipsed the 4,000 assists plateau with 34 helpers against Stanford. He became just the fifth LBSU player to reach that mark. Tuaniga now has 4,155 assists in his collegiate career and has moved into fourth all-time at LBSU.
• Long Beach State has a pair of players who have amassed 1,000 career kills in TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing. DeFalco is ninth place all-time with 1,500 kills, while Ensing moved up to 13th in program history with 1,272 passing former LBSU standout Tom Hoff.
• The Beach have been dominant from the end line all season as they have racked up a total of 133 aces to average 2.18 per set which leads the nation.
• LBSU has three players ranked in the top 10 in service aces in the career record book. DeFalco leads the way with a program-record 159, while Ensing ranks seventh with 118, and Tuaniga comes in eighth with 102.
• In addition to etching his name in the record book in kills and services aces, DeFalco moved into ninth place all-time with 699 career digs.

Scouting the Trojans
No. 11 USC brings a 12-8 overall record into the match against Long Beach State. The Trojans are 4-4 in MPSF action and own a perfect 7-0 record when playing at home.

USC has won five of its last six matches with its only loss coming at Grand Canyon (3-1) on March 14.

The Trojans' offense is led by Ryan Moss (3.79 kills per set) and Jack Wyett (3.53 kills per set). Setter Chris Hall averages 9.83 assists per set on 698 assists on the year. Matt Faraimo adds 102 assists to average 9.27 assists per set.

Defensively, USC is paced by Matt Douglas' 1.88 digs per set, while Moss is second on the squad with 1.51 digs per set.

At the net, Moss leads the team with 50 total blocks for an average of 0.64 blocks per set, while Sam Lewis contributes an average of 0.71 blocks per set after accumulating 41 total blocks on the season.

Series vs. USC
Long Beach State leads the all-time series against USC, 60-49. The Beach have won the last four meetings against the Trojans, as USC is looking for its first win over LBSU since 2017. When playing each other in Los Angeles, USC leads the series, 28-17.

Record Setters
After picking up a 3-0 victory over then-No. 4 UCLA at the Walter Pyramid on Feb. 16, Long Beach State won its 33rd-straight home contest to set a new program record. The Beach have now extended that winning streak to 37 after collecting a five-set win over No. 3 UC Santa Barbara last week. Long Beach State has not lost a match inside the Pyramid since March 26, 2016 when the Beach dropped a 3-0 decision to then-No. 2 UCLA.

New Career Aces Leader
Senior TJ DeFalco became the new Long Beach State aces leader after recording career ace No. 159 at UC Santa Barbara last week. DeFalco's 159 career aces topped current assistant coach Scott Touzinsky's previous record of 158 - a record that stood for 15 years.

Elite Company
Senior setter Josh Tuaniga joined an elite group when he surpassed the 4,000 career assist milestone against No. 8 Stanford. Tuaniga became just the fifth LBSU player to reach that mark as he joined some of the best setters in Beach history in Tyler Hildebrand (6,651), Jason Stimpfig (6,324), Chris Seiffert (6,099), and Connor Olbright (4,103). Tuaniga now has 4,155 in his career as he moved into fourth all-time at Long Beach State.

Rewriting the Record Book
The 2019 Long Beach State squad rewrote the LBSU record book as the Beach set a new single-match record with an attack percentage of .655 against No. 8 Stanford on March 8. The clip bested the previous program record of .614 which LBSU set in 1983 against Stanford, before reaching it again 1996 at Purdue-Fort Wayne. The Beach hit a whopping .889 in the third set, knocking down 16 kills on 18 errorless swings. That mark ranks second in the LBSU single-match record book for set hitting percentage.

Aces Wild
Seniors TJ DeFalco, Kyle Ensing and Josh Tuaniga have all etched their names into the Long Beach State Record Book in one statistical category - career service aces. DeFalco leads the way with 159 in his career as he is the program's all-time aces leader. Ensing, meanwhile, has amassed 118 in his career which is good for seventh all-time at LBSU. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Tuaniga has racked up 102 aces in his collegiate career to move into eighth in the Long Beach State annals.

Movin' On Up
DeFalco and Ensing have also made their way into the LBSU career record book with 1,500 and 1,272 kills, respectively. DeFalco sits in ninth place all-time, while Ensing ranks 13th at Long Beach State.

Can You Dig It?
TJ DeFalco has collected 92 digs this season to bring his career mark to 699 which ranks him ninth all-time at Long Beach State. DeFalco becomes just the third player in program history to appear in the LBSU career record book in kill, aces, and digs, joining all-time greats Brent Hilliard who ranks first with 3,034 kills, fifth with 121 aces, and seventh with 737 digs, and Jim Polster who ranks 11th with 1,360 kills, 10th with 91 aces, and 10th with 688 digs.

Closing in on Another Record
With a 23 match winning streak dating back to April 20, 2018, the Long Beach State men's volleyball team is just one victory away from tying the program record of 24-straight wins. The 2018 squad set the program record a year ago to best the previous record of 22 consecutive victories that spanned the 1991-92 seasons.

Block Party
Senior middle blocker Nick Amado and senior opposite Kyle Ensing had themselves a block party at CSUN to start the month of March. Amado led the was with nine blocks to tie his career-best, while Ensing set a new career mark with eight blocks. The pair led the Beach to a team total of 12.5 in the match, a new season-high for the squad. On the year, Amado leads LBSU with 0.95 blocks per set to rank fourth in the conference. However, when playing against Big West teams, Amado's 1.53 blocks per set is second in the league, while Ensing's 1.20 average ranks third.

Tops in the Nation
Long Beach State leads the NCAA with 2.18 service aces per set after racking up 133 over 19 matches. The Beach boast a trio of players who rank in the top 30 in the nation in aces per set. Kyle Ensing leads the way with 0.55 which is third in the Big West and seventh in the country, while TJ DeFalco is ninth in the NCAA with 0.54 aces per set, which is good for fourth in the league. Josh Tuaniga rounds out the bunch with 0.36 aces per set which puts him ninth in the Big West and 28th in the nation.

Hitting the Spot
After leading the nation in hitting in each of the last two years, the Long Beach State offense picked up right where it left off. The Beach are hitting .440 on the year and are currently ranked second in both the NCAA and the Big West. LBSU has three players ranked in the top 20 in the nation. TJ DeFalco's attack percentage of .420 is seventh in the country, while Kyle Ensing is hitting .375 which is good for 15th in the nation, and Louis Richard's .373 hitting percentage ranks him 16th in the NCAA.

Wall of Honor
The Long Beach State men's volleyball program inducted three new members into the Wall of Honor. Paul Lotman, Matt Prosser, and Zach Small were inducted on Monday, March 18 at the Wall of Honor dinner following the fifth annual Randy Sandefur Golf Tournament.

The major criteria for the Wall of Honor, as outlined by the committee are as follows: the player must have represented Long Beach State men's volleyball with unparalleled success or achievement and truly embodied the passion, commitment, and loyalty that encompass a 49er men's volleyball player.

The trio each left their mark on Long Beach State in their own way. Both on and off the court, these three individuals have demonstrated a commitment to the program that has far exceeded expectations and has helped the Beach rise to one of the premier volleyball programs in the country.

Up Next
Top-ranked Long Beach State resumes Big West Conference action against No. 6 UC Irvine on March 29 and 30. The Beach will take on the Anteaters in Irvine on Friday at 7 p.m., before welcoming UCI to the Walter Pyramid on Saturday at 7 p.m.