No. 1 Seed Long Beach State set for Big West Tournament

Photo by: John Fajardo

4/18/2019 3:47:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach will play in the semifinal match on Friday at 8 p.m. (PT)

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match #27
#1 Long Beach State vs. #4 UC Santa Barbara / #5 CSUN
Date: Friday, April 19
Time: 5:00 PM (HT)
Arena: Stan Sheriff Center
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Live Stream: BigWest.TV

LBSU Twitter: @LBSUMVB
LBSU Instagram: @LBSUMVB

2019 BIG WEST MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-20 @ Stan Sheriff Center

Thursday, April 18 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: No. 3 UC Irvine vs. No. 6 UC San Diego - 5 p.m. (HT)
Match 2: No. 4 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 5 CSUN - 7:30 p.m. (HT)

Friday, April 19 - Semifinals
Match 3: No. 1 Long Beach State vs. Winner of No. 4/5 - 5 p.m. (HT)
Match 4: No. 2 Hawaii vs. Winner of No. 3/6 - 7:30 p.m. (HT)

Saturday, April 20 - Championship
Championship Match - 8 p.m. (HT)

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

No. 1 Seed Long Beach State Set for Big West Tournament
After collecting a pair of five-set victories over Hawaii last week, Long Beach State won the Big West Regular Season Title and claimed the No. 1 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament. The Beach earned a bye into the tournament semifinals on Friday, April 19 and will play the winner of the No. 4 seed UC Santa Barbara / No. 5 seed CSUN match. First serve is set for 5 p.m. (HT).

Catch All The Action
The Big West Conference Tournament will be live streamed via BigWest.TV as well as broadcasted on Spectrum Sports in Hawaii.

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 finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll after posting a 25-1 overall record.

UC Santa Barbara, which owns an overall record of 17-9 closed out the regular season ranked third, while CSUN, which is 13-13 overall, is 11th.

About The Beach
• Long Beach State closed out the regular season with a pair of five-set victories over Hawaii to finish with a 25-1 record en route to winning the Big West Regular Season Title.
• The Beach finished league action with a perfect 10-0 record to secure the No. 1 seed heading into the Big West Conference Tournament. LBSU received a bye and will play in the semifinals on Friday, April 19.
• The 2019 Long Beach State men's volleyball team becomes the first squad in program history to go undefeated in conference play.
• LBSU is 12-0 when playing at the Walter Pyramid this season and has extended its home winning streak to a program-record 41 dating back to March 26, 2016.
• Senior opposite Kyle Ensing was named Big West Player of the Year as he led a quintet of LBSU players who garnered All-Big West honors. Ensing was selected to the First Team along with seniors Nick Amado, TJ DeFalco, and Josh Tuaniga. Simon Andersen garnered an Honorable Mention selection.
• For the second time in as many years, Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe was named Big West Coach of the Year.
• The Beach offense is hitting .414 on the year, after setting a single-match program record with an attack percentage of .655 against No. 8 Stanford on March 8. LBSU's season clip of .414 is good for second in both the nation and the Big West.
• Key components to Long Beach State's hot hitting come in the form of TJ DeFalco (.392), Kyle Ensing (.356), and Louis Richard (.308). The trio are all ranked in the top 10 in the Big West and in the top 40 in the NCAA.
• Senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco became Long Beach State's all-time aces leader with an ace at UC Santa Barbara on March 15. DeFalco now has 172 aces in his career.
• 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 4,429 assists in his collegiate career and is ranked 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 eighth place all-time with 1,594 kills, while Ensing moved up to 11th in program history with 1,363.
• The Beach have been dominant from the end line all season as they have racked up a total of 172 aces to average 1.98 per set which leads the nation.
• LBSU has three players ranked in the top 10 in service aces in the Long Beach State career record book. DeFalco leads the way with a program-record 172, while Ensing is tied for fourth with 130, and Tuaniga comes in eighth with 104.
• In addition to etching his name in the record book in kills and services aces, DeFalco is tied for seventh all-time with 748 career digs.

Scouting the Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara earned a No. 4 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 17-9 overall record and a 4-6 league mark.

The Gauchos strung together a 12-match winning streak during the season to rise as high as No. 3 in the national rankings. However, UCSB suffered four straight losses to close out the regular season as it heads into the tournament looking to snap that losing skid.

UCSB is boasts four All-Big West Conference selections including Freshman of the Year, Ryan Wilcox.

Seniors Corey Chavers and Hayden oehle led the way with First Team honors, while Wilcox and fellow rookie Brandon Hicks were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Chavers is the squad's leading scorer with 3.50 kills per set on .269 hitting. He also adds 1.10 digs, 0.58 blocks, and 0.39 aces per set.

Wilcox is second on the team with 2.55 kills per set, while Hicks' .446 attack percentage is tops on the squad.

Casey McGarry and Randy DeWeese split setter duties as the pair average 6.44 and 5.75 assists per set, respectively.

Defensively, the Gauchos are led by Boehle's 2.47 digs per set .Hicks and Spencer Fredrick guard the net with 1.03 and 0.93 blocks per set, respectively.

Series vs. UC Santa Barbara
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will meet for the 93rd time in program history. LBSU leads the all-time series 52-40 and has won the last eight contests.

Scouting the Matadors
CSUN comes into the Big West Tournament as the No. 5 seed after concluding the regular season with a 13-13 overall record and a 3-7 league mark.

The Matadors' three Big West victories this season came against UC San Diego and UC Irvine. The Matadors split the series against the Anteaters as they knocked off then-No. 8 UCI at the Matadome, 3-2. CSUN closed out the regular season with a pair of victories over the Tritons after winning 3-0, then 3-1.

A trio of Matadors were named All-Big West Conference as senior Dimitar Kalchev was a First Team selection, while freshmen Taylor Ittner and Daniel Wetter were named to the All-Freshman Team.

Kalchev leads the team with 3.40 kills per set with a .293 attack percentage. He also adds 1.16 digs per set to go along with 0.47 aces and 0.38 blocks per set.

Ittner is the squad's setter as he has dished out 9.76 assists per set to contribute to CSUN's .273 team hitting percentage. Ittner is second on the team with 1.60 digs per set as he comes in behind Emmett Enriques' 1.95.

At the net, Wetter sets the tone as he has posted a team-best 0.81 blocks per set.

Series vs. CSUN
Long Beach State and CSUN will go head-to-head for the 89th time in program history and the Beach leads the all-time series 47-41. LBSU has won the last seven meetings over the Matadors.

Big West Player of the Year
The Big West Conference announced the men's volleyball all-conference selections on Monday afternoon and senior opposite Kyle Ensing was named Big West Conference Player of the Year. In addition to being named Player of the Year, Ensing also earned All-Big West First Team accolades.

Ensing garnered Big West Conference Player of the Year honors and his second All-Big West First Team nod after turning in an outstanding senior campaign. The Valencia, Calif., native closed out the regular season with 304 kills, 104 digs, 55 total blocks, 45 service aces, and a .356 attack percentage. His aces per set average of 0.52 is good for seventh in the country, while his hitting percentage and kills per set average of 3.53 rank 19th in the NCAA. Ensing leads the team with 377.5 points for a 4.39 points per set mark which ranks 13th in the nation and fourth in the conference.

The 6-foot-7 opposite has racked up a team-leading 17 double-figure kills contests this season, while leading the Beach in kills on 14 occasions. Ensing has also led the team in digs on four occasions, and blocks three times.
A force on both sides of the ball, Ensing led Long Beach State to a five-set win over then-No. 3 UC Santa Barbara with a career-best 27 kills last month and posted a career-high eight blocks in the Beach's sweep of then-No. 11 CSUN to open league play earlier this season.

Ensing has also written himself into the Long Beach State record book as he has accumulated 1,363 career kills to rank 11th all-time. Meanwhile his 130 career aces tie him for fourth in LBSU men's volleyball program history.

Big West Coach of the Year
In addition to Ensing's Big West Player of the Year honor, Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe was selected as the league's Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Knipe, who is in his 16th year at the helm of the Long Beach State men's volleyball program, led the team to its second Big West Conference regular season title after the squad closed out the year with a perfect 10-0 conference record and a 25-1 overall mark.

Under Knipe's guidance, Long Beach State has won a program-record 41 consecutive home contests as the Beach have not dropped match inside the Walter Pyramid in more than three years. This season, Knipe has led the Beach to 12 victories over ranked opponents, including a 5-0 record against top-five ranked opponents.

Big West All-Conference Honors
Joining Ensing on the All-Big West First Team were seniors Nick Amado, TJ DeFalco, and Josh Tuaniga. Sophomore Simon Andersen rounded out the LBSU all-conference selections with an Honorable Mention nod.

Amado took home his second All-Big West First Team selection after leading the Beach with 0.96 blocks per set to rank fourth in the league and 26th in the nation. The 6-foot-6 middle blocker totaled 78 total blocks after tying his career-high with nine blocks against then No. 11 CSUN last month. In addition to his solid blocking defense, Amado has registered 1.83 kills per set on .527 hitting.

DeFalco claimed his second All-Big West First Team nod as the senior outside hitter concluded the regular season with 3.44 kills per set to rank second on the team and in the top 25 in the nation. His aces per set average of 0.53 leads the Beach and is fifth in the country, while his hitting percentage of .392 is good for third in the Big West and 12th in the NCAA.

Tuaniga joined Ensing, Amado and DeFalco on the All-Big West First Team for the second time in his career as the senior setter dished out 10.76 assists to lead the Beach offense to a .414 attack percentage which ranks second in the country. Tuaniga is hitting .674 on the year as he has knocked down 64 kills on 92 swings with just two errors. He has also added 1.60 digs per set, 0.37 blocks per set, and 0.27 aces per set.

Rounding out Long Beach State's All-Big West Conference selections is Andersen who earned Honorable Mention honors for the second time in his career. The 6-foot-8 middle blocker averaged 0.73 blocks per set to go along with 1.60 kills per set with a .556 clip. He tied his career-high with 11 kills against then-No. 7 UC Irvine earlier this season and posted a season-high five blocks on two occasions.

Home Sweet Home
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 41 after collecting a pair of 3-2 victories over No. 1 Hawaii last weekend. 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.

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.

Record Setter
Senior TJ DeFalco became the new Long Beach State service aces leader after recording career ace No. 159 at UC Santa Barbara on March 15. DeFalco's 159 career aces topped current assistant coach Scott Touzinsky's previous record of 158 - a record that stood for 15 years.DeFalco has now brought his career aces total up to 172.

Elite Company
Senior setter Josh Tuaniga joined an elite group when he surpassed the 4,000 career assist milestone against then-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 4,429 in his career as he has moved into fourth all-time at Long Beach State.

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 172 in his career as he is the program's all-time aces leader. Ensing, meanwhile, has amassed 130 in his career to tie for fourth all-time at LBSU. Not to be outdone by his teammates, Tuaniga has racked up 104 aces in his collegiate career to move into eighth in the Long Beach State annals. In Long Beach State program history, only eight players have tallied 100 or more aces in a career and three of them are on the current roster.

Movin' On Up
DeFalco and Ensing have also made their way into the LBSU career record book with 1,594 and 1,363 kills, respectively. DeFalco sits in eighth place all-time and is just seven kills shy of surpassing LBSU standout Taylor Crabb. Ensing, meanwhile, slid into 11th at Long Beach State passing Jim Polster.

Among The Best
TJ DeFalco has collected 141 digs this season to bring his career mark to 748 which ranks him seventh all-time at Long Beach State. DeFalco is just the third player in program history to appear in the LBSU career record book in kills, 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.

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 way with nine blocks to tie his career-best, while Ensing set a new career mark with eight blocks. The Beach continued their solid blocking defense throughout the conference season as the squad's average of 2.46 blocks per set leads the league. On the year, Amado leads LBSU with 0.96 blocks per set to rank fourth in the conference. However, when playing against Big West teams, Amado's 1.26 blocks per set is tops in the league, while Ensing's 0.95 average ranks fifth, and Simon Andersen's average of 0.80 is tied for eighth.

Tops in the Nation
Long Beach State leads the NCAA with 1.98 service aces per set after racking up 172 over 26 matches. The Beach boast a pair of players who rank in the top 10 in the nation in aces per set. TJ DeFalco leads the way with 0.53 which is second in the Big West and fifth in the country, while Kyle Ensing is sixth in the NCAA with 0.52 aces per set, which is good for third in the league. In addition to leading the nation in service aces per set, Long Beach State also leads the country with a .962 winning percentage. The Beach have won 25 matches this season with just one loss to mark the best record in the nation.

Hitting the Spot
After leading the nation in hitting in each of the last two years, the Long Beach State offense hasn't seen much of a drop off. The Beach are hitting .414 on the year and are currently ranked second in both the NCAA and the Big West. LBSU has three players ranked in the top 40 in the nation. TJ DeFalco's attack percentage of .392 is 12th in the country, while Kyle Ensing is hitting .356 which is good for 20th in the nation, and Louis Richard's .308 hitting percentage ranks him 38th in the NCAA.

National Honors
Senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco garnered Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week honors. The announcement came Tuesday morning from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
DeFalco earned the honors for the fourth time in his career after closing out the regular season with an extraordinary performance. The 6-foot-4 senior led the Beach to a pair of five-set victories over previously undefeated and top-ranked Hawaii last week to help Long Beach State win the Big West Regular Season Title and clinch the No. 1 seed heading into the conference tournament.

The product out of Huntington Beach, Calif., hit .389 on the week with 39 kills, 20 digs, nine blocks, seven assists, and six aces.

On Friday night, DeFalco hit .500 as he registered 18 kills on 28 swings with just four errors. He added nine digs, four aces, four assists, and one block.

DeFalco took the court the next day, one senior night, and turned in a season-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs for his 17th career double-double. In that match, he also put up a career-high eight blocks to lead the Beach on blocking defense.

Big West Weekly Honors
This season Long Beach State has garnered six Big West Conference weekly honors. Most recently, TJ DeFalco and Ethan Siegfried were named Player and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.

DeFalco claimed his fourth-career weekly honor after hitting .389 on the week with 39 kills, 20 digs, nine blocks, seven assists, and six aces. On Friday night, DeFalco hit .500 (18-4-28) with nine digs, four assists, four aces and a block. He came back the next day and slammed a career-high 21 kills to go along with 11 digs for his 17th career double-double. In that match, DeFalco also posted a career-high eight blocks to lead the Beach at the net.

With DeFalco leading the offense, Siegfried came off the bench on Friday and anchored the defense with a six-kill, four-dig, six-block, two-ace effort. Following his solid performance, Siegfried earned the starting nod on Saturday and did not disappoint. The sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii notched his first-career double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs, while tacking on four blocks.

In addition to DeFalco and Siegfried, senior Nick Amado has earned the honor twice. Amado, a redshirt senior middle blocker, has been named defensive player of the week on March 4 and 18.

Legacy: Long Beach State
In December, the Big West Conference announced its plan to roll out LEGACY: Long Beach State, a five-episode docuseries. The series offers the never-before-seen inner workings of the 2018 National Champion Long Beach State men's volleyball team, while chronicling the 2019 campaign.

The first episode of LEGACY premiered on Dec. 27 and focused on the team's first official practice and featured a sit-down interview with senior middle blocker Nick Amado.

Episode two of LEGACY, which was released on Feb. 20, focused on the team's Jan. 19 contest at UCLA in a rematch of the 2018 National Championship. The second episode also included an interview with senior outside hitter TJ DeFalco.

The third episode of LEGACY came out on Friday, April 5 and recounted the Beach's home opener against USC and featured an interview with senior libero Jordan Molina.

Episode four of LEGACY was dropped on Wednesday, April 17 and centered on Big West Conference action focused on BWC Player of the Year Kyle Ensing.

Check out LongBeachState.com and the BigWest.org to catch all of the action.

Up Next
With a victory in the Big West Tournament semifinals, Long Beach State will advance to the championship match which will be held at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday, April 20 at 8 p.m. (HT).