No. 4 Long Beach State Welcomes Lindenwood to the Walter Pyramid

Friday, March 6

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Lindenwood

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 4 Long Beach State Welcomes Lindenwood to the Walter Pyramid

3/5/2020 5:52:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach and the Lions will face off on Friday at 7 p.m.

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match #11
No. 4 Long Beach State vs. Lindenwood
Date: Friday, March 6
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Arena: Walter Pyramid
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Radio: 22WestMedia.com
Live Stream: Beach Vision
Talent: Matt Prosser & Tyler Kulakowski
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

Complete LBSU Notes (PDF)

No. 4 Long Beach State Welcomes Lindenwood to the Walter Pyramid
The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team returns to the Walter Pyramid to host Lindenwood in a non-conference contest on Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m.

Catch All The Action
All Long Beach State home matches will be broadcast live on 22 West Radio and streamed live on Beach Vision. Fans can also follow stats updates on BeachLiveStats.com. Long Beach State men's volleyball alumni Matt Prosser and Tyler Kulakowlski will be on the call for Friday's match.

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).

Fans can 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 #LBNation.

In the Rankings
Long Beach State comes into the week ranked fourth in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll after having posted an 9-1 record on the year.

Lindenwood is not ranked in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll.

Fifty Years of Long Beach State Men's Volleyball
The 2020 season marks the 50th year of Long Beach State Men's Volleyball as the inaugural season kicked off in 1970. In 50 years, Long Beach State has won 879 matches and boasts a winning percentage of .649. The Beach have won three NCAA National Titles (1991, 2018, 2019), made 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, have garnered six National Players of the Year, and have seen two coaches named National Coach of the Year in six separate years. The storied LBSU men's volleyball program has produced 65 AVCA All-Americans, more than 50 professional indoor and beach players, and 16 U.S. Olympians.

About the Beach
• No. 4 Long Beach State is riding a four-match winning streak as the Beach are 9-1 on the year.
• The contest against Lindenwood on Friday marks LBSU's last home non-conference match of the season as Big West action begins next week.
• As a team, the Beach are hitting .327 on the year behind 12.75 kills per set and 11.43 assists per set.
• Leading the Beach offensively are outside hitters Ethan Siegfried and Spencer Olivier. Siegfried boasts 3.03 kills per set, while Olivier averages 2.84 kills per set.
• Olivier also leads the team with 16 service aces. After racking up a career-high four aces in the win over USC. Olivier's average of 0.42 aces per set ranks him fourth in the conference and in the top 25 in the nation.
• Junior Carlos Rivera is the Beach's setter as he averages 9.83 assists per set to rank fifth in the Big West and 13th in the country. Rivera also adds 1.88 digs per set, which is good for second on the squad and in the top 10 in the league. He also contributes 0.45 kills per set and 0.47 blocks per set.
• Sophomore middle blocker Shane Holdaway boasts a team-leading .496 attack percentage to rank third in the Big West and fourth in the nation. Holdaway contributes on both sides of the ball as he also leads the squad with 0.97 kills per set to rank seventh in the league and in the top 15 in the country.
• Defensively, Long Beach State is paced by freshman libero Mason Briggs who anchors the back row with 2.34 digs per set to rank second in the Big West and in the top 10 in the nation.
• At the net, LBSU is averaging 2.25 blocks per set as a team as the Beach are led by Holdaway and Marc Moody who both average 0.97 blocks per set.
• Long Beach State has officially changed the nickname for all sports other than baseball to Beach with the NCAA. Please do not refer to LBSU volleyball as the 49ers.

Scouting Lindenwood
Lindenwood comes into the match against Long Beach State with an 11-6 overall record and a 4-2 MPSF mark.

The Lions are coming off a pair of 3-1 victories over Ball State and Ohio State last week. They are currently 201 against Big West competition after having lost a five-set match to UCSD on Jan. 23, before defeating CSUN twice on Feb. 7 and 8.

Phil Swartz leads Lindenwood with 3.83 kills per set on .405 hitting. He also adds 1.17 digs per set to contribute on both sides of the ball.

As a team, the Lions are hitting .259 as Brian Schwob and Elijah Tabuarua split setter duties. Schwob averages 9.29 assists per set, while Tabuarua adds 9.87 per set.

At the net, Alex Pappas leads the team with 67 blocks (four block solos and 63 block assists) to average 1.40 blocks per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Lions
Long Beach State and Lindenwood will meet for just the third time in program history. The Beach lead the all-time series 2-0 after having picked up sweeps over Lindenwood in 2016 at the UCSB Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara, and last season at the Lindenwood Tournament in St. Charles, Mo.

Can You Dig It?
Long Beach State is averaging 9.58 digs per set this season to rank third in the Big West and ninth in the nation. The Beach have two players ranked in the top 10 in the Big West in digs per set as freshman libero Mason Briggs averages 2.34 digs per set to rank second in the league and ninth in the nation. Briggs is coming off of a career performance in which he logged a career-best 15 digs in a five-set victory at No. 12 UCLA. Behind Briggs, junior setter Carlos Rivera contributes 1.88 digs per set to rank ninth in the Big West.

Block Party
The Beach have been solid at the net all season boasting 2.25 blocks per set which ranks the team 13th in the country. Leading the way for LBSU on blocking defense is sophomore middle blocker Shane Holdaway who has racked up 33 total blocks on the year to average 0.97 per set. Right on Holdaway's heels is Marc Moody who has posted 30 blocks to average 0.97 blocks per set as well. The duo rank seventh and eighth in the Big West, respectively, and 23rd and 24th in the nation, respectively.

Killin' It
As a team, Long Beach State is hitting .327 on the year and are led by junior outside hitter Ethan Siegfried who averages 3.03 kills per set. Siegfried has led the Beach in kills four times this season, and has posted three double-figure kill performances including a career-high 21-kill effort against Concordia on Jan. 11. Siegfried is coming off of a 15-kill performance at No. 12 UCLA in which he led LBSU to a five-set victory.

Hitting the Spot
Leading the way for the Beach's offensive attack is sophomore middle blocker Shane Holdaway who boasts a .496 attack percentage as he has knocked down 74 kills on 121 swings with just 14 errors. His hitting percentage ranks third in the Big West and fourth in the nation. Long Beach State has a total of five players hitting over .300 and two hitting over .400. In addition to Holdaway, Marc Moody is hitting .450 on the year as he has collected 45 kills on 80 attempts with just nine miscues. Those hitting over .300 are Ryan Poole (.397, 30-7-58), Carlos Rivera (.351, 18-5-37), and Simon Andersen (.336, 96-23-217).

Setting the Bar
Junior Carlos Rivera stepped into the setter role and has piloted the Beach to seven victories and an impressive .327 attack percentage, which is good for sixth in the nation. In just 10 matches, the Toa Alta, Puerto Rico native has dished out 393 assists to average 9.82 assists per set which ranks fifth in the Big West and 13th in the nation. Additionally, Rivera adds 1.88 digs per set, 0.45 kills per set, and 0.47 blocks per set.

Double-Double Toil and Trouble
In 10 matches thus far, Long Beach State has seen three players record a double-double. Leading the way for the Beach is junior setter Carlos Rivera who has notched three this season. Meanwhile both Ethan Siegfried and Spencer Olivier have each recorded two double-doubles.

20/20 Vision
Junior outside hitter Ethan Siegfried posted a career-high 21 kills in Long Beach State's five-set win over Concordia. Siegfried's effort marked the first 20-plus kill showing of his career. Currently, he is the only Beach player to reach at least 20 kills this season.

Up Next
Long Beach State opens Big West Conference action against No. 3 UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, March 12 as the Beach host the Gauchos at 7 p.m. The next day, on March 13, LBSU will travel to Santa Barbara to face UCSB at Rob Gym at 7 p.m.