No. 5 Long Beach State Opens the 2022 Season Against Harvard

Saturday, January 15

Long Beach, Calif.

7:30 PM

Long Beach State University

Harvard

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 5 Long Beach State Opens the 2022 Season Against Harvard

1/14/2022 12:22:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The 2022 LBSU Men's Volleyball season begins on Saturday, January 15 at the Walter Pyramid

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

MATCH #1: No. 5 LONG BEACH STATE vs. HARVARD
Date: Saturday, January 15
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: The Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Matt Brown & Tyler Kulakowski
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Ticket Website: www.LongBeachState.com

COMPLETE LBSU MATCH NOTES (PDF)

No. 5 Long Beach State Opens the 2022 Season Against Harvard
The No. 5 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team will kick off the 2022 campaign on Saturday, January 15. The Beach host Harvard inside the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.

Catch All The Action
Long Beach State home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $5.99 per month ($59.99 per year) at ESPN.com, ESPNplus.com, or on the ESPN App. It is also available as part of the Disney Bundle that gives subscribers access to Disney +,ESPN+, and Hulu for $13.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $19.99 per month (Hulu without ads). Fans can also follow stats updates on BeachLiveStats.com.

Staying Social
Follow Long Beach State Men's Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram at @LBSUMVB. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics on Twitter. Be sure to "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU. And don't forget our hashtag #GoBeach.

COVID-19 Notes
• Long Beach State's season opener was delayed due to COVID-19 protocols.

• Mask mandates remain in place in the Walter Pyramid and are anticipated to last throughout the season. Additionally, State of California regulations mandate all spectators for events inside the Walter Pyramid must provide either proof of vaccination (14+ days after last shot) or a negative COVID-19 test result (within 24 hours for a lab antigen test and 48 hours for a PCR test). That policy will be in place until further notice.

• If you are coming to the Walter Pyramid this season, please allow for extra time to enter the venue due to COVID-19 protocols as well as parking. Parking payment can be done in two ways, either at the parking machines on site or via the Parkmobile App.

In the Rankings
• Long Beach State was ranked fourth in the 2022 NVA/AVCA Division I-II Preseason Coaches Poll.
• LBSU opens the season ranked fifth in the nation.
• Ten of the Beach's opponents this season are among the Top 15 teams nationally ranked.
• Additionally, LBSU will play three teams the year who are currently receiving votes.
• This week's opponent, Harvard, is not nationally ranked.

About the Beach
• Long Beach State is getting the 2022 campaign started a week behind schedule due to COVID-19 protocols.
• The Beach were chosen to tie for first in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll along with No. 1 and reigning national champion Hawaii.
• LBSU is led by Head Coach Alan Knipe, who will begin his 19th season at the helm.
• The Beach return nine letterwinners, including four starters and starting libero sophomore Mason Briggs.
• For the second year in a row, Long Beach State boasts the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation per VolleyballMag.com.
• Highlighting the sensational recruiting class is 6-foot-7 freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov, who comes to LBSU all the way from Sofia, Bulgaria.
• In addition to returning Briggs, who was an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection a year ago, the Beach also bring back redshirt junior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who joined Briggs as an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection in 2021.
• Olivier led the team a year ago with 4.02 kills per set on a .303 attack percentage. He also contributed 1.19 digs per set and 0.85 blocks per set.
• Briggs anchored the back row for the Beach with 2.64 digs per set which led the Big West and ranked fourth in the nation.
• Redshirt sophomore Aidan Knipe began his collegiate career as the squad's starting setter, but saw his season plagued by injury. Still, he led the team with 8.26 assists per set to finish his rookie campaign ranks fifth in the Big West.
• Returning to the court for the Beach is junior middle blocker Shane Holdaway. In addition to bringing 1.39 kills per set on a .403 attack percentage, and 0.77 blocks per set, Holdaway also brings his invaluable leadership skills.
• The reigning Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, Clarke Godbold will be back in Black and Gold after having a breakout rookie season in which he was named VolleyballMag.com Freshman of the Year. He finished the 2021 season with 2.51 kills per set on a .232 clip, while also posting 0.78 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 men's volleyball as the 49ers.

Scouting Harvard
• Harvard opened the 2022 season on Wednesday at UC Irvine and suffered a 3-0 sweep as the Anteaters defeated the Crimson 25-19, 25-22, 25-21.
• The Crimson kick off the 2022 campaign in Southern California with matches against UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and Long Beach State.
• Harvard welcomes eight first-year student-athletes to the team this season.
• Seniors Buddy Scott and James Shen will be captaining the Crimson for the 2022 season.
• Harvard returns Campbell Schoenfeld who led the team with 3.58 kills per set during the shortened 2020 season.
• Also returning for the Crimson is senior Eric Li who led all returners with 1.71 digs per set.
• The Crimson also bring back sophomore Ethan McCrary who led the squad with 0.69 blocks per set in 2020.
• After their season opener at UCI, the Crimson is led by Ethan Smith who finished the match with 3.00 kills, while hitting an impressive .615 (9-1-13).
• James Bardin got the nod at setter and he concluded the match with 8.67 assists per set to go along with 1.67 digs per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Crimson
Long Beach State and Harvard will meet for the seventh time in program history. The all-time series dates back to 1998 and the Beach hold the lead 6-0. The last time the two teams met was in 2019 when LBSU earned a 3-0 sweep over the Crimson at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament.

Welcoming the No. Recruiting Class in the Nation
The Long Beach State men's volleyball team earned the No. 1 spot in VolleyballMag.com's Division I-II Men's Volleyball recruiting class rankings for the second year in a row. Long Beach State came in at the top spot, beating out the likes of rivals such as UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and Ohio State for the top spot in this year's rankings. The 2022 Long Beach State recruiting class is comprised of seven incoming student-athletes including five freshmen and two transfers. Highlighting the recruiting class are freshman Klistan Lawrence, a 6-foot-8 opposite out of Ocala, Fla., who was a three-time USA Youth National Team member, as well as freshman Alex Nikolov, a 6-foot-7 outside hitter from Sofia, Bulgaria, who was a three-time Balkan League Champion with the U19 Bulgarian National Team. In addition to Lawrence and Nikolov, the Beach also welcome Josh Rosenblum (6-6, S, Fr., Newport Beach, Calif.), Connor Bloom (6-5, OH, Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif.), Dane Hillis (6-3, OH, Fr., San Clemente, Calif.), Eric Beebe (6-0, S, So., Boulder Creek HS/Orange Coast College), and Calvin Sanborn (6-4, OH, Jr., Harbor HS/Santa Barbara City College). The highly-touted recruiting class will join an already talented squad which returns a pair of AVCA All-Americans in Mason Briggs and Spencer Olivier, as well as four starters, and nine letterwinners.

Next Up
Long Beach State will host Erskine on Monday, January 17 at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Matt Brown and Tyler Kulakowski on the call.