No. 4 Long Beach State Resumes Big West Action Against UC San Diego

Friday, March 31

San Diego, Calif

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC San Diego

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 4 Long Beach State Resumes Big West Action Against UC San Diego

3/30/2023 6:10:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach and the Tritons are set to square off on Friday at UCSD and Saturday at LBSU

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#4 LONG BEACH (14-3, 3-1) @ UC SAN DIEGO (7-12, 1-4)
Date: Friday, March 31
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: La Jolla, Calif.
Venue: LionTree Arena
Live Stats: UCSDTritons.com
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Bryan Fenley & Ricci Luyties
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

#4 LONG BEACH (14-3, 3-1) vs. UC SAN DIEGO (7-12, 1-4)
Date: Saturday, April 1
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Tickets: LongBeachState.com

COMPLETE LBSU MATCH NOTES (PDF)

No. 4 Long Beach State Resumes Big West Action Against UC San Diego
The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team returns to Big west action this weekend as the Beach face UC San Diego in a home-and-home series. The Beach and the Tritons will face off on Friday, March 31 in La Jolla, Calif., at LionTree Arena at 7 p.m. The next night, April 1, LBSU will play host to UCSD at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.

Catch All The Action
Friday's match at UC San Diego 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 via UCSDTritons.com on Friday night and BeachLiveStats.com on Saturday night.

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.

In the Rankings
• Long Beach State remains in fourth in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll after earning a pair of victories over No. 11 USC last week.
• UC San Diego is currently not ranked.
• This year, Long Beach State will face eight nationally ranked opponents in Hawaii (No. 1), UCLA (No. 2), Penn State (No. 3), UC Irvine (Tied No. 5), Loyola Chicago (No. 10), USC (No. 11), Ball State (No. 12), and CSUN (No. 15).
• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men's Volleyball conferences as four of the six Big West schools are nationally ranked in the Top 15.
• This season, LBSU has posted a 6-3 record over ranked opponents. When playing opponents ranked in the top 5, Long Beach State is 2-3.

About The Beach
• No. 4 Long Beach State comes into the week with a 14-3 overall record and a 3-1 Big West mark.
• This season, LBSU has strung together a pair of six-match winning streaks and has won eight of their last nine matches.
• Last week, the Beach went 2-0 against No. 11 USC. LBSU swept the Trojans on Friday in the Walter Pyramid, before downing USC in four sets at the Galen Center on Saturday.
• With the victory over USC on Saturday, LBSU Head Coach Alan Knipe earned his 386th career victory becoming the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history.
• A defensively strong team, LBSU comes in second in the nation in blocks per set with 2.73, which is tops in The Big West. Contributing to that output are the duo of Simon Torwie and Clarke Godbold who rank first and fifth in the country, respectively. Torwie leads the way with an impressive 1.50 blocks per set, while Godbold adds 1.13.
• In addition to blocks per set, LBSU ranks in the Top 10 in the country in hitting percentage (5th - .342), kills (7th - 12.52), assists (8th - 11.70), and opponent hitting percentage (10th -.222).
• Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis is the Beach's leading scorer with 3.37 kills per set which is good for sixth in The Big West. Siapanis also leads Long Beach State in service aces with 33 to average 0.55 per set, a mark that ranks him seventh in the nation.
• Setting the tone of the Long Beach State offense is redshirt junior Aidan Knipe who has dished out 9.62 assists per set on the year to pilot the Beach to a .342 attack percentage. Knipe's output is good for second in the conference and 16th in the country, while LBSU's hitting percentage is second in the league and fifth in the nation.
• A large contributing factor Long Beach State's high attack percentage is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who leads the squad with a .389 clip (164-38-324) which puts him 12th in the nation and third in The Big West.
• Defensively, Long Beach State is led by junior libero Mason Briggs whose 2.47 digs per set lead the conference and rank him fifth in the country. Briggs has accumulated 618 digs in his career which ranks him 14th all-time at Long Beach State.
• Long Beach State has received solid play off the bench from several players this season including Ryan Peluso who came into the match against King and served up a match-winning ace.
• Redshirt freshman Connor Bloom has also provided several strong serving runs for the Beach including a solid outing at No. 11 USC in which he recorded an ace and led Long Beach on a run which gave them the lead. He was awarded Big West Freshman of the Week for his efforts.
• Calvin Sanborn has also been a key component to Long Beach State's success this season recording a pair of aces and six digs in 31 sets thus far.
• Nathan Harlan was a factor in the Beach's five-set win over No. 12 Loyola Chicago as he came off the bench and posted nine kills, seven digs, and two blocks, while hitting .286. Harlan was also a key component to LBSU's four-set road win at No. 11 USC as he posted eight kills on a .467 clip to go along with three digs, and one ace.
• In the preseason Big West Coaches Poll, LBSU was chosen to finish second. Long Beach State garnered 19 votes, coming in behind Hawaii which tallied 25 points and five first-place votes. UC Irvine placed third with 17 points and one first-place vote, while UC Santa Barbara (13 points), CSUN (10 points), and UC San Diego (6 points) rounded out the bottom half of the poll.
• Junior libero Mason Briggs was chosen to Big West Preseason Team. Briggs returns to the Beach after leading the Big West and ranking fifth in the country with 2.51 digs per set. The 2022 AVCA First Team All-American took home a slew of honors following his sophomore campaign including the LBSU Student-Athlete Pyramid Leadership Award, Big West All-First Team accolades, the Off the Block Erik Shoji Award, and the Off the Block Steve Shondell Award.

Scouting UC San Diego
• UC San Diego comes into the week with a 7-12 overall record and are 1-4 in Big West action.
• The Tritons suffered a six-match losing streak, before earning a 3-0 sweep at CSUN on March 16.
• Last week was a bye week for UCSD as they come into the matches against Long Beach State well-rested and look to add some wins to their record.
• Brad Rostratter is in his first year at the helm of UC San Diego after being named head coach in October 2022.
• As a team, UC San Diego is hitting .269 on 11.96 kills per set, while averaging 11.09 assists per set.
• Defensively, the Tritons average 8.16 digs per set, 1.76 blocks per set, and 1.19 aces per set this season.
• Ryan Ka is UCSD's leading scorer with 3.81 kills per set on a .234 attack percentage. He also contributes 1.16 digs per set and 0.49 blocks per set.
• Gabriel Dyer is the Tritons' setter as he has distributed 9.46 assists per set this season to go along with 1.45 digs per set.
• In the backrow, Evan Boyle leads the way with 2.27 digs per set, while also adding 0.55 assists per set.
• At the net, Nick Rigo has put up a team-leading 58 blocks to average 0.87 per set. He also contributes 1.60 kills per set on a .389 attack percentage

The Series: The Beach vs. The Tritons
Long Beach State and UC San Diego will face off for the 79th and 80th times in program history. In the all-times series, the Beach lead 72-6, however, the Tritons picked up a 3-2 win over LBSU in the last meeting on April 9, 2022 in La Jolla, Calif. Prior to that, Long Beach had won 18-straight contests against UCSD dating back to 2013.

Leaving a Legacy
Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe has been a part of the Long Beach Legacy since he was a player in the early 90s. As a student-athlete, Knipe led the Beach to their first-ever NCAA National Championship in 1991. Following his graduation from Long Beach State and several years on the pro circuit, Knipe returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach under his former head coach, Ray Ratelle. Upon Ratelle's retirement, Knipe took the reins of the program in 2001 and has been an integral part of the Beach's success. Despite a brief hiatus from 2009-13 when he coached the U.S. Men's National Team in the 2012 London Olympics, Knipe has been a fixture at Long Beach State. Throughout his tenure as head coach, Knipe has led the Beach to 386 career wins becoming the winningest coach in LBSU Men's Volleyball program history as he surpassed Ratelle's mark of 385. In addition to his nearly 400 career victories, Knipe has coached 63 All-Americans and half a dozen National Players of the Year. He has led the program to seven NCAA Final Four appearances, four NCAA National Championship showings, and two NCAA National Titles (2018, 2019). The three-time AVCA National Coach of the Year has also coached two AVCA Newcomers of the Year in his 20 seasons at the helm and is not done yet.

Movin' On Up
On January 20, against Long Island, Mason Briggs logged 12 digs on his way to recording his 500th career dig. Since then he has moved into 14th place in Long Beach State's All-Time Career Record book with 618 passing LBSU alum, pro volleyball player, and Olympian, David McKienzie, who finished his collegiate career with 588. Briggs is now just seven digs away from tying current LBSU Women's Volleyball Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand with 625. On the season, Briggs is averaging 2.47 digs per set, which leads The Big West, and is well on his way to join other Long Beach Legends such as Andrew Sato (979), Taylor Crabb (802), Dustin Watten (799), and TJ DeFalco (773), Brent Hilliard (737), and Brett Winslow (708) in the Top 10 at Long Beach State.

Block Party
Long Beach State has been hot on blocking defense as the Beach leads The Big West and is second in the nation with 2.73 blocks per set. A large contributing factor to the stout Long Beach defense has come from junior middle blocker Simon Torwie and junior opposite Clarke Godbold. Torwie and Godbold pack a 1-2 punch in The Big West averaging 1.50 and 1.13 blocks per set to rank first and third in the conference, respectively. In addition to leading the league, Torwie's 1.50 blocks per set average also leads the country, while Godbold's 1.13 average is good for fifth in the NCAA.

Killin' It
Sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis has done a solid job offensively for the Beach. The Limassol, Cyprus native has led LBSU in scoring on eight separate occasions, and has recorded 11 double-digit kill performances, including two double-doubles against then-No. 12 Ball State and No. 11 USC just last week. He leads the team in kills with 3.37 per set to rank sixth in the conference. Hot on Siapanis' heels is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is averaging 2.98 kills per set to come in ninth in The Big West. Siapanis turned in a season-high 19-killl performance at then-No. 1 Hawaii in which he led the Beach to a three-set sweep. Olivier, meanwhile, has recorded a season-high of 16 kills on two separate occasions leading LBSU to a a four-set win over then-No. 12 Ball State and a five-set victory over UC Santa Barbara.

Aces Wild
In addition to leading the team in kills, Sotiris Siapanis also sets the standard in service aces. He was incredible from the service line against Long Island on January 20 as he served up a career-high eight aces in a single-match. That mark is good for second all-time in the LBSU Single-Match Record book coming in just one shy of the program record (9) which was set in 2001 by Scott Touzinsky against Mercyhurst. On the season, Siapanis has recorded a team-leading 33 aces to average 0.55 per set, which ranks seventh in the country and second in The Big West. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 1.60 service aces per set, which is good for third in The Big West and ranks them 23rd in the nation.

Hot Hitting
The Beach have been hot offensively as they own a .342 attack percentage, which is good for second in the conference and fifth in the nation. Junior setter Aidan Knipe has been on-point this season dishing out 9.62 assists per set to pace the Beach's offensive attack. He's done a solid job distributing the ball as his assists per set average comes in second in the league and 16th in the country. Against then-No. 12 Ball State, Knipe was phenomenal as he distributed the ball around and finished the match with five players in double-figures as LBSU hit .395. The Beach have hit over .300 in 10 matches this season. Leading LBSU in attack percentage this season is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is hitting .389 (164-38-324) on the year to rank 12th in the country and third in The Big West.

Defensively Strong
While the offense has been hot, the Long Beach State defense has been equally solid. The Beach defense has held their opponents to a .222 hitting percentage on the year, which leads The Big West and ranks them 10th in the NCAA. The LBSU defense has been led by junior libero Mason Briggs in the back court, as well as junior middle blocker Simon Torwie at the net. The duo have kept LBSU opponents guessing thus far as they have forced opponents into 292 attack errors in comparison to their 647 kills on 1,598 swings. As a team, Long Beach State has outhit its opponents 13 times this season.

If You Build It, They Will Come
Since the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program's inception in 1970, there has been a winning culture building over the years that has seen the program advance to 12 NCAA Final Fours and capture three NCAA National Championships (1991, 2018, 2019). In five of the last six years, the Beach have made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. With the success the program has had over the years, most notably since winning back-to-back NCAA National Titles in 2018 and 2019, LB Nation has shown its support packing the Walter Pyramid. On February 10 against UCLA, Long Beach State's fans came out in full force for an incredible sellout crowd of 4,138 to mark the third-largest Men's Volleyball Walter Pyramid match in program history. The contest comes in behind the program record of 4,674 fans who came out to watch LBSU vs. Hawaii on April 13, 2019, and the second-highest attended match of 4,560 on February 17, 2018 when the Beach hosted UCLA.

Coming Up...
Long Beach State continues Big West action next week as they take on No. 15 CSUN on Friday, April 7 in Northridge and Saturday, April 8 in Long Beach. Both matches are set for 7 p.m.