No. 4 Long Beach State Opens Big West Action Against UC Santa Barbara

Friday, March 10

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 4 Long Beach State Opens Big West Action Against UC Santa Barbara

3/9/2023 4:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach and the Gauchos begin Big West action on Friday in Santa Barbara, before facing off in Long Beach on Saturday at 7 p.m.

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#4 LONG BEACH (9-2) @ UC SANTA BARBARA (4-9)
Date: Friday, March 10
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Venue: Rob Gym
Live Stats: UCSBGauchos.com
TV: ESPN+
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

#4 LONG BEACH (9-2) vs. UC SANTA BARBARA (4-9)
Date: Saturday, March 11
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Matt Brown & Matt Prosser
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Ticket Website: LongBeachState.com

COMPLETE LBSU MATCH NOTES (PDF)

No. 4 Long Beach State Opens Big West Action Against UC Santa Barbara
The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team opens up the 2023 Big West season against UC Santa Barbara with a pair of matches on Friday, March 10 and Saturday, March 11. The Beach will travel to Santa Barbara for a Friday night match up at 7 p.m., at Rob Gym, before playing host to the Gauchos on Saturday at 7 p.m., at the Walter Pyramid.

Catch All The Action
Both Long Beach State 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 for all Long Beach State home matches via 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.

Promos
The promotional theme for Long Beach State's Saturday match against UC Santa Barbara is "Through the Decades." Join the Beach as we travel through the decades during the match. Retro slap bracelets will be given away, while supplies last.

In the Rankings
• Long Beach State sits in fourth in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll after with defeating No. 12 Ball State last week, 3-1.
• UC Santa Barbara has been struggling as of late. The Gauchos opened the 2023 season ranked 10th in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll, but have slowly dropped out of the rankings.
• This year, Long Beach State will face eight nationally ranked opponents in Hawaii (No. 1), UCLA (No. 2), Penn State (No. 3), UC Irvine (No. 6), Loyola Chicago (No. 9), USC (No. 10), Ball State (No. 11), and CSUN (No. 13).
• 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 3-2 record over ranked opponents with wins over then-No. 4 Penn State (3-1), then-No. 12 Loyola Chicago (3-2), and then-No. 12 Ball State (3-1). The Beach's two losses came against then-No. 4 UCLA (3-0 and 3-1).

About The Beach
• No. 4 Long Beach State comes into the week with an 9-2 overall record.
• The Beach are currently riding a three-match winning streak after having collected a pair of sweeps over NJIT and a four-set win over then-No. 12 Ball State.
• A defensively strong team, LBSU leads the nation in blocks per set with 2.87. Contributing to that output are the duo of Simon Torwie and Clarke Godbold who rank first and eighth in the country, respectively. Torwie leads the way with 1.66 blocks per set, while Godbold adds 1.18.
• LBSU ranks in the Top 10 in the country in hitting percentage (4th - .370), kills (4th - 12.68), and assists (5th - 11.87).
• Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis is the Beach's leading scorer with 3.08 kills per set which is good for seventh in The Big West. Siapanis also leads Long Beach State in service aces with 24 to average 0.63 per set, a mark that ranks him sixth in the nation.
• Setting the tone of the Long Beach State offense is redshirt junior Aidan Knipe who has dished out 9.87 assists per set on the year to pilot the Beach to a .370 attack percentage. Knipe's output is good for second in the conference and 12th in the country, while LBSU's hitting percentage is second in the league and fourth 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 .405 clip (103-24-195) which puts him in the Top 15 in the nation and third in The Big West.
• Defensively, Long Beach State is led by junior libero Mason Briggs whose 2.63 digs per set lead the conference and rank him fourth in the country. Briggs has accumulated 570 digs in his career which ranks him 15th 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. Additionally, Connor Bloom has also provided several strong serving runs for the Beach, while Nathan Harlan has also been a key component to LBSU's success this season with his stout efforts on the court.
• Harlan was a key component to 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.
• Head Coach Alan Knipe is in his 20th year at the helm of the Beach. In that time, he has earned 381 wins and boasts a .702 winning percentage.
• 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 Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Barbara brings a 4-9 overall record into the matches against Long Beach State.
• The Gauchos kicked off Big West action last week with a four-set win over UC San Diego on Friday, March 3.
• UCSB had a rough non-conference season in which they went on a seven-match losing skid and dropped out of the national rankings. With back-to-back wins over Vanguard (3-1) and UCSD (3-1), Santa Barbara is looking to bounce back as they head into conference action.
• As a team, UC Santa Barbara is hitting .248 on the year. The Gauchos are averaging 11.33 kills per set on 10.79 assists per set.
• On the defensive end, the Gauchos are averaging 9.25 digs, 1.52 blocks, and 0.90 service aces per set this season.
• Ryan Wilcox is UCSB's leading scorer as he averages 2.90 kills per set on a .223 attack percentage. Wilcox also adds 1.65 digs per set and 0.37 blocks per set, to go along with a team-leading 16 aces.
• At setter, Jack Walmer paces the offense with 9.36 assists per set. His output has helped the Gauchos hit .248 on the year as a team. Additionally, he posts 1.72 digs per set and has served up 11 aces.
• In the backrow, Max Gordon has logged a total of 107 digs to average 2.06 digs per set.
• At the net, Donovan Todorov leads the way with 26 total blocks (4 solos, 22 assists) for an average of 0.53 blocks per set. He also contributes 1.29 kills per set on a .412 attack percentage.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Gauchos
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will face off for the 100th and 101st time in program history this weekend. In the all-time series, the Beach leads the way 58-42. Last season, LBSU swept the series against UCSB picking up a 3-1 win over the Gauchos on March 25 in Long Beach, then winning in straight sets on the road the next night.

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 15th place in Long Beach State's All-Time Career Record book with 570. He is now 18 digs away from moving into a 14th-place tie with former LBSU alum, pro volleyball player, and Olympian, David McKienzie, who finished his collegiate career with 588. On the season, Briggs is averaging 2.63 digs per set 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 nation with 2.87 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 as the top two blockers in the conference averaging 1.66 and 1.18 blocks per set, respectively. In addition to leading the league, Torwie's 1.66 blocks per set average also leads the country, while Godbold's 1.18 average is good for eighth 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 six separate occasions, and has recorded six double-digit kill performances, including a double-double last week (10 kills, 12 digs) against then-No. 12 Ball State. He leads the team in kills with 3.08 per set to rank seventh in the conference. Hot on Siapanis' heels is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is averaging 2.94 kills per set to come in eighth in The Big West. Olivier is coming off of a season-high performance of 16 kills to lead a quintet of LBSU players in double-figures over then-No. 12 Ball State.

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 24 aces to average 0.63 per set, which ranks sixth in the country and second in The Big West. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 1.58 service aces per set, which is good for third in The Big West and ranks them 19th in the nation.

Hot Hitting
The Beach started the season out hot offensively as they own a .370 attack percentage, which is good for second in the conference and fourth in the nation. Junior setter Aidan Knipe has been on-point this season dishing out 9.87 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 12th in the country. Last week 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 marking the eighth time this season the Beach have hit over .300. Leading LBSU in attack percentage this season is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is hitting .405 (103-24-195) on the year to rank 13th in the country.

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 .217 hitting percentage on the year, which ranks second in The Big West and 12th 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 180 attack errors in comparison to their 387 kills on 956 swings. As a team, Long Beach State has outhit its opponents nine 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 as the Beach fly to Honolulu to take on Top-Seeded Hawaii for a pair of contests on Friday, March 17 and Saturday, March 18. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. (HST) / 10 p.m. (PST).