No. 4 Long Beach State Set for Big West Tournament Semifinals as the No. 2 Seed on Friday Night

Friday, April 21

Irvine, Calif.

7:30 PM

Long Beach State University

UC Irvine

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 4 Long Beach State Set for Big West Tournament Semifinals as the No. 2 Seed on Friday Night

4/20/2023 5:15:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Long Beach State will play on Friday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m., and will face the winner of the UC Irvine/CSUN First Round matchup

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#4 LONG BEACH STATE (20-3) vs. #5 UC IRVINE (16-10) / CSUN (12-15)
The Big West Tournament Semifinals
Date: Friday, April 21
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Venue: Bren Events Center
Live Stats: BigWest.org/sidearmstats
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Kanoa Leahey & Chris McLachlin
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

COMPLETE LBSU MATCH NOTES (PDF)

No. 4 Long Beach State Set for Big West Tournament Semifinals as the No. 2 Seed on Friday Night
No. 4 Long Beach State secured the No. 2 seed in The Big West Tournament and earned a bye into the Semifinals. The Beach will play the winner of the No. 3 seed UC Irvine-No. 6 seed CSUN contest on Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, Calif.

Catch All The Action
Both Big West Tournament Semifinal 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 via BigWest.org/sidearmstats.

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. 5 UC Irvine last week as they extended their winning streak to eight and clinched a share of The Big West Regular Season Title.
• UC Irvine holds steady at No. 5 in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll despite dropping a pair of matches against No. 4 Long Beach State last week. The Anteaters are looking to snap a four-match losing skid.
• CSUN dropped out of the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll rankings after dropping a pair of matches to UC Santa Barbara. The Matadors have now lost 10 matches in a row as they look to earn their first victory since a 3-0 sweep at Stanford on March 3.
• This year, Long Beach State has faced eight nationally ranked opponents in Hawaii, UCLA, Penn State, UC Irvine, Ball State, USC, Loyola Chicago, and at the time CSUN.
• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men's Volleyball conferences as three of the six Big West schools are nationally ranked in the Top 5.
• This season, LBSU has posted a 10-3 record over ranked opponents. When playing opponents ranked in the top 5, Long Beach State is 4-3.

About The Beach
• No. 4 Long Beach State earned a No. 2 seed and a bye into the Semifinals of The Big West Tournament after finishing the regular season with a 20-3 overall record and a 9-1 Big West mark.
• The Beach closed the regular season on an eight-match winning streak as Long Beach State captured a share of The Big West Regular Season Title.
• This week, LBSU will be making their fifth appearance in The Big West Tournament since its inception in 2018.
• Last week, the Beach picked up a pair of wins over No. 5 UC Irvine. Long Beach State swept UCI at the Walter Pyramid, then won in dramatic fashion on the road as LBSU erased an 0-2 deficit to defeat the Anteaters in a reverse sweep.
• With the victory over USC on Saturday, March 25, LBSU Head Coach Alan Knipe earned his 386th career victory becoming the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history. Knipe has now amassed 392 victories over his 20 year career at the helm boasting a .706 winning percentage.
• A defensively strong team, LBSU leads The Big West and ranks second in 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 sixth in the country, respectively. Torwie leads the way with an impressive 1.62 blocks per set, while Godbold adds 1.10.
• In addition to blocks per set, LBSU ranks in the Top 10 in the country in hitting percentage (4th - .348), opponent hitting percentage (7th - .200), and kills per set (10th - 12.45).
• Long Beach State boasted a program-record eight players to The Big West All-Conference Awards. Mason Briggs, Spencer Olivier, Sotiris Siapanis, and Simon Torwie were all named to the First Team, while Clarke Godbold, Shane Holdaway, and Aidan Knipe collected Honorable Mention status, and Connor Bloom was named to the All-Freshman Team.
• Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis is the Beach's leading scorer with 3.24 kills per set which is good for seventh in The Big West. Siapanis also leads Long Beach State in service aces with 38 to average 0.46 per set, a mark that ranks him 11th in the nation.
• Setting the tone of the Long Beach State offense is redshirt junior Aidan Knipe who has dished out 9.61 assists per set on the year to pilot the Beach to a .348 attack percentage. Knipe's output is good for second in the conference and 18th in the country, while LBSU's hitting percentage is second in the league and fourth in the nation.
• With a career-high 66 assists at No. 15 CSUN last week, Knipe became the 11th player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history to reach the 2,000 career assists milestone.
• A large contributing factor Long Beach State's high attack percentage is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who leads the squad with a .367 clip (217-55-441) which puts him 16th in the nation and second in The Big West.
• Defensively, Long Beach State is led by junior libero Mason Briggs whose 2.40 digs per set lead the conference and rank him fifth in the country. Briggs has accumulated 667 digs in his career which ties him for 12th place all-time at Long Beach State.
• True freshman Island Doty earned the start at setter at UC San Diego and did an excellent job leading the Beach to a sweep of the Tritons as they hit .318 in the contest. Doty finished the match with 17 assists, three kills on four errorless swings, five digs, and four blocks in his first-career start.
• 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.

Scouting UC Irvine
• No. 5 UC Irvine brings a 16-10 overall record into The Big West Tournament as the No. 3 seed.The Anteaters finished the regular season with a 6-4 Big West mark.
• The Anteaters kicked off Big West action with six-straight wins, before dropping a four-straight contests.
• David Kniffin is in his 11th season at the helm of UC Irvine Men's Volleyball.
• UCI had four players named to the 2023 All-Big West Conference Teams. Hilir Henno and Francesco Sani collected All-First Team honors, while Joe Karlous earned Honorable Mention status, and Maxim Grigoriev was named to the All-Freshman Team.
•This season, the Anteaters are averaging 12.41 kills per set on a .316 attack percentage. They also average 11.85 assists per set.
• UCI averages 8.61 digs, 2.14 blocks, and 1.82 service aces per set on the year.
• UC Irvine is led by Francesco Sani who averages 3.99 kills per set on a .312 clip. Additionally, Sani contributes 1.27 digs and 0.63 blocks per set.
• Joe Karlous is the Anteaters' setter as he has dished out 9.30 assists per set this season to pace the UCI offense. He also adds 1.88 digs per set to go along with 0.37 blocks per set.
• In the backrow, Cole Power anchors the UC Irvine defense with 2.05 digs per set, while adding 0.71 assists per set.
• At the net, UC Irvine is led by Connor Campbell's 74 blocks, while average 0.86 blocks per set. Also patrolling the net for the 'Eaters is Doug Dahm who leads the team with 0.97 blocks per set as he has recorded 61 blocks on the year.
• Hilir Henno has served up an impressive 80 aces on the year to average a nation-leading 0.90 service aces per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Anteaters
Should Long Beach State and UC Irvine face each other in The Big West Tournament Semifinals, it will be the 82nd meeting between the two teams in program history. Overall, the Beach leads the all-time series 56-25 and have won the last four meetings, including two last weekend. When playing Irvine, LBSU owns the advantage in the series, 20-14. When facing each other in the conference tournament, Long Beach State leads UC Irvine, 6-0. When playing each other in The Big West Tournament (since its inception in 2018), LBSU leads the series against UCI, 2-0.

Scouting CSUN
• CSUN comes into The Big West Tournament as the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season with a 12-15 overall record and a 1-9 Big West mark.
• The Matadors are looking to snap a 10-match losing streak dating back to March 3 when they earned a 3-0 win over Stanford.
• CSUN's lone conference win came on February 24 when they picked up a four-set win at UC San Diego.
• Theo Edwards is in his first year at the helm of CSUN after serving as the associate head coach since 2019.
• The Matadors had three players named to The Big West All-Conference Teams as Kyle Hobus was a First Team selection, while Griffin Walters earned Honorable Mention status, and Malcolm King was named to the All-Freshman Team.
• This season, the Matadors are hitting .268 on the year with 11.53 kills per set, and 10.88 assists per set.
• Defensively, CSUN averages 7.58 digs per set, 1.93 blocks per set, and 1.07 service aces per set.
• CSUN is led by Kyle Hobus who averages 3.63 kills per set on a .260 attack percentage. Hobus also contributes 1.29 digs per set and 0.70 blocks per set.
• The Matadors platoon two setters in Donovan Constable and Lance Krenik. Constable leads the way with 9.07 assists per set as he has seen action in 88 of the team's 95 sets. Meanwhile, Krenik averages 5.63 assists per set over 19 set played.
• In the backrow, Taylan Cook leads the way with 1.55 digs per set, while Constable adds 1.44 digs, and Hobus chips in 1.29 digs per set.
• At the net, Hobus has put up a team-leading 64 blocks to average 0.70 per set.. However, Malcolm King averages a team-best 0.91 blocks per set after accumulating 41 blocks over 45 sets of action.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Matadors
Should Long Beach State and CSUN meet in The Big West Semifinals, it will be the 90th time in program history the two teams have faced each other. In the all-time series, the Beach leads the way with a 55-34 record. LBSU has won the last five meetings with the Matadors including two earlier this season. When playing each other in the conference tournament, CSUN leads the series 2-1. However, when playing each other in The Big West Tournament (since its inception in 2018), Long Beach State leads 1-0.

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 392 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.

20/20 Vision
The Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team closed the regular season with a 20-3 overall record marking the 22nd time in program history the Beach has recorded 20 or more wins in a single season. In 20 years at the helm of Long Beach State, head coach Alan Knipe has led the Beach to 11 of those 20-win seasons. Overall, LBSU has only had one 30-win season in program history. That milestone came in 1991 when the Beach captured their first-ever NCAA National Championship.

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 a tie with Long Beach Legend Chris Seiffert for 12th place in Long Beach State's All-Time Career Record book with 667. Briggs now has his sights on surpassing Long Beach Legend Brett Schroeder's 681 career digs which put him 11th all-time at the Beach. On the season, Briggs is averaging 2.40 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.

Among the Best of the Beach
At No. 15 CSUN, Aidan Knipe distributed a career-high 66 assists on his way to becoming the 11th player in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball history to record 2,000 career assists. On the year, Knipe is averaging 9.61 assists per set and is moving his way into the record book as he looks to join Long Beach Legends Tyler Hildebrand (6,651), Josh Tuaniga (4,607), Mike Klipsch (3,890), and Conor Eaton (2,620) in the Long Beach State Top 10.

Block Party
Long Beach State has been hot on blocking defense as the Beach leads The Big West and ranks second in 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 averaging 1.62 and 1.10 blocks per set to rank first and third in the conference, respectively. In addition to leading the league, Torwie's 1.62 blocks per set average also leads the country, while Godbold's 1.10 average is good for sixth in the NCAA. Torwie's hot blocking defense has earned him Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors five times this season.

Career Night
Junior opposite Clarke Godbold had a career night at then No. 15 CSUN when he recorded a career-best 32 kills in a 3-2 reverse sweep over the Matadors. Godbold was on fire as he knocked down 32 kills on 49 swings, while committing just four attack errors to hit a hot .571 on the night. His 30-plus kill performance marked the first such showing for a Long Beach State Men's Volleyball player since 2010 when Dean Bittner dropped 30 in the MPSF Quarterfinals against Pepperdine on April 25. His 32 kills are also the most among all Big West players this season and tied for fourth most in NCAA Division I.

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 14 separate occasions, and has recorded 14 double-digit kill performances, including four double-doubles against then-No. 12 Ball State, then-No. 11 USC, and then-No. 15 CSUN. He leads the team in kills with 3.24 per set to rank seventh in the conference. Hot on Siapanis' heels is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is averaging 2.82 kills per set to come in ninth in The Big West. Siapanis turned in a season-high 19-killl performance at 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 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 38 aces to average 0.46 per set, which ranks 11th in the country and second in The Big West. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 1.48 service aces per set, which is good for third in The Big West and ranks them 21st in the nation.

Hot Hitting
The Beach have been hot offensively as they own a .348 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 9.61 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 18th 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. Just last week at No. 15 CSUN, Knipe dished out a career-high 66 assists to lead the Beach to a .384 attack percentage. With Knipe piloting the offense, the Beach has hit over .300 on 14 separate occasions this season.

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 .200 hitting percentage on the year, which leads The Big West and ranks them seventh 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 424 attack errors in comparison to their 864 kills on 2,204 swings. As a team, Long Beach State has outhit its opponents 19 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...
Should Long Beach State defeat UC Irvine/CSUN in The Big West Semifinals, the Beach will advance to The Big West Championship match on Saturday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. The match will be televised live on ESPNU.