No. 4 Long Beach State Faces CSUN in Home-and-Home Matchups

Friday, April 7

Northridge, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

CSUN

Photo by: John Fajardo

4/6/2023 6:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

The Beach play at CSUN on Friday, then host the Matadors on Saturday

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#4 LONG BEACH STATE (16-3, 5-1) @ #15 CSUN (12-11, 1-5)
Date: Friday, April 7
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Venue: Premier America Credit Union Arena
Live Stats: GoMatadors.com
TV: ESPN+
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

#4 LONG BEACH STATE (16-3, 5-1) vs. #15 CSUN (12-11, 1-5)
Date: Saturday, April 8
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Tickets: LongBeachState.com

COMPLETE LONG BEACH STATE MATCH NOTES (PDF)

No. 4 Long Beach State Faces CSUN in Home-and-Home Matchups
The No. 4 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team looks to extend its four-match winning streak this week when it takes on CSUN in a pair of home-and-home contests. The Beach and the Matadors will face each other in Northridge on Friday, April 7 at 7 p.m. at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The next day, LBSU will host CSUN at the Walter Pyramid on Saturday, April 8 at 7 p.m.

Catch All The Action
Friday's match at CSUN 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 GoMatadors.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 sweeps over UC San Diego last week to extend their winning streak to four.
• CSUN holds steady at No. 15 in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll despite dropping their last six contests.
• 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. 5), Loyola Chicago (No. 10), Ball State (No. 11), USC (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 16-3 overall record and a 5-1 Big West mark.
• The Beach are currently riding a four-match winning streak as they have won 10 of their last 11 matches.
• Last week, the Beach earned a pair of sweeps over UC San Diego as the Beach outhit the Tritons .426 to -.030. LBSU also UCSD at the net with 29.0 blocks to the Tritons' 3.0.
• 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.
• A defensively strong team, LBSU leads the nation in blocks per set with 2.92. 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 1.61 blocks per set, while Godbold adds 1.17.
• In addition to blocks per set, LBSU ranks in the Top 10 in the country in hitting percentage (5th - .348), opponent hitting percentage (7th - .199), and kills (7th - 12.36).
• Offensively, sophomore outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis is the Beach's leading scorer with 3.27 kills per set which is good for seventh in The Big West. Siapanis also leads Long Beach State in service aces with 34 to average 0.52 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 9.44 assists per set on the year to pilot the Beach to a .348 attack percentage. Knipe's output is good for third in the conference and 22nd 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 .386 clip (176-41-350) which puts him 13th in the nation and second in The Big West.
• Defensively, Long Beach State is led by junior libero Mason Briggs whose 2.36 digs per set lead the conference and rank him fifth in the country. Briggs has accumulated 626 digs in his career which ranks him 13th all-time at Long Beach State.
• True freshman Island Doty earned the start at setter last weekend 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.
• 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 CSUN
• No. 15 CSUN comes into the week with a 12-11 overall record and a 1-5 Big West ledger.
• The Matadors are looking to snap a six-match losing streak dating back to March 3 when they earned a 3-0 win over Stanford.
• So far, 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.
• As a team, the Matadors are hitting .278 on the year with 11.71 kills per set, and 11.10 assists per set.
• Defensively, CSUN averages 7.40 digs per set, 1.88 blocks per set, and 1.13 service aces per set.
• CSUN is led by Kyle Hobus who averages 3.71 kills per set on a .269 attack percentage. Hobus also contributes 1.27 digs per set and 0.63 blocks per set.
• The Matadors platoon two setters in Donovan Constable and Lance Krenik. Constable leads the way with 9.34 assists per set as he has seen action in 73 of the team's 80 matches. Meanwhile, Krenik averages 6.00 assists per set over 17 set played.
• In the backrow, Taylan Cook leads the way with 1.61 digs per set, while Constable adds 1.37 digs, and Hobus chips in 1.27 digs per set.
• At the net, Hobus has put up a team-leading 50 blocks to average 0.63 per set.. Howeever, Malcolm King avearages a team-best 0.93 blocks per set after accumulating 41 blocks over 44 sets.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Matadors
Long Beach State and CSUN will meet for the 88th and 89th times in program history. In the all-time series, the Beach leads the way with a 53-34 record. LBSU has won the last three meetings with the Matadors. When playing each other in Northridge, Long Beach State holds an 18-16 edge on the Matadors. When playing in Long Beach, the Beach leads the series 26-10.

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 388 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 13th place in Long Beach State's All-Time Career Record book with 626 passing LBSU alum and current Long Beach State Women's Volleyball Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand who finished his collegiate career with 625. Briggs now has his sights on surpassing Long Beach Legend Chris Seiffert's 667 career digs which put him 12th all-time at the Beach. On the season, Briggs is averaging 2.36 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.

Nearing 2K
With 1,938 career assists under his belt thus far, junior setter Aidan Knipe is just 64 assists shy of hitting the 2,000 career assist milestone. Since 1988, only 10 other Long Beach State Men's Volleyball players have recorded 2,000 or more assists in their career. On the year, Knipe is averaging 9.44 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 nation with 2.92 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 1.61 and 1.17 blocks per set to rank first and second in the conference, respectively. In addition to leading the league, Torwie's 1.61 blocks per set average also leads the country, while Godbold's 1.17 average is good for fifth in the NCAA. Torwie's hot blocking defense has earned him Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors four times this season.

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 11 separate occasions, and has recorded 11 double-digit kill performances, including two double-doubles against then-No. 12 Ball State and then-No. 11 USC. He leads the team in kills with 3.27 per set to rank seventh in the conference. Hot on Siapanis' heels is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is averaging 2.89 kills per set to come in 10th 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 34 aces to average 0.52 per set, which ranks seventh in the country and second in The Big West. As a team, Long Beach State is averaging 1.56 service aces per set, which is good for third in The Big West and ranks them 18th 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 fifth in the nation. Junior setter Aidan Knipe has been on-point this season dishing out 9.44 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 22nd 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 12 matches this season including a season-high .554 showing against UC San Diego last week. Leading LBSU in attack percentage this season is redshirt senior outside hitter Spencer Olivier who is hitting .386 on the year to rank 13th in the country and second 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 .199 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 346 attack errors in comparison to their 696 kills on 1,762 swings. As a team, Long Beach State has outhit its opponents 15 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 concludes the regular season against UC Irvine. The Beach host the Anteaters at the Walter Pyramid on Friday, April 14 at 7 p.m., before taking on UCI at the Bren Events Center on Saturday, April 15 at 5 p.m.