Top-Ranked Beach Set To Face King In Pair Of Matches At The Walter Pyramid On Friday and Saturday

Friday, February 2

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

King

Photo by: John Fajardo

Top-Ranked Beach Set To Face King In Pair Of Matches At The Walter Pyramid On Friday and Saturday

2/1/2024 5:44:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Long Beach State and King meet for a pair of non-conference matches on Friday and Saturday

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Match 8: #1 LONG BEACH STATE (7-0) vs. KING (0-5)
Date: Friday, February 2
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Matt Brown & Kyle Friend
Radio: 22 West
Radio Talent: Garret Novak & Zach Durham
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

Match 9: #1 LONG BEACH STATE (7-0) vs. KING (0-5)
Date: Saturday, February 3
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
TV: None
Radio: 22 West
Radio Talent: Garret Novak & Zach Durham
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

Top-Ranked Beach Set To Face King In Pair Of Matches At The Walter Pyramid On Friday and Saturday
Long Beach State brings a seven match winning streak into the Walter Pyramid this weekend for a pair of matches against King. The Beach and the Tornando will face off at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 2, and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 3.

Catch All The Action
Friday's Long Beach State-King match will be broadcast live on ESPN+. This season, 13 of LBSU's 17 home contests will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can sign up for ESPN+ for $9.99 per month ($99.99 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 $14.99 per month (Hulu with ads) or $24.99 per month (Hulu without ads). Fans can also follow all Long Beach State home matches via live stats at: 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.

In the Rankings
• Long Beach State moved into No. 1 in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll after extending its winning streak to seven. The Beach garnered all 23 first-place votes for a total of 460 points. This season, the LBSU has earned wins over a pair of nationally ranked teams in No. 17 George Mason (3-1) and No. 10 Pepperdine (3-0).
• King is not ranked, nor are they receiving votes in the NVA/AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll. The Tornado is 0-5 this season as they are looking for their first win of the season.
• This season, Long Beach State will face 10 nationally ranked opponents in the regular season. In the non-conference season, the Beach will go up against No. 5 UCLA, No. 8 Penn State, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 14 Lewis, and No. 18 George Mason. Once Big West action gets underway, LBSU will face nationally-ranked opponents No. 3 Hawaii, No. 7 UC Irvine, No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, No. 17 CSUN, and No. 19 UC San Diego.
• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men's Volleyball conferences as all six Big West schools are nationally ranked, with three of them sitting in the Top 10.

About The Beach
• No. 1 Long Beach State has opened the 2024 season on a seven-match winning streak.
• The Beach have earned wins over Long Island (3-0), Saint Francis (3-1), Merrimack (3-0), No. 17 George Mason (3-1), NJIT (3-1), No. 10 Pepperdine (3-0), and Concordia (3-0).
• In the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll, Long Beach State was chosen to win the conference. The Beach garnered 23 points and three first-place votes to finish two points ahead of second-place Hawaii and four points ahead of third-place UC Irvine.
• In addition to being the preseason favorite, the Beach also led the way with three players on the Preseason Coaches' Team in senior libero Mason Briggs, redshirt senior setter Aidan Knipe, and junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis.
• Briggs and Siapanis were also joined by senior middle blocker Simon Torwie and senior opposite Clarke Godbold as Off the Block Preseason All-Americans.
• The Beach return a veteran squad from a year ago with 15 returning letterwinners and four returning starters, plus Briggs at libero.
• The five returning starters in Briggs, Knipe, Siapanis, Godbold, and Torwie were all named AVCA All-Americans last season as they look to continue to hone their craft on the court in 2024.
• In addition to returning a solid core group, the Beach also stacked their roster with nine newcomers highlighted by freshmen Lazar Bouchkov, Sebastiano Sani, and Daniil Hershtynovich, along with sophomore transfer Ben Braun. The 6-foot-6 Bouchkov is a six-time Junior National Champion, and a five-time Balkan Champion with the Bulgarian National Team. Sani is a 6-foot-8 outside hitter who was selected to the U19 USA National Team and helped his squad to an eighth place finish at Nationals. Hershtynovich is a 6-foot-9 opposite from Toronto, Canada who played for the U19 and U21 National Team. He led his team to third place at Canadian Club Nationals and helped his squad to a third place showing at the U21 PanAm Cup. Braun is a 6-foot-11 middle blocker to came to Long Beach State from Ohio State. Prior to his time with the Buckeyes, Braun was named to the Fab 50 by Volleyball Magazine in 2021. He was also named to the High Performance Team in 2020 for Men's Junior A1NTTP.
• Last season, LBSU Head Coach Alan Knipe became the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history. Knipe has now amassed 399 victories over his 21-year career at the helm boasting a .707 winning percentage as he is just one win away of his 400th career victory.

Scouting King
• King comes into the match at Long Beach State with an 0-5 record as the Torando is looking for its first win of the year.
• The Tornando have suffered losses to NJIT (3-0), Penn State (3-0), Tusculum (3-2), McKendree (3-0), and Lindenwood (3-0).
• Warren Davis is King's leading scorer with 2.54 kills per set. He has amassed 35.5 points over 13 sets, and also adds 1.31 digs per set.
• At setter Andrew Haber and Aiden Olson run the offense. Haber leads the way with 7.50 assists per set, while Olson contributes 5.13.
• Gannon Chinen anchors the back row with 1.59 digs per set, while adding 0.59 assists per set.
• At the net, Grayson Stoudt and Sean Haberthy have each put up a team-best five blocks. Stoudt averages 0.38 blocks per set over 13 sets played, while Haberthy averages 0.50 blocks per set in 10 sets of action.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Tornado
Long Beach State and King will meet for just the second time in program history. The series began last season when the Tornado came to Long Beach and the Beach rolled to a straight-set sweep by scores of 25-17, 25-12, 25-14. This season, King is looking for its first ever win over Long Beach State.

National Accolades
For the first time in his career, Long Beach State freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov has been named AVCA Men's National Collegiate Player of the Week. The announcement came from the AVCA on Tuesday morning.

Bouchkov was unstoppable at the net as he led Long Beach to a pair of sweeps over No. 10 Pepperdine and Concordia. With the straight-set wins, the Beach moved from No. 3 to No. 1 in the nation in this week's AVCA/NVA Poll. Bouchkov paced the blocking defense with an impressive 3.00 blocks per set, while also recording 2.75 points per set, to go along with 1.17 kills per set on a .636 attack percentage (7-0-11).

The product out of Sofia, Bulgaria kicked off the week with 10 blocks against the Waves on Friday night. The double-figure block performance is the second in his young career and just one off his career-best. Bouchkov also added four kills on six errorless swings for a .667 attack percentage, while dishing out one assist.

The next night, Bouchkov put up eight blocks against the Golden Eagles, while tallying three kills on five swings without committing an error en route to hitting .600. He also added a dig in the Beach's convincing sweep on Saturday night of Concordia.

On the year, Bouchkov is averaging a nation-leading 1.83 blocks per set, while adding 1.50 kills per set on a .623 (36-3-53) clip.

Big West Honors
The Beach continue to rack up the Big West Weekly honors as Lazar Bouchkov won his second-straight Defensive Player of the Week award.

In addition to Bouchkov's two defensive honors, senior libero Mason Briggs also took home the Big West Player of the Week award on Jan. 15 as LBSU has now won three-consecutive defensive honors from the conference.

If that weren't enough, senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold was recognized for his offensive prowess on Jan. 24 as he was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week.

Numbers to Watch
Mason Briggs and Aidan Knipe are both closing in on some career marks. Briggs has accumulated 743 career digs as he moved into eighth place all time at Long Beach State. Briggs is now ahead of Long Beach Legend Brent Hillard who finished his illustrious collegiate career with 737 career digs. Briggs is just 30 digs away from tying another LB Legend and current professional, TJ DeFalco with 773.

Aidan Knipe, meanwhile, has racked up 2,409 career assists to move into ninth all-time at the Beach. He is now in the elite company of fellow Long Beach Legends Tyler Hildebrand (6,651 career assists), Josh Tuaniga (4, 607 career assists), and Conor Eaton (2,620 career assists) who rank first, fourth, and eighth, respectively.

Closing In On 400
In his 21st year at the helm of the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program, Head Coach Alan Knipe is closing in on his 400th career victory. Last season, Knipe became the program's all-time winningest coach, and this year he owns 399 career wins and a .707 winning percentage. In his time leading the Beach, Knipe has coached six National Players of the Year, and led the program to 11 NCAA Championship appearances, including two National Titles. Knipe has coached 70 All-America selections and 90 All-Conference selections, while mentoring numerous players who have gone on to play professionally overseas and on the AVP circuit.

Block Party
The Beach started the 2024 season with a strong blocking defense presence at the net. Long Beach State is averaging a nation-leading 3.73 blocks per set. Individually, LBSU has four players in the Top 25 in the country in blocks per set. Freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov leads the way with 1.83 blocks per set which leads the nation. Coming in behind Bouchkov are Clarke Godbold (1.50 bps), Sky;er Varga (1.14 bps), and Simon Torwie (1.10 bps) who rank fourth, 10th, and 16th, respectively, in the nation.

Can You Dig It?
Senior Mason Briggs has established himself as one of the nation's top liberos over the last four years. Briggs currently leads The Big West in digs per set with 2.25, a mark that is good for 10th in the nation. Against Long Island in the Beach's season opener, Briggs led the way with 10 digs, then followed that performance with 11 against Saint Francis (Pa.). He has now recorded double figure digs 36 times in his career and has led LBSU in digs on 52 occasions. With his solid defense, Briggs has helped limit opponents to a .136 attack percentage, which leads The Big West and is sixth in the country.

Helping Hands
Senior setter Aidan Knipe has done an excellent job this season piloting the Beach to a .368 attack percentage, which is good for second in the conference and third in the country. Knipe has dished out 9.71 assists per set to come in fifth in the league and 10th the nation. With 204 helpers on the year, Knipe has brought his career total to 2,409 which ranks him in the Top 10 in the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball Record Book.

The Best In The (Big) West
Long Beach State has established itself as one of the top teams, statistically speaking in The Big West. The Beach lead the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.136) and blocks per set (3.73). Additionally, LBSU comes in second in the league in hitting percentage (.368).

Individually, LBSU has three players who lead the conference as Clarke Godbold leads the way in hitting percentage (.480) while Lazar Bouchkov sets the standard in blocks per set (1.83), and Mason Briggs owns a league-leading 2.25 digs per set average.

Growing The Game
As the sport of boy's and men's volleyball continues to grow nation wide, the National Collegiate level has expanded adding the Northeast Conference (NEC) and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). In order to continue to grow the game, Long Beach State is playing four matches against NEC and SIAC members this season. The Beach open the year against NEC members Long Island and Saint Francis (Pa.), and also host a mid-season tournament which will feature SIAC members Central State and Edward Waters.

Expanding The Tournament
As the game grows, so does the NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament. This season, the tournament will feature eight teams in the field instead of seven. The expanded NCAA Tournament field is due to the SIAC being awarded an automatic bid. The SIAC will now join The Big West, Conference Carolinas, EIVA, MIVA, and MPSF as automatic bid conferences. With the expansion, there will now be NCAA Quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, April 30, before the NCAA Semifinals on Thursday, May 2. The NCAA Championship match will take place on Saturday, May 4. All NCAA Tournament match will be played at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

Hotshots
VolleyballMag announced a list of the nation's top up-and-coming volleyball coaches across NCAA Division I women's, NCAA Division I-II men, and NCAA Collegiate beach programs. Long Beach State boasted three on the list in women's head volleyball coach Tyler Hildebrand, along with men's volleyball's associate head coach Nick MacRae and assistant coach McKay Smith.

VolleyballMag compiled the list of veterans who are taking their game to the next level to newcomers getting their feet wet from nominations by sports information directors.

Hildebrand earned the nod to the impressive group after taking the reins of the Long Beach State Women's Volleyball program and leading the team to The Big West Championship match in 2023. In just two years at the helm of the Beach, Hildebrand has totaled 40 wins and owns a winning percentage of .678. He was also instrumental in leading LBSU to its first 20-plus win season since 2016.

MacRae is the associate head coach of the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team and has been a part of the program for the last 10 years. In that time, MacRae