No. 2 Long Beach Welcomes No. 9 Penn State To The Walter Pyramid For Another Nationally-Ranked Clash

Friday, March 1

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Penn State

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 Long Beach Welcomes No. 9 Penn State To The Walter Pyramid For Another Nationally-Ranked Clash

2/29/2024 4:27:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

LBSU Match Notes

The Beach and the Nittany Lions are set for a Top 10 match up on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (13-1) vs. #9 PENN STATE (12-3)
Date: Friday, March 1
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Long Beach, Calif.
Venue: Walter Pyramid
TV: ESPN+
TV Talent: Matt Brown & Kyle Friend
Radio: 22 West
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB
Tickets: LongBeachState.com/Tickets

No. 2 Long Beach Welcomes No. 9 Penn State To The Walter Pyramid For Another Nationally-Ranked Clash
The No. Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team will host No. 9 Penn State on Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m., in another Top 10 battle at the Walter Pyramid. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Matt Brown and Kyle Friend on the call.

Catch All The Action
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 the action 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.

In the Rankings
• Despite earning a 3-1 victory over then-No. 15 Lewis last week, Long Beach State slid into No. 2 in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. This week, Beach garnered 10 first-place votes for a total of 444 points to come in just six points behind No. 1 Grand Canyon. This season, the LBSU has earned wins over four separate nationally ranked teams in No. 17 George Mason (3-1), No. 10 Pepperdine (3-0), No. 4 UCLA (3-1), and No. 15 Lewis (3-1).
• Penn State comes into the week with a No. 9 ranking in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. The Nittany Lions held steady at No. 9 after defeating NJIT twice last week to extend their winning streak to five. PSU has now won eight of its last nine matches.
• This season, Long Beach State will face eight nationally ranked opponents in the regular season. In the non-conference season, the Beach face No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Penn State, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 14 Lewis, and No. 17 George Mason. Once Big West action gets underway, LBSU will face nationally-ranked opponents No. 3 Hawaii, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 16 CSUN, and No.18 UC San Diego.
• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men's Volleyball conferences as all five of the six Big West schools are nationally ranked, with three of them sitting in the Top 5.

Pre-Match Jersey Recognition For Long Beach Legend Tom Hoff
Long Beach State Head Men's Volleyball Coach Alan Knipe announced the program's plan to honor former LBSU standout, professional, and Olympic Gold Medalist Tom Hoff. The Beach will hold a jersey recognition ceremony prior to the Long Beach State-Penn State match on Friday, March 1 where Hoff's No. 9 jersey will be hung in the Walter Pyramid rafters alongside current retired jerseys No. 7 and No. 15 which were worn by Long Beach Legends Brent Hilliard and Brett Winslow, respectively.

Hoff, a two-time AVCA First Team All-American, played at Long Beach State from 1995-96. In his time at the Beach, Hoff recorded 1,230 career kills which rank him 14th all-time, while his kills per set (6.54) and blocks per set averages (1.65) are good for second in the LBSU annals.

Despite playing just two years at LBSU, Hoff recorded 37 20-plus kill performances which is fourth most in program history. Additionally, his 15 30-plus kills contests, and 11 10-plus block performances rank him second at Long Beach State. More impressively, Hoff is the all-time program leader at the Beach with four triple-doubles.

Hoff holds numerous records in the All-Era Single-Season Record Book as he comes in third with 751 kills, fourth with 7.22 kills per set, and fourth with 176 blocks during the 1995 campaign. That year, he also recorded at least 20 kills a program-record 25 times, while also setting a single-season program best of 13 30-plus kill performances, and nine 10-plus block showings. Hoff is just one of 10 players in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball history to record 40-plus kills in a single match as he knocked down 44 at UC Santa Barbara on March 9, 1995. That output ranks him tied for seventh all-time in a single contest.

Following his decorated collegiate career, Hoff went on to play on the U.S. Men's National Team from 1997-2009, and appeared in three consecutive Olympics (2000, 2004, 2008). As a team captain, Hoff led his team to Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Hoff also had a successful professional career overseas playing in Japan, Russia, Greece, and Puerto Rico.

A 1996 graduate of Long Beach State University, Hoff will be recognized in a pre-match reception at the Anna W. Ngai Alumni Center at 5 p.m., before heading to the Walter Pyramid where his No. 9 jersey will be raised into the rafters.

Hoff and his wife Sandy, also a Long Beach State alumnus, are the proud parents of five daughters: Tatum, Ella, Ava, Demi, and Zoey. Tatum is currently a junior outside hitter on the LBSU Women's Volleyball team.

About The Beach
• No. 2 Long Beach State opened the 2024 season on a 10-match winning streak and has won 13 of its last 14 matches. Overall, LBSU is 13-1 on the year thus far.
• Last week, the Beach picked up a 3-1 victory over No. 15 Lewis on Friday at the Walter Pyramid.
• 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.
• Godbold has been incredible to start his senior campaign this season. The 6-foot-5 outside hitter ranks 10th in the nation in attack percentage (.389), while coming in ninth, nationally, in kills per set (3.91). He is fifth in the country in points per set (4.88) and fourth in blocks per set (1.24).
• Knipe has been masterful this season leading the Long Beach State offense to a .358 attack percentage which is good for fourth in the nation. Knipe has recorded 9.87 assists per set this season, a mark that ranks him 10th in the country. He has guided the Beach to a .300 or higher attack percentage in 8-of-12 matches in which he has played thus far.
• Briggs anchors the defense with 2.40 digs per set which leads The Big West and ranks him eighth in the country. With Briggs' stout defense, the Beach has held their opponents to a .134 attack percentage, a mark that leads the nation.
• Siapanis has been solid for the Beach this season as he ranks 31st nationally with a .317 attack percentage. Meanwhile, he is second on the team with 2.79 kills per set which is good for ninth in The Big West.
• 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. He is currently leading the nation in blocks per set with 1.59 as he has been unstoppable at the net for the Beach this season.
• 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. Sani has seen action in seven matches for the Beach this season and made two starts. He recorded a season-high 10-kill performance, while hitting .375, and adding three aces and two blocks against Edward Waters on Feb. 17.
• 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. Hershtynovich has played in seven matches this season and made three starts at opposite. He is averaging 2.00 kills per set on a .442 (26-7-43) clip on the year. He also adds 0.62 blocks per set and 0.31 aces per set.
• 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. Braun has come off the bench in four matches for LBSU this season and has earned one start. This year, he is averaging 1.43 blocks per set, 0.43 kills per set, and 0.29 aces per set.
• Last season, LBSU Head Coach Alan Knipe became the winningest coach in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history. Just last week, Knipe recorded his 400th career victory with a 3-0 sweep of King. During his 21-year head coaching career, Knipe boasts a .709 winning percentage.

Scouting Penn State
• No. 9 Penn State brings a five-match winning streak into the match at Long Beach State. On the year, the Nittany Lions are 12-3 overall and 4-0 in EIVA action.
• In addition to winning their last five straight, the Nittany Lions have won eight of their last nine contests.
• Toby Ezeonu leads the nation with an efficient .556 (130-16-205) attack percentage. He is also leads the team in aces (18) and is tied for the team lead with 0.82 blocks per set, while adding 2.55 kills per set.
• Offensively, John Kerr leads the way with 3.33 kills per set on a .378 hitting percentage to go along with 1.47 digs per set and 0.56 blocks per set.
• Luke Snyder and Michael Schwob split setter duties with Snyder averaging 9.98 and Schwob adding 9.88 assists per set to pilot the Nittany Lions to a .340 attack percentage.
• In the backcourt, Ryan Merk has logged a team-best 108 digs to average 1.6 digs per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Nittany Lions
Long Beach State and Penn State will meet for the 29th time in program history. The Beach lead the all-time series 20-8 and have won the last contest against the Nittany Lions a year ago. Last season, LBSU took down Penn State, 3-1, in Happy Valley on January 25, 2023. When playing each other in Long Beach, Calif., LBSU leads the series 12-7.

National Accolades
For the first time in his career, Long Beach State freshman middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov was named AVCA Men's National Collegiate Player of the Week on Tuesday, January 30.

Bouchkov was unstoppable at the net as he led Long Beach to a pair of sweeps over No. 10 Pepperdine and Concordia the week prior. 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.

Big West Honors
The Beach continue to rack up the Big West Weekly honors as Simon Torwie won his first-career Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday, Feb. 26. He previously picked up five Defensive Player of the Week awards, but after knocking down 13 kills on 16 errorless swings to hit .812 against No. 15 Lewis, Torwie earned the accolades on the offensive end. His weekly award brings the Long Beach State total to six honors spread out among four Beach players so far this season.

Libero Mason Briggs and middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov have each won the award twice on the Defensive side. Briggs, who leads The Big West in digs per set, captured the honors on January 15 and February 12, while Bouchkov, the nation's leader in blocks, won the award in back-to-back weeks on January 22 and 29.

If that weren't enough, senior outside hitter Clarke Godbold was recognized for his offensive prowess on January 22 as he was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week. Godbold is second in The Big West in blocks (1.24), and fourth in the league in kills (3.91), hitting percentage (.389), and points (4.88).

Numbers to Watch
Mason Briggs and Aidan Knipe are both closing in on some career marks. Briggs has accumulated 804 career digs as he jumped into fourth place all time at Long Beach State. He now joins an elite group of Long Beach Legends as he is just one of five to have recorded 800 or more career digs. Briggs is just 28 digs away from tying Mark Kerins for third place all time with 832.

Aidan Knipe, meanwhile, has racked up 2,590 career assists as he sits ninth all-time at the Beach. He is just 30 assists away from tying Conor Eaton for eighth place with 2,620 assists. In addition to Eaton, Knipe is in the exclusive company of fellow Long Beach Legends Tyler Hildebrand (6,651 career assists), Josh Tuaniga (4,607 career assists), and Mike Klipsch (3,890 career assists) who rank first, fourth, and sixth, respectively.

Milestone Moment
In his 21st year at the helm of the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program, Head Coach Alan Knipe recorded his 400th career victory on February 2 with a 3-0 sweep of King. Last season, Knipe became the program's all-time winningest coach, and this year he surpassed the 400-career win milestone, and owns a .709 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 3.49 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 1.59 blocks per set which leads the nation. Coming in behind Bouchkov are Clarke Godbold (1.24 bps), Simon Torwie (1.14 bps), and Skyler Varga (0.94 bps) who rank fourth, seventh, and 25th, 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 2.40, a mark that is good for eighth in the nation. Briggs recorded a season-high 16-dig performance at No. 4 UCLA on February 10. He has now recorded double figure digs 39 times in his career and has led LBSU in digs on 62 occasions. With his solid defense, Briggs has helped limit opponents to a .134 attack percentage, which leads both The Big West and the country.

Helping Hands
Senior setter Aidan Knipe has done an excellent job this season piloting the Beach to a .358 attack percentage, which is good for second in the country and fourth in the conference. Knipe has dished out 9.87 assists per set to come in fourth in the league and 10th the nation. With 385 helpers on the year, Knipe has brought his career total to 2,590 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 (.134) and blocks per set (3.49). Additionally, LBSU comes in second in the league in hitting percentage (.358) and service aces per set (1.90).

Individually, LBSU has two players who lead the conference as Lazar Bouchkov sets the standard in blocks per set (1.59), and Mason Briggs owns a league-leading 2.40 digs per set average.

Mid Magic
This season, Long Beach State has done an incredible job playing at home at the Walter Pyramid. When playing in the
'Mid, the Beach are a perfect 10-0 this season. LBSU has not dropped a home match since February 10, 2023 against UCLA. The Beach are currently riding an 18-match home winning streak dating back to last season. That streak ranks third in the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball Record Book.

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.

Next Up
Long Beach State will begin Big West competition against UC Santa Barbara on Friday, March 8. The Beach will host the Gauchos at 7 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid, before heading up the coast to Santa Barbara to face UCSB on Saturday, March 9 at 6 p.m.