No. 2 Long Beach State Begins Big West Action Against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara

Friday, March 8

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 Long Beach State Begins Big West Action Against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara

3/8/2024 10:56:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

LBSU Match Notes

First serve for the Beach and the Gauchos match at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night is set for 7 p.m.

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (14-1, 0-0 Big West) vs. #19 UC SANTA BARBARA (7-10, 0-1 Big West)
Date: Friday, March 8
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

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (14-1, 0-0 Big West) at #19 UC SANTA BARBARA (7-10, 0-1 Big West)
Date: Saturday, March 9
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Venue: Rob Gym
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com
Twitter: @LBSUMVB

No. 2 Long Beach State Begins Big West Action Against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara
The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team will kick off Big West action this weekend against No. 19 UC Santa Barbara. The Beach and the Gauchos will play on Friday, March 8 at the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m., before facing off up in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Saturday, March 9 at 6 p.m.

Catch All The Action
Both Long Beach State-UC Santa Barbara matches will be live streamed 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 the action via StatBroadcast.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 remains at No. 2 in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. This week, Beach garnered two first-place votes for a total of 437 points to come in just behind No. 1 Grand Canyon. This season, the LBSU has earned wins over five separate nationally ranked teams in No. 17 George Mason (3-1), No. 10 Pepperdine (3-0), No. 4 UCLA (3-1), No. 15 Lewis (3-1), and No. 9 Penn State (3-1).
• UC Santa Barbara comes into the week with a No. 19 ranking in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll. The Gauchos briefly dropped out of the rankings last week, but after earning a pair of victories over Concordia (3-2) and Charleston (3-0).
• This season, Long Beach State will face 10 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, No.18 UC San Diego, and No. 19 UC Santa Barbara.
• 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 5.

About The Beach
• No. 2 Long Beach State opened the 2024 season on a 10-match winning streak and has won 14 of its last 15 matches. Overall, LBSU is 14-1 on the year thus far.
• Last week, the Beach picked up a 3-1 victory over No. 9 Penn State 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. On February 2, 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 UC Santa Barbara
• No. 19 UC Santa Barbara comes into the week against the Beach with a 7-10 overall record. The Gauchos are 0-1 in Big West action.
• Last week, the Gauchos went 2-0 with wins over Concordia (3-2) and Charleston (3-0).
• In their lone Big West match thus far, UCSB dropped a 3-1 decision on the road at UC San Diego.
• Geste Bianchi leads the Gauchos and ranks second in both the conference and the nation with 4.46 kills per set on the year. He is also the team leader in aces with 26, while adding 1.33 digs per set and 0.58 blocks per set.
• Greg Baglio and Jack Walmer split setter duties as Baglio averages 9.12 assists per set and Walmer adds 8.35. The duo have helped pilot the Gauchos to a .259 team hitting percentage this season.
• Walmer also leads the squad in digs per set with 1.44 on the year, while also contributing 0.38 blocks per set and 0.24 kills per set, to go along with 19 aces.
• On blocking defense, Josh Aruya has put up a team-leading 42 blocks to average 0.66 per set. He is hitting .311 on the year, while averaging 1.41 kills per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Gauchos
Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara will meet for the 103rd time in program history. The Beach lead the all-time series 60-42 and have won the last four contests against the Gauchos. Last season, LBSU took both matches against UCSB as the Beach won in four sets at Santa Barbara, then earned a five-set win in Long Beach. When playing each other in Long Beach, Calif., LBSU leads the series 25-14. The Beach lead the series 29-20 when playing at UC Santa Barbara.

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 went back-to-back winning Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday, Feb. 26, then taking home Defensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, March 4.

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.

Numbers to Watch
Mason Briggs and Aidan Knipe are both closing in on some career marks. Briggs has accumulated 815 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 17 digs away from tying Mark Kerins for third place all time with 832.

Aidan Knipe, meanwhile, has racked up 2,628 career assists as he moved into eighth all-time at the Beach. He is now 372 assists away from reaching the 3,000 career assists milestone which has only been accomplished seven times in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history. 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 3.52 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 1.54 blocks per set which leads the nation. Coming in behind Bouchkov are Simon Torwie (1.26 bps), Clarke Godbold (1.13 bps), and Skyler Varga (0.95 bps) who rank fifth, seventh, and 23rd, 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 2.42, 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 40 times in his career and has led LBSU in digs on 63 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 .357 attack percentage, which is good for second in the conference and third in the country. Knipe has dished out 9.84 assists per set to come in third in the league and 10th the nation. With 423 helpers on the year, Knipe has brought his career total to 2,628 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 (3.52). Additionally, LBSU comes in second in the league in hitting percentage (.357) and service aces per set (1.98).

Individually, LBSU has two players who lead the conference as Lazar Bouchkov sets the standard in blocks per set (1.54), and Mason Briggs owns a league-leading 2.42 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 11-0 this season. LBSU has not dropped a home match since February 10, 2023 against UCLA. The Beach are currently riding a 19-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 continue Big West competition next week when the Beach welcome No. 3 Hawaii to the Walter Pyramid for a pair of matches on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16. First serve for both matches is set for 7 p.m., and both contests will be broadcast live on ESPN+.