Long Beach State Opens Big West Volleyball Action This Weekend

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR LBSU
MATCH 12
Long Beach State (7-4, 0-0 Big West) at UC Irvine (5-7, 0-0 Big West)
Friday, Sept. 26 • 6 p.m.
Irvine, Calif. • Bren Events Center
Live Stats • ESPN+

MATCH 13
Cal State Fullerton (5-7, 0-0 Big West) at Long Beach State
Saturday, Sept. 27 • 6 p.m.
Long Beach, Calif. • Walter Pyramid
Live Stats • ESPN+

FIRST SERVE
Long Beach State opens Big West action this week with two matches. The league opener is Friday at 6 p.m. when LBSU travels to UC Irvine.

The home conference opener is Saturday at 6 p.m. when Cal State Fullerton visits the Walter Pyramid.

Both matches will stream on ESPN+. Matt Brown has the call Saturday at LBSU.

SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine went 1-2 on a trip through Nashville, Tenn., last weekend, winning at Belmont after losses to Lipscomb and Vanderbilt. The Anteaters are 5-7 entering Big West play.

Kendra Duffey paces UCI with 92 kills. Nicole Felciiano averages 6.13 assists per set and is second on the team in digs (71, 1.78 per set). Campbell Jensen ranks second in the Big West in digs (191) and third in digs per set (4.34). Ally Bodlen leads the team with 32 blocks (3 solo, 29 assisted).

This is the 95th all-time meeting between Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The Beach lead the series 78-16.

SCOUTING THE TITANS
Cal State Fullerton went 1-2 at the Lamar Invitational last weekend, finishing non-conference play 5-7.

Hannah Hass ranks sixth in the Big West in hitting percentage at .361. She is third on the team in kills with 95, trailing Ketsia Hall (127) and Kira Pukl Verdel (98). Kahea Carvalho's 374 assists (7.96 per set) rank second in the conference behind LBSU's Madi Maxwell (403).

Due to facility issues at CSUF, the teams have exchanged home dates. Friday's match originally slated for Titan Gym will now be played at the Walter Pyramid. First serve is set for 6 p.m. Conversely, the Oct. 31 match originally scheduled for Long Beach will now be played in Fullerton, also at 6 p.m.

This will be the 109th meeting between the programs. LBSU leads the all-time series 101-7.

HITTING 70
Long Beach State recorded 70-plus kills in a match for the first time in nearly three years with 72 at Wyoming on Sept. 18.

It marked the Beach's first 70-kill performance since Oct. 14, 2022, when they had 72 against UC San Diego.

AGI NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Elise Agi earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading the Beach to a 3-0 record at the UniWyo Invite.

The 5-foot-11 senior hit .326 while averaging 3.46 kills, 3.00 digs and 3.88 points per set. She posted two double-doubles, including a career-high 16 digs against Wyoming, and had 24 kills against Idaho State.

Agi was named to the All-Tournament Team at Santa Clara's Mission Classic on Sept. 6. In LBSU's lone match there, she tied King for a team-high 16 kills in a 3-1 win over the Broncos. She added nine digs and an ace.

Agi, who redshirted in 2024 due to injury, ranks second on the team in kills (119), second in digs (98) and fifth in blocks (17). She leads the team with 11 aces.

She also participated in the USA Volleyball Women's National Team Open Program in Colorado Springs (Feb. 21-23).

MAXWELL NAMED SETTER OF THE WEEK
Madi Maxwell was named Big West Setter of the Week on Sept. 22.

She recorded 149 assists at the UniWyo Invite, averaging 11.46 per set, and posted two double-doubles. Maxwell had 56 assists and 10 digs against Wyoming, then a career-high 57 assists and 13 digs vs. Idaho State on Sept. 20.

Maxwell leads the Big West with 403 total assists and ranks second in assists per set (9.60). The 6-foot-2 sophomore also leads LBSU in digs with 103 (tied for 10th in the Big West).

Maxwell is hitting .296 with 41 kills (41-12-198) and ranks second on the team with 10 aces. She earned Big West All-Freshman honors in 2024.

KING A TWO-TIME BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Logan King earned Big West Freshman of the Week honors for the second straight week; the conference announced Sept. 8. She is the first LBSU player to win the award in consecutive weeks since its creation in 2014. King opened the week with 18 kills, seven digs and five blocks against No. 19 UCLA on Sept. 1 in a five-set loss. At San Francisco's Battle at the Bay, she added 11 kills and 11 digs in a sweep by Portland State.

At Santa Clara's Mission Classic, King and Elise Agi each had 16 kills in a 3-1 win over the Broncos. King hit .400 with her first collegiate double-double (10 digs). She closed the weekend with 11 kills and two blocks on .321 hitting in a sweep of San Francisco.
King first earned the award on Sept. 1 after leading the Beach to a 1-1 start against No. 6 Stanford and Oregon State. She tallied 13 kills, nine digs, two aces and two assists against Stanford, then had 17 kills on .419 hitting in a sweep of Oregon State.

Currently, King ranks fifth in the Big West in kills (149), fifth in points (176.5), sixth in points per set (4.20), seventh in kills per set (3.55) and 14th in hitting percentage (.268).

Internationally, King was one of 12 players selected to the Volleyball Canada U21 National Team, competing at the NORCECA Pan Am Cup (July 20-28 in Costa Rica) and the FIVB U21 World Championship (Aug. 7-17 in Indonesia). She was named Best Opposite at the Pan Am Cup after helping Canada to the bronze medal match. At Worlds, she scored 105 points (88 kills), ranking 20th overall.

THOMAS HOSTING THE BLOCK PARTY
Nieko Thomas anchors the LBSU block this season. She ranks second in the Big West in blocks per set (1.19) and total blocks (50).

Rhiann Sheffie adds 41 blocks (0.98 per set), sixth in the conference.

As a team, LBSU ranks third in the Big West with 175 total blocks.

DIGGIN' JELINEK
Freshman libero Anna Jelinek is third on the team in digs (91). She has five double-digit dig matches this season, including a season-high 13 vs. San Diego State on Sept. 13.

THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Junior Tatum Hoff is the daughter of Long Beach State alum and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Tom Hoff.

Tom Hoff played two years at LBSU before a successful professional career overseas. A three-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008), he was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1996-2009 and helped win gold in Beijing in 2008.

LBSU PICKED FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Long Beach State was picked fifth in the 2025 Big West Women's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Aug. 21. The Beach received 68 points.
Hawai'i edged Cal Poly by two points (94-92) for the top spot. Both teams received five first-place votes.
UC Davis was third (75). UC Santa Barbara received the final first-place vote and was fourth (73). LBSU was followed by UC Irvine (53) and UC San Diego (50).
CSUN (42), Cal State Bakersfield (23), Cal State Fullerton (21) and UC Riverside (14) rounded out the poll.

A LOOK BACK
Last week, Long Beach State won three matches at the UniWyo Invite

Defeated Wyoming, 3-2
Defeated Portland, 3-0
Defeated Idaho State, 3-2

Recaps:
• [LBSU vs. Wyoming]
• [LBSU vs. Portland]
• [LBSU vs. Idaho State]

~#LongBeachBuilt~

Calendar

Long Beach State Opens Big West Volleyball Action This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Elise Agi

Tatum Hoff

Anna Jelinek

Logan King

Madi Maxwell

Rhiann Sheffie

Nieko Thomas

Long Beach State University Athletics

Long Beach State Opens Big West Volleyball Action This Weekend

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Elise Agi

Tatum Hoff

Anna Jelinek

Logan King

Madi Maxwell

Rhiann Sheffie

Nieko Thomas

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