Long Beach State University Athletics
THE 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
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A LOOK BACK AT THE 2018 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SEASON
The historic season for the 2018 Long Beach State men's volleyball team came to an end in the most exciting way possible. On Saturday, May 5, the Beach captured their second-ever National Championship and first since 1991.
The 2018 season was special in many ways. The Beach kicked off the year on a program-record 24-match winning streak as they won all but one of their matches to post an impressive 28-1 overall record. The 28 victories are tied for second-most in a single season.
Long Beach State's hot start led to the Beach earning a No. 1 national ranking on January 15 and the Beach would hold that spot for the remainder of the season. The team to beat rolled through their non-conference season with a perfect 15-0 record and boasted a 9-1 Big West Conference mark to win the regular season title and earn a No. 1 seed into the inaugural Big West Conference Tournament.
The Beach collected back-to-back sweeps in the conference tournament to win the Big West Championship and punch their ticket to their third-straight NCAA Final Four appearance.
LBSU boasted its second-straight undefeated home season as the Beach went 12-0 when playing inside the Walter Pyramid and extended its home winning streak to 29, the second-longest such streak in program history.
During the regular season, the Beach saw several individual milestones as head coach Alan Knipe recorded his 300th career victory, and juniors TJ DeFalco and Kyle Ensing became the 21st and 22nd players, respectively, in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. If that weren't enough, junior setter Josh Tuaniga amassed 3,000 career assists becoming just the seventh player at Long Beach State to accomplish that feat.
With the list of accolades mounting, Knipe went on to win the USMC/AVCA Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career, while associate head coach Nick MacRae took home the AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year award.
While the coaching staff enjoyed several honors, so did the players. Tuaniga was named AVCA National Player of the Year, while, along with DeFalco and Ensing, was named to the AVCA All-America First Team. The Beach boasted five AVCA All-Americans as redshirt junior middle blocker Nick Amado was named to the Second Team and freshman middle Simon Anderson earned Honorable Mention selection.
Tuaniga was also named MVP of the Big West Tournament, and DeFalco garnered Big West Player of the Year. The duo along with Ensing and Amado also earned First Team All-Big West accolades, while senior outside hitter Bjarne Huus and Anderson collected Honorable Mention honors. Anderson was also named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
The awards and honors kept coming for the Beach, but they had their sights set on the prize. And on May 1, Long Beach State set out to Westwood to bring a trophy back to Long Beach.
The Beach took on the two-time defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes in the Final Four and battled them to a four-set win. With the victory, Long Beach State secured its spot in the National Championship match for the first time since 2004.
Long Beach State would be going up against No. 3 UCLA on the Bruins' home court of Pauley Pavilion for the title. The top-ranked Beach came out ready to play and earned a 25-19 win in set one. However, the Bruins would take the next two sets 25-23 and 25-20 to go up 2-1 on LBSU.
Trailing 11-6 in the fourth set, the Beach began to chip away at UCLA's lead and LBSU used a 6-1 run to go up 19-18. Long Beach State's gritty effort proved to be the difference maker as the Beach battled the Bruins to a 24-24 tie before Tuaniga put the set away with a kill followed by an ace to force a fifth and deciding set.
Long Beach State and UCLA battled each other in the fifth set, but the Beach capitalized on several Bruin errors to go up 12-9. Long Beach State pushed it to match point (14-11) and Amado's fourth kill of the match proved to be the match winner as the Beach earned a five-set win to cap its historic season.
With the end of an incredible season came much celebration. Following the postgame celebration, trophy presentation, and postmatch interviews with All-Tournament Team selections DeFalco, Ensing and Tuaniga, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament, the Beach headed back to Long Beach.
Long Beach State closed the 2018 season with a nation-leading .375 attack percentage which is the highest hitting percentage in the Rally-Scoring Era (2001-present) in program history.
Upon exiting the freeway in Long Beach, the team bus was met by a police escort which guided the National Champions to EJ Malloy's where friends, family, fans, and LB Nation were waiting. A well-deserved celebration for a team that never let up and kept pushing for one more win.
The end of the night did not put an end to the team's recognition, however. In the weeks that followed, the National Champion Men's Volleyball Team signed a commemorative poster prior to the Dirtbags baseball game the Saturday after claiming the national title. DeFalco, Ensing, Tuaniga, Matt Butler, Zach Gates, and Jason Willahan participated in the "first serve" at the Dirtbags game, then the team as a whole was recognized on the field during the game.
The City of Long Beach showed its gratitude to the Beach by honoring the team on Tuesday, May 15 at the Council Meeting. Following the City Council Meeting, the Beach closed to the book on their unforgettable season at the end of the year banquet.
