2018 Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball team

The 2018 Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball team represented Long Beach State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The 49ers, led by fifteenth year head coach Alan Knipe, played their home games at Walter Pyramid. The 49ers competed as members of the Big West Conference, which was sponsoring men's volleyball for the first time,^[2] and were picked to win the Big West in the preseason poll.^[3] LBSU won the national championship, the second in program history.

2018 Long Beach State 49ers men's volleyball
NCAA Tournament National Champions Big West Tournament champions Big West regular season champions UCSB Asics Invitational champions
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	28–1 (9–1 Big West)
Head coach	Alan Knipe (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Nick MacRae (6th season) Scott Touzinsky[1] (1st season)
Home arena	Walter Pyramid (Capacity: 4,200)
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Big West Conference men's volleyball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Long Beach State ‍†‍‡‍y	9	–	1		.900			28	–	1		.966
No. 4 Hawai'i  ‍‍‍	6	–	4		.600			19	–	8		.704
No. 5 UC Irvine ‍‍‍y	6	–	4		.600			21	–	10		.677
No. 9 CSUN  ‍‍‍	5	–	5		.500			16	–	11		.593
No. 12 UCSB  ‍‍‍	4	–	6		.400			11	–	13		.458
UC San Diego  ‍‍‍	0	–	10		.000			9	–	19		.321
† – Conference champion ‡ – 2018 Big West Tournament champion y- Invited to the NCAA volleyball tournament As of May 5, 2018 Rankings from AVCA

Roster

2018 Long Beach State 49ers Roster[4]
	Defensive Specialist/Libero 3 Matt Butler - Senior 6 Trevor Briggs - Freshman 9 Jordan Molina - Junior Middle Blockers 8 Gary Adams - Freshman 12 Zane Griggs - Freshman 13 Simon Anderson - Freshman 21 Jason Willahan - Senior 23 Zach Gates - Senior 25 Nick Amado - Junior		Outside Hitters 2 Louis Richards - Junior 4 Bjarne Huus - Senior 5 Kyle Ensing - Junior 11 TJ DeFalco - Junior 17 Ryan Poole - Freshman 18 Jevan Coronado - Freshman 19 Ethan Siegfried - Freshman 31 Spencer Olivier - Freshman		Opposite Hitters 1 Davis Cannon - Senior 2 Louis Richards - Junior 5 Kyle Ensing - Junior 30 Alexander Anastassiades - Freshman Setters 10 Josh Tuaniga - Junior 22 Gary Trejo - Junior 24 Carlso Rivera - Freshman

Schedule

TV/Internet Streaming/Radio information:

22 West Media will carry select Long Beach State men's volleyball matches on the radio.

Big West TV will carry all home games and select conference road games.

Date Time	Opponent	Rank	Arena City (Tournament)	Television	Score	Attendance	Record (Big West Record)
1/3 7 p.m.	McKendree	#2	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–16, 28–26, 25–22)	398	1–0
1/5 10 a.m.	Princeton	#2	Rob Gym Santa Barbara, CA (UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational)		W 3–0 (25–16, 25–11, 25–14)	125	2–0
1/5 8 p.m.	Ball State	#2	Rob Gym Santa Barbara, CA (UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational)		W 3–1 (25–19, 22–25, 25–21, 25–16)	121	3–0
1/6 2:30 p.m.	St. Francis	#2	Rob Gym Santa Barbara, CA (UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational)		W 3–0 (25–17, 25–22, 25–13)	120	4–0
1/12 5 p.m.	#11 Lewis	#2	Neil Carey Arena Romeoville, IL	GLVC SN	W 3–0 (27–25, 25–18, 25–19)	257	5–0
1/13 5:30 p.m.	#7 Loyola	#2	Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL	ESPN3	W 3–0 (25–15, 25–17, 25–21)	1,002	6–0
1/26 7:30 p.m.	Stanford	#1	Maples Pavilion Irvine, CA	P12+	W 3–0 (25–21, 25–19, 25–23)	429	7–0
1/26 6 p.m.	Stanford	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	L 3–0 (25–13, 25–17, 25–14)	1,415	8–0
1/28 7 p.m.	#13 USC	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–22, 25–17, 25–16)	1,627	9–0
2/2 7 p.m.	Concordia Irvine	#1	CU Arena Irvine, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–20, 25–14, 25–13)	1,136	10–0
2/8 4 p.m.	Harvard	#1	Malkin Athletic Center Cambridge, MA	Ivy League Net	W 3–0 (25–15, 25–15, 25–20)	167	11–0
2/10 4 p.m.	George Mason	#1	Recreation Athletic Complex Fairfax, VA	George Mason All-Access	W 3–0 (26–24, 25–22, 25–19)	550	12–0
2/17 7:30 p.m.	#2 UCLA	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–1 (23–25, 25–15, 25–19, 25–21)	4,560	13–0
2/21 7:30 p.m.	#2 UCLA	#1	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA	P12+	W 3–1 (25–21, 23–25, 25–19, 25–21)	1,910	14–0
3/2 7 p.m.	#12 CSUN*	#1	Matadome Northridge, CA	ESPN3	W 3–0 (25–22, 25–23, 25–20)	957	15–0 (1–0)
3/4 7 p.m.	#12 CSUN*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–18, 25–18, 25–17)	1,033	16–0 (2–0)
3/7 7 p.m.	Mount Olive	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–18, 25–16, 25–14)	708	17–0
3/15 7 p.m.	#12 UCSB*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–17, 25–19, 25–19)	1,135	18–0 (3–0)
3/16 7 p.m.	#12 UCSB*	#1	Rob Gym Santa Barbara, CA	Big West TV	W 3–1 (24–26, 25–15, 25–14, 25–20)	750	19–0 (4–0)
3/30 7 p.m.	#4 UC Irvine*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–2 (22–25, 25–15, 25–16, 21–25, 15–9)	2,077	20–0 (5–0)
3/31 7 p.m.	#4 UC Irvine*	#1	Bren Events Center Irvine, CA	Big West TV	W 3–1 (25–18, 25–21, 22–15, 25–20)	1,265	21–0 (6–0)
4/6 7 p.m.	UC San Diego*	#1	RIMAC Arena La Jolla, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–22, 25–19, 25–17)	606	22–0 (7–0)
4/7 7 p.m.	UC San Diego*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	Big West TV	W 3–0 (25–21, 25–18, 25–13)	1,411	23–0 (8–0)
4/13 9 p.m.	#6 Hawai'i*	#1	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI Big West TV	W 3–2 (25–16, 17–25, 26–24, 25–27, 22–20)	4,982	24–0 (9–0)
4/14 9 p.m.	#6 Hawai'i*	#1	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI	SPEC HI Big West TV	L 3–2 (25–21, 22–25, 23–25, 25–20, 15–11)	5,966	24–1 (9–1)
4/20 7:30 p.m.	#9 CSUN*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA (Big West Semifinal)	ESPN3	W 3–0 (25–23, 25–13, 25–17)	1,795	25–1
4/20 7 p.m.	#6 Hawai'i*	#1	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA (Big West Championship)	ESPN3	W 3–0 (25–23, 25–14, 25–19)	2,325	26–1
5/3 5 p.m.	#6 Ohio State	#1	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA (NCAA Semifinal)	NCAA.com	W 3–1 (25–22, 25–23, 25–27, 32–30)	4,249	27–1
5/5 4 p.m.	#3 UCLA	#1	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA (NCAA Championship)	ESPN2	W 3–2 (25–19, 23–25, 20–25, 26–24, 15–12)	7,248	28–1

*-Indicates conference match.

Times listed are Pacific Time Zone.

Honors

• All-Tournament Team: T.J. Defalco, Kyle Ensing, and Josh Tuaniga (also the Most Outstanding Player)