The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is set to take on Erskine College in a play-in match to kick off the NCAA Tournament today at 3 p.m.
No. 4 LBSU (24-7, 17-5) earned the at-large bid to to be part of the final six teams in the tournament. The 49ers gathered together Sunday morning to watch the selection and LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said that there was a moment of panic before the names were announced. He said the team had a bad Wi-Fi connection and that the show had a long delay before the 49ers’ name flashed on the screen.
“We’re really appreciative of the committee that they feel like we’re the team that is best deserving of that [bid],” Knipe said. “We want to make sure that we get the most of it.”
LBSU freshman hitter Kyle Ensing said there was great excitement among the team when they saw that they would get a second chance for a national title.
“It was definitely a freaking awesome thing to hear,” Ensing said. “We definitely wanted it; we wanted to be in this tournament, and to hear that was a dream come true.”
Division II Erskine College took home the Conference Carolinas championship title after defeating Barton College 3-0 and secured their place in the NCAA playoffs.
The Flying Fleet are led by senior outside hitter Mike Michelau, who has 390 kills on the season for an average of 4.53 kills per set. Junior outside hitter Roberto Perez Vargas follows close behind with 311 total sets for a .313 hitting percentage.
Erskine senior setter David Grandy sits at third in the nation, one spot above the 49ers’ freshman setter Josh Tuaniga, with an average of 11.13 assists per set.
LBSU junior libero Andrew Sato said that for his team to advance in the tournament they need to play hard throughout the entire process and not focus on the other team as much. Sato noted that his team hasn’t been too focused on Erskine during practice, but that they know the match is going to be a challenge.
“We need to respect them like any other team, especially since we haven’t seen them play before,” Sato said.
The 49ers had a stand out year with many young players leading the way for the team. Ensing, along with fellow classmate T.J. DeFalco, are team leaders in kills with 333 and 473 total kills, respectively. DeFalco sits at second in the MPSF conference averaging 4.26 kills per set.
DeFalco, Sato, Tuaniga and senior middle blocker Taylor Gregory earned American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American honors Monday morning. DeFalco, who made the All-American First Team, is the first player since 2003 to be named AVCA Newcomer of the Year. The last 49er to take home the title is current assistant head coach Tyler Hildebrand.
Gregory and Tuaniga earned second team honors while Sato was selected for an honorable mention. The four players taking home all-AVCA honors ties the most in 49er program history, which was in 1992, when Knipe was selected for the first team honor.
If the 49ers are able to advance in their bracket, they have a chance to redeem themselves against UCLA; LBSU lost to the Bruins in the MPSF semifinals. What Knipe took away from that loss was that his team needs to capitalize on opportunities during the match, especially late in the sets and to execute their game better.
“This team has done a really good job this year of being able to get into the gym, [identify] a few things to get better at and have that transfer into their game,” Knipe said.
The 49ers kick off the NCAA Tournament against Erskine at Penn State with first serve starting at 3 p.m. PST.