2023 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team

2023 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
2023 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
Big West Regular Season Co-Champions
NCAA Tournament, Semifinals
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	21-5 (9–1 Big West)
Head coach	Alan Knipe (20th season);
Assistant coaches	Nick MacRae (11th season); McKay Smith (4th season);
Home arena	Walter Pyramid
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team represented Long Beach State University in the 2023 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Beach, led by twentieth year head coach Alan Knipe, played their home games at Walter Pyramid. The Beach competed as members of the Big West Conference and were picked as second in the Big West preseason poll.^[1]

2023 Big West Conference men's volleyball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Hawai'i ‍†‍‡‍^y	9	–	1	.900	29	–	3	.906
No. 4 Long Beach State ‍†‍‍^y	9	–	1	.900	21	–	5	.808
No. 5 UC Irvine ‍‍‍	6	–	4	.600	18	–	11	.621
UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍	3	–	7	.300	8	–	17	.320
UC San Diego ‍‍‍	2	–	8	.200	8	–	17	.320
CSUN ‍‍‍	1	–	9	.100	12	–	16	.429

† – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 Big West Tournament champion y- Invited to the NCAA volleyball tournament As of November 22, 2024 Rankings from AVCA

Preseason

Coaches poll

The preseason poll was released on December 21, 2022. Long Beach State was picked to finish second in the Big West Conference standings.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Hawai'i	25 (5)
2	Long Beach State	19
3	UC Irvine	17 (1)
4	UC Santa Barbara	13
5	CSUN	10
6	UC San Diego	6

Roster

2023 Long Beach State Beach roster^[3]

Defensive specialist/libero

3 Mason Briggs - Junior^[4]
22 Caden Jackson - Sophomore
28 Chris Connelly- Freshman

Middle blockers

1 Shane Holdaway - Senior
19 DiAeris McRaven - Sophomore
20 Aidan Grosz - Junior
21 Grant Marocchi - Senior
23 Derek Owens - Junior
24 Noah Robin - Sophomore
29 Josh Weyerhaeuser - Freshman

Outside hitters

2 Sebastian Rodriguez - Sophomore
4 Skyler Varga - Sophomore
8 Sotiris Siapanis - Sophomore
9 Nathan Harlan - Junior
10 Connor Bloom - Freshman
12 Clarke Godbold - Junior
17 Dane Hillis - Sophomore
27 Calvin Sanborn - Senior
31 Spencer Olivier - Senior

Opposite hitters

9 Nathan Harlan - Junior
10 Connor Bloom - Freshman
11 Simon Torwie - Junior
16 Nico Lietz - Freshman
18 Nato Dickinson - Sophomore
25 Ryan Peluso - Freshman
27 Calvin Sanborn - Senior

Setters

5 Aidan Knipe - ' Junior
6 Josh Rosenblum - ' Freshman
13 Island Doty - Freshman
18 Nato Dickinson - Sophomore
25 Ryan Peluso - Freshman
26 Eric Beebe - Junior

Schedule

TV/Internet Streaming/Radio information:

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

ESPN+ will carry most home and all conference road games. All other road broadcasts will be carried by the schools respective streaming partner.

Date time	Opponent	Rank	Arena city (tournament)	Television	Score	Attendance	Record (Big West Record)
1/13 7:30 p.m.	King	#3	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA		W 3–0 (25-17, 25-12, 25–14)	1,516	1-0
1/14 7 p.m.	Lindenwood	#3	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25-17, 25-21, 25–17)	1,113	2-0
1/20 4 p.m.	vs. LIU	#3	Recreation Athletic Complex Fairfax, VA (East/West Coast Challenge)		W 3–0 (25-14, 25-16, 25–10)	0	3-0
1/21 4 p.m.	@ George Mason	#3	Recreation Athletic Complex Fairfax, VA (East/West Coast Challenge)	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25-17, 25-14, 25–16)	586	4-0
1/25 4 p.m.	@ #4 Penn State	#3	Rec Hall University Park, PA	B1G+	W 3–1 (18-25, 25-23, 26–24, 27-25)	778	5-0
2/03 7 p.m.	#12 Loyola Chicago	#3	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25–19, 23-25, 17-15)	1,598	6-0
2/09 7 p.m.	@ #4 UCLA	#2	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA	P12 LA	L 0-3 (19-25, 21-25, 20-25)	2,245	6-1
2/10 7 p.m.	#4 UCLA	#2	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	L 1-3 (25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 23-25)	4,138	6-2
2/17 7 p.m.	NJIT	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA		W 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 26-24)	992	7-2
2/18 7:30 p.m.	NJIT	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-13)	1,076	8-2
3/03 7 p.m.	#12 Ball State	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 25-15)	1,318	9-2
3/10 7 p.m.	@ UC Santa Barbara*	#4	The Thunderdome Isla Vista, CA	ESPN+	W 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23)	312	10-2 (1-0)
3/11 7 p.m.	UC Santa Barbara*	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11)	1,745	11-2 (2-0)
3/17 10 p.m.	@ #1 Hawai'i*	#4	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-20, 29-27, 25-22)	7,527	12-2 (3-0)
3/18 10 p.m.	@ #1 Hawai'i*	#4	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI	ESPN+	L 0-3 (16-25, 23-25, 23-25)	9,579	12-3 (3-1)
3/24 7 p.m.	#11 USC	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-23)	2,814	13-3
3/25 7 p.m.	@ #11 USC	#4	Galen Center Los Angeles, CA	P12+ USC	W 3-1 (25-13, 14-25, 27-25, 25-21)	876	14-3
3/31 7 p.m.	@ UC San Diego*	#4	LionTree Arena La Jolla, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-16)	760	15-3 (4-1)
4/01 7 p.m.	UC San Diego*	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-13)	1,413	16-3 (5-1)
4/07 7 p.m.	@ #15 CSUN*	#4	Premier America Credit Union Arena Northridge, CA	ESPN+	W 3-2 (25-27, 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-9)	696	17-3 (6-1)
4/08 7 p.m.	#15 CSUN*	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-16)	1,634	18-3 (7-1)
4/14 7 p.m.	#5 UC Irvine*	#4	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-22)	2,409	19-3 (8-1)
4/15 7 p.m.	@ #5 UC Irvine*	#4	Bren Events Center Irvine, CA	ESPN+	W 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13)	1,651	20-3 (9-1)
4/21 7:30 p.m.	@ #5 UC Irvine ⁽³⁾	#4 ⁽²⁾	Bren Events Center Irvine, CA (Big West Tournament Semifinal)	ESPN+	L 0-3 (21-25, 17-25, 20-25)	2,543	20-4
5/2 2 p.m.	#6 Grand Canyon ⁽⁵⁾	#4 ⁽⁴⁾	EagleBank Arena Fairfax, VA (NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	W 3-1 (22–25, 25–17, 25–22, 25–23)	2,139	21-4
5/4 2 p.m.	#2 UCLA ⁽¹⁾	#4 ⁽⁴⁾	EagleBank Arena Fairfax, VA (NCAA Tournament Semifinal)	NCAA.com	L 0-3 (16–25, 14-25, 19-25)	3,782	21-5

*-Indicates conference match.

()-Indicates tournament seed.

Times listed are Pacific Time Zone.

Announcers for televised games

Lindenwood: Matt Brown & Tyler Kulakowski^[5]
George Mason:
Penn State:
Loyola Chicago:
UCLA:
UCLA:
NJIT:
NJIT:
Ball State:
UC Santa Barbara:
UC Santa Barbara:
Hawai'i:
Hawai'i:
USC:
USC:
UC San Diego:
UC San Diego:
CSUN:
CSUN:
UC Irvine:
UC Irvine:

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AVCA Coaches	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Off the Block Media	Not released		3	4	3	2	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4		4

^The Media did not release a Pre-season or Week 1 poll.

References

^ "Hawai'i picked to win 2023 Big West title in preseason poll". Off the Block. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
^ "Preseason Poll and First Preseason Team Released as The Big West Looks for Fifth Straight National Champion in Men's Volleyball". Big West Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
^ "2023 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^ "Dig this: Long Beach State's Mason Briggs could be next big thing at libero". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
^ "No. 3 Long Beach State Opens the 2023 Season against King, Lindenwood". Long Beach State athletics. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.

[1] "Hawai'i picked to win 2023 Big West title in preseason poll". Off the Block. Retrieved December 22, 2022.

[2] "Preseason Poll and First Preseason Team Released as The Big West Looks for Fifth Straight National Champion in Men's Volleyball". Big West Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2023.

[3] "2023 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved January 1, 2023.

[4] "Dig this: Long Beach State's Mason Briggs could be next big thing at libero". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2023.

[5] "No. 3 Long Beach State Opens the 2023 Season against King, Lindenwood". Long Beach State athletics. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.

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