Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe has been named the 2017 MPSF Men’s Volleyball Coach of the Year for the 2nd time in his career. The honor comes after leading the 49ers to the first MPSF championship in any sport and a second-straight NCAA Tournament berth. This honor adds to the ones announced last week that saw Long Beach State place 6 players on the All-Conference teams – 3 of which were First Team members. That includes Conference Player of the Year TJ DeFalco.
Long Beach State sits 27-3 with a maximum of 2 games left in their season. That includes a 16-2 record in the MPSF (making them both the regular season and tournament champions) and a perfect 16-0 home record.
Entering the NCAA tournament, LBSU ranks 1st in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.371), and first in the MPSF in opponents’ hitting percentage (allowing just .183). If they can keep those trends going through the NCAA tournament, both would be MPSF records in the rally-scoring era.
Setter Josh Tuaniga ranks #1 nationally in assists per set (11.13), and Amir Lugo Rodriguez ranks 1st nationally in blocks per set (1.30).
This marks the first time that Long Beach State has gone to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments since the 1990 and 1991 seasons, when Knipe was a member of the team.
He was previously named MPSF Coach of the Year in 2008 and AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2004.
Knipe’s Career Records at Long Beach State
- 278-145 overall record (.657)
- 220-113 MPSF record (.661)
- 14 seasons as head coach at LBSU (since 2001, with a hiatus from 2010-2012 to coach the US men’s National Team.
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