Notebook: Long Beach State men's volleyball hosts ASICS Tournament

The No. 2-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team hosts two matches at Walter Pyramid this weekend as part of the aual ASICS Tournament. The 49ers (17-2, 13-1) face George Mason at 7 p.m. on Friday and Loyola (10-6, 6-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. LBSU setter Josh Tuaniga leads the nation with 11.56 assists per set and middle blocker Amir Lugo-Rodriguez is tied for first in the NCAA with 1.31 blocks. Sophomore TJ DeFalco is seventh in the nation with 4.12 kills.

Beach volleyball

The No. 7 49ers (4-0) are in Manhattan Beach for four matches as part of the UCLA Invitational. LBSU starts at 10 a.m. Saturday morning against No. 2 Florida State and then face Georgia State at noon. On Sunday, the 49ers will take on No. 10 LSU at 10 a.m. and then play at 2 p.m. against No. 11 Florida International. The LBSU teams of Nele Barber and Rachel Nieto and Sasha Karelov and Kobi Pekich are 4-0 this season. Nieto has a team-high 57 kills and Heather Weiss has a team-high 19 service aces.

Baseball

After taking a series at No. 7 North Carolina, the Dirtbags (6-5) stay on the road for another nonconference weekend series at Arizona State (6-5). Sun Devils ace pitcher Eli Lingos is 3-0 with a 0.89 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20.1 iings pitched. On Tuesday at 6 p.m., MLB Draft prospect and sophomore All-American Luken Baker and No. 1-ranked TCU visits Blair Field for one game against the Dirtbags. Baker leads the Horned Frogs offense with a .378 batting average, a .784 slugging percentage and four home runs.

Softball

The 49ers (6-10-1) are back at LBSU Softball Complex this weekend to continue their difficult nonconference schedule with the Louisville Slugger Invitational. LBSU will play seven games in four days, starting with Boston and Eastern Michigan on Thursday. LBSU will take on No. 7 UCLA (13-3) on Friday at 11:30 a.m. and then play a 2 p.m. game against Harvard. On Saturday, the 49ers are back on the field at 12:30 p.m. to take on No. 6 Arizona, play No. 9 Oklahoma at 3 p.m. and finish the weekend against Texas at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Women’s teis

LBSU beat Georgetown 6-1 on Tuesday at the Rhodes Teis Center, LBSU (7-2, 3-1) will host Cal State Fullerton in a Big West match at 1:30 p.m. on Friday and then face San Diego in nonconfernce action at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Women’s water polo

The No. 15-ranked 49ers (7-6) are riding a three-game wiing streak into Sunday with two games at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center. LBSU faces No. 8 Hawaii at noon and then plays its alumni.

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