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Jonathan Bates | Off The Block associate editor
Long Beach State has played 12 of its 26 regular season matches so far this season, so it is a good time to compare this year’s team to last year’s national championship team.
Before digging in, let’s make sure we acknowledge that the most difficult stretch of Long Beach State’s schedule is still ahead of them. The 12 teams they have played so far are a combined 60-71 (.458 winning percentage). Only three of those teams have winning record – Barton, UCLA, and USC. Note: Records through Feb. 11.
| Opponent | Win | Loss |
| Grand Canyon | 7 | 7 |
| Concordia | 5 | 8 |
| Harvard | 1 | 6 |
| Mount Olive | 4 | 6 |
| Barton | 6 | 3 |
| UCLA | 10 | 2 |
| USC | 7 | 4 |
| Lindenwood | 4 | 8 |
| Quincy | 4 | 8 |
| McKendree | 4 | 5 |
| Penn State | 4 | 6 |
| Ohio State | 4 | 8 |
| Totals | 60 | 71 |
The combined record of the 14 teams remaining on their schedule is 116-50 (.699 winning percentage.) Conversely, only UC San Diego (two matches) has a losing record of their remaining opponents. Note: Some teams’ records appear twice because they have two remaining regular season matches against Long Beach State.
| Opponent | Win | Loss |
| UCLA | 10 | 2 |
| CSUN | 7 | 5 |
| CSUN | 7 | 5 |
| Stanford | 7 | 5 |
| St. Francis | 6 | 5 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 11 | 3 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 11 | 3 |
| USC | 7 | 4 |
| UC Irvine | 12 | 2 |
| UC Irvine | 12 | 2 |
| UC San Diego | 5 | 7 |
| UC San Diego | 5 | 7 |
| Hawai’i | 8 | 0 |
| Hawai’i | 8 | 0 |
| Totals | 116 | 50 |
For comparison, the 49ers’ opponents last year had a combined record of 455-371 (.551 winning percentage). Take out the four postseason matches (vs. CSUN and Hawai’i in the Big West Tournament, and vs. Ohio State and UCLA in the NCAA Tournament), and their opponents’ record was a combined 369-338 (.522 winning percentage)
The 2019 team has the statistical advantage over the 2018 team in the following categories:
- Kills/Game
- Attack Percentage
- Assists/Game
- Service Aces/Game
The 2018 team has the statistical advantage over the 2019 team in the following categories:
- Attack Errors/Game
- Service Errors/Game
- Reception Errors/Game
- Digs/Game
- Blocks/Game
| 2018 | Statistic | 2019 |
| 101 | Sets Played | 37 |
| 29 | Matches Played | 12 |
| 1292 | Kills | 500 |
| 12.79 | Kills/Game | 13.51 |
| 0.375 | Attack Pct | 0.431 |
| 310 | Attack Errors | 116 |
| 3.07 | Attack Errors/Game | 3.14 |
| 1221 | Assists | 468 |
| 12.09 | Assists/Game | 12.65 |
| 180 | Service Aces | 79 |
| 1.78 | Service Aces/Game | 2.14 |
| 436 | Service Errors | 185 |
| 4.32 | Service Errors/Game | 5 |
| 89 | Reception Errors | 39 |
| 0.88 | Reception Errors/Game | 1.05 |
| 945 | Digs | 306 |
| 9.36 | Digs/Game | 8.27 |
| 243 | Blocks | 58.5 |
| 2.41 | Blocks/Game | 1.58 |
| 0.551 | Opponent W/L Pct. | 0.458 |
The 2019 team is making more errors than the 2018 team. Also, the 2019 team’s blocks could increase as the quality of their competition increases.
Individually, one difference from 2018 to 2019 is that Louis Richard has replaced Bjarne Huus as a starting outside attacker. Statistically, Richard is a more efficient attacker than Huus, but Huus was a better passer and blocker. The most glaring statistic is Richard has been aced more times in 12 matches this season than Huus did all of last season.
| Huus | Statistic | Richard |
| 96 | Sets Played | 32 |
| 28 | Matches Played | 12 |
| 168 | Kills | 60 |
| 1.75 | Kills/Set | 1.88 |
| 0.285 | Attack Pct | 0.407 |
| 53 | Attack Errors | 10 |
| 0.55 | Attack Errors/Set | 0.31 |
| 34 | Assists | 8 |
| 0.35 | Assists/Game | 0.25 |
| 21 | Service Aces | 7 |
| 0.22 | Service Aces/Set | 0.22 |
| 79 | Service Errors | 29 |
| 0.82 | Service Errors/Set | 0.91 |
| 15 | Reception Errors | 16 |
| 0.16 | Reception Errors/Set | 0.50 |
| 138 | Digs | 46 |
| 1.44 | Digs/Set | 1.44 |
| 50 | Blocks | 5 |
| 0.52 | Blocks/Set | 0.16 |
| 0.551 | Opponent W/L Pct. | 0.458 |