Long Beach State Beach Volleyball Announces Addition Of Three Players

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State Beach Volleyball has added three transfers for the upcoming spring season as announced by head coach Mike Campbell. Sasha Karelov from Duke, Hannah Matt from Irvine Valley, and Heather Weiss from Florida Atlantic will all join LBSU on the sand this season.

“The dynamic in practice with these transfers will really help us out and keep us moving in the right direction,” said Long Beach State head coach Mike Campbell. “I think they’ll jump right in and do well.”

Karelov comes to Long Beach State as a graduate transfer following a very successful collegiate indoor career at Duke. Making over 2,000 digs over four years as a libero, Karelov was named an Honorable Mention All-American as a senior, giving Long Beach State two 2016 indoor All-Americans along with Nele Barber on the 2017 beach volleyball squad.

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior, Karelov averaged 5.42 digs per set as a senior, and was a three-time All-Region selection.

“Sasha means business, and really showed her dedication by coming out to California last summer and playing in some tournaments,” said Campbell. “She’s an outstanding defender with great awareness and court sense, and brings an element of determination that we need as a more veteran player. We’re going to rely on her savvy as a player and I feel like she’ll work her way into our lineup.”

Hannah Matt is a junior college transfer with great experience in both indoor and beach volleyball at Irvine Valley under head coach Tom Pestolesi. An All-Conference selection in beach, Matt helped the Lasers win the inaugural CCCAA state championship in beach volleyball. Matt also guided the Lasers to a state championship in indoor volleyball as well, going 27-0 as a freshman before averaging 2.74 kills per set while earning first-team all-league honors as a sophomore.

“Hannah’s an indoor player that picked up beach volleyball at IVC, and found out she loved it,” said Campbell. “She’s come a long way since the fall, and hopefully she can keep fine tuning her abilities and she’ll provide some physicality that we’ve been needing.”

Finally, Long Beach State picks up a Division I Beach Volleyball transfer in Heather Weiss. Weiss was a three-year letterwinner in indoor volleyball at Wayne State before transferring to Florida Atlantic, where she played one season with the Owls. With Florida Atlantic, Weiss played in the second flight and joins Long Beach State as a graduate transfer.

“Heather is a true big, so she’ll be able to do some more dynamic stuff at the net that we’ve been missing in practices and matches,” noted Campbell. “I’m sure she’ll have a big role.”

Long Beach State opens the 2017 season with a three-way dual match on March 4 on campus, hosting Big West affiliate member CSU Bakersfield as well as Matt’s former team, the Irvine Valley Lasers.