The warm sun and peaceful breeze here in Long Beach is a familiar thing to many players on the AVP tour. That's because five of them graduated from California State University Long Beach.

One of the things that Long Beach State is known for are the high caliber volleyball teams that it produces. The men have one national title, won the 2008 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title and are ranked third going into this season. The women's squad is consistently ranked in the top-25 in the nation and they have three national titles.

Arguably the most well-known beach volleyball player, Misty May-Treanor, graduated from CSULB. Her huge impact on the sport of beach volleyball is similar to the impact that she had on her Long Beach varsity team as she helped to lead "The Beach" to a 1998 NCAA title and was named NCAA Tournament Co-MVP.

During her career there, May-Treanor received the 1998 Honda Broderick NCAA Athlete-of-the-Year award and was First-Team All-American each year from 1996-98.

Now, May-Treanor has 101 titles, and is enjoying a 97-match streak. She's been to the Olympics twice and has a gold medal to show for it. She and partner Kerri Walsh are No. 1 in the world and about to embark on their second Olympic experience together.

Also a member of one of CSULB's national championship teams, Alicia Polzin assisted in bringing home the title in 1989. While working on her degree in communications, Polzin received Second-Team All-Conference honors in 1991 and was recognized as First-Team in 1992. She still holds an impressive school record with 10 aces in a match.

These days, Polzin is in the midst of her seventh season with the AVP. Last year was her best one so far with one third place finish, a seventh and three ninths.

The last female 49er on tour is Brittany Hochevar. She was a three-time all-Big West honoree and, after her senior season, was recognized as a second-team All-American. That year, her team went 33-1 and went to the championship game. Although they didn't win, Hochevar's name is all over Long Beach's record books as she left ranked in the top-10 for career aces, assists, digs and block assists.

Since then, Hochevar has taken her game to a new level by being named a 2004 Olympic indoor team alternate, playing professionally in Puerto Rico, and then moving to the sands of the AVP. After five seasons, she's had seven top-10 finishes.

For the men, Matt Prosser was a stand-out during his time at Long Beach. His freshman year was very successful and he was named as a Freshman All-American in 1998. In 1999, he helped lead his team to the national championship where they took second place. Both that year and the next, Prosser was an All-American middle blocker. He was dangerous on the net and when he left, he was ranked second in career hitting percentage, fourth in blocks and 12th in kills.

2003 was Prosser's first year in the AVP and he's improved with every new season. To date, he has seven top-10 finishes with this year being better than all the past ones combined. In 2005, he returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach for the men's team.

One of Prosser's teammates was Ryan Mariano. Mariano played for CSULB from 1995-98 and during that stint, the team was ranked number one three of the four years. His senior year was the only year that they weren't number one. However, the 49ers were able to send a message when they upset the top-ranked team, BYU. By the time he graduated, Mariano was first in ace percentages and digs per game.

This year is Mariano's best year as he already has nine top-10 finishes. However, his most impressive feat came in 2006 when he and his partner made it to their first final. They knocked out three top-five teams on their way and became the lowest seeded team (14th) to make it to an AVP final since 1998.

With such a great track record, we can only wait to see what other volleyball greats will come out of Long Beach State.