No. 1 Long Beach State remained undefeated (10-0) after Moni Nikolov and company swept No. 3 UCLA for the second time 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-23) on Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion. This is the tenth match in which the 'Beach' have dominated their opponents, not allowing a single loss. Long Beach defeated last year's champions for the second consecutive time, who defeated coach Alan Knipe's boys in the 2024/25 season final.
The visitors hit 44.2% overall in attack, with Daniil Hershtinovich leading the team with 11 kills. Skyler Varga followed with nine, and Moni Nikolov and Sotiris Siapanis each scored seven attack points.The national team setter finished with 11 points (1 ace, 3 blocks) and 60% in attack, delivering 34 flawless point-scoring passes to his teammates. Lazar Buchkov also had a very strong match, scoring 10 points (2 aces, 2 blocks) and 100% in attack.
This road victory was the first since January 19, 2019, when Long Beach State swept the Bruins in Los Angeles, and was the first time since February 11, 2022, that LBSU defeated UCLA on their home court.
Long Beach returns on Friday night when they host Vanguard.
