Long Beach State (#1) continued their perfect season, triumphing 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 25-18) over eighth-ranked Grand Canyon in a rematch of last year's national semifinal. This was the 12th consecutive victory for "Beach", who remain the only undefeated team in the country.
Skyler Varga was the top scorer with 13 points, and Daniil Fleishman added 11.Moni Nikolov also played a key role in the success, finishing with 12 points (2 aces, 3 blocks) and stable play in organizing the offense with 38 assists. Lazar Buchkov finished with 5 points (1 ace, 1 block).
Long Beach State recorded 8 aces and 7 blocks, demonstrating control in the first and third sets, and withstanding a late surge from Grand Canyon in the second.
Match development:
In the first set, "Beach" took a 7-4 lead after a strong run by Varga, and an ace from Connor Bloom and a triple block led to set point at 24-17. Moni Nikolov finished the set with a powerful attack for 25-18.
The second set was the most contested. Long Beach had a comfortable 23-18 lead, but Grand Canyon came back into the match, equalizing at 25-25. An ace by Sotiris Siapanis ended the suspense for 27-25.
In the third set, "Beach" started strong with a 3-0 lead, and a series of successful attacks and aces increased the lead to 23-15. Fleishman ended the dispute with a successful attack for 25-18.
Long Beach State's next match is against Barton College on February 22 at 7:30 PM local time at the "Walter Pyramid".
