In front of the third-largest crowd in Long Beach State men's volleyball history, the top-ranked Beach team put on a show for 4,364 fans, clinching the 2025 Big West regular season title with a 3-0 victory over No. 10 UC San Diego [25-12, 25-21, 25-18] on Senior Night Saturday.
With this win, Long Beach State (26-2, 8-2 Big West) secured the top seed in the upcoming Big West Championship, which will be held in Hawaii. UC San Diego (17-11, 3-7 Big West) will participate in the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
In their final home match of the regular season, 'The Beach' recorded an impressive attacking efficiency of46.8%and 13.0 blocks, limiting the Tritons to just10.5%successful attacks.
Nate Dykstra and Dharius McRae started and finished with eight and five kills, respectively. Dykstra hit31.9%(8-2-19), leading the team with six blocks, three digs, two aces, and one assist. McRae was flawless with71.4%(5-0-7) and added five blocks.
Skyler Varga led all scorers with 12 kills on55.0%(12-1-20).
Bulgarian presence with a key role in Long Beach State's success!
🔹Moni Nikolov scored 10 points, including 6 kills with 36.4% efficiency, added 3 aces and 1 block, and as a setter, he finished with an impressive 35 assists, only one error, and four digs.
🔹 Alex Händev also shined with 10 points, including 7 kills with 50% efficiency, 1 ace, and 2 blocks.
Freshman libero Kellen Larson led the defense with8 digsin the back row.
After the match, the team's five seniors were honored: Noah Robin, Sebastian Rodriguez, Sotiris Siapanis, Nate Dykstra, and Dharius McRae.
For UC San Diego, Josh Schellinger finished with 12 kills on33.3%Bryce Dvorak had 26 assists, and Leo Pravednikov and Keegan Cook each recorded 5 digs.
With first place in the conference, Long Beach State qualified directly for the semifinals of the Big West Championship tournament. It features the top teams from the conference. The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship.
"The Beach" will play against the winner of the #4 UC San Diego / #5 UC Santa Barbara match on Friday, April 25.
🏆Big West Championship Format (April 24–26, 2025, Honolulu)
Quarterfinals (April 24):
(3) UC Irvine vs. (6)Stiliyan Delibosov's CSUN
(4) UC San Diego vs. (5) UC Santa Barbara
Semifinals (April 25):
(1) Long Beach State vs. winner of UC San Diego/UC Santa Barbara
(2) Hawaiʻi vs. winner of UC Irvine/CSUN
Final (April 26):
Semifinal winners face each other.
