Moni Nikolov played a phenomenal match for No. 1 Long Beach State, who crushed Fort Valley State 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-16) in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals at Covelli Center. With this victory, "The Beach" (28-3) is just three sets away from the final and will play a semifinal this Saturday against the winner of the match between Loyola Chicago and Pepperdine.

🧠 Nikolov orchestrated the game with class – 31 assists and an even distribution of attacks led to an overall team success rate of 36.7%. In addition to his masterful distribution,Moni excelled with 12 points - 8 from attack (58.3% efficiency), 8 digs in defense, 3 aces, and 1 block. With the points scored from serve, he now has 97 aces for the season and is only 3 away from the NCAA record (100) set by Curtiss Abraham in 2011. 🤯🇧🇬

🏐Alex Kandev also contributed strongly – the outside hitter scored 7 points (2 aces),and his successful attack made the score 18-12 in the third set, solidifying Long Beach's dominance. The Bulgarian tandem Nikolov–Kandev once again proved to be the backbone of this exceptional team. 💪🇧🇬

🏆 Meanwhile, the other big favorite for the title – the University of Hawaii – qualified for the semifinal after a 3-1 victory over Penn State (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23). Finn Kearney erupted with 16 points and 4 aces, while middle blockers Justin Todd and Kurt Nusterer scored a combined 17 points with 66.7% efficiency.Kristiyan Titriyski did not enter the game again.On Saturday, UH faces UCLA in a rematch of the 2023 final.