The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The first segment of the Long Beach State men’s volleyball season has concluded and although it wasn’t the cleanest match for the Beach – it didn’t need to be as they swept Jessup 25-20, 25-20, 25-14 Friday night at LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid.
Skyler Varga led the team with 10 kills and had an impressive night at the serve line including a run of eight straight points in the first set for LBSU (14-2) with all three of his aces coming on three straight swings during the run. Island Doty got his first start of the year and had 26 assists guiding the offense.
With the conclusion of the non-conference schedule, the real season begins for the Beach as they begin Big West conference action Friday and Saturday when they host Hawai’i on Friday and Saturday in a pair of highly-anticipated matches.
“Tonight wrapped up our nonconference 16-match schedule,” Long Beach State coach Nick MacRae said. “We have a full 48-hour weekend for the guys to refuel, rejuvenate, get gamily time and step away before we start (conference action). It’s a five-week burst. It happens fast. The most important match is the next one.”
It was a good night to get the whole team involved as 14 guys saw the floor and nine guys recorded kills. Alex Kandev had six on the night, while Wojciech Gajek added five. While MacRae was happy that a lot of guys got to see the floor, he put a spotlight on Doty who got his first start since joining the Beach.
“He’s been one of the greatest leaders behind the scenes,” MacRae said. “Tonight was about Islandd being fully freed up to run the show with his guys. He’s been more than prepped. After the first set, we challenged him to execute at a higher level with greater attention to detail, and he responded. I’ve spoken to him for years as if he’s the starting setter, and he executed. I’m very proud of him.”
In the second set, LBSU jumped out to a 5-2 lead but after a run of errors, Jessup tied the match 8-8. The Warriors continued to battle and tied the match again at 12, but after three straight points gave the Beach a 15-12 lead – LBSU pulled away to take a 2-0 lead.
It was more of the same in the third set as the Beach led almost wire-to-wire taking the lead after the Warriors tied the set at 1-1. It was a great defensive night for LBSU as they held the Warriors to a -.014 hitting percentage and -.160 hitting the third set.
Jan Lopuch had a team-high six kills for Jessup and Colin Marks had 19 assists.
While Hawai’i will provide a very different challenge for the Beach, MacRae is confident his guys will be up for the challenge next week and it starts with the players themselves.
“Day by day, take absolute ownership,” MacRae said of what the team needs to continue to do. “You’ve yet to see this team play its best brand of volleyball because we’re constantly striving for more. It’s not the coaches’ job to be the captains. All 17 guys have to carry their luggage, take ownership and be leaders.”
