The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is in Columbus, Ohio, this week, where they’ll begin their hunt for a fourth NCAA national championship in program history. The Beach will open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against Fort Valley State on Thursday at 2 p.m. PST in the Covelli Center.
“It’s an exciting week for us obviously,” said LBSU coach Alan Knipe. “This is what you set your sights on way back in August when we got going. I know the guys are fired up to get started.”
The Beach (27–2) took down the Wildcats (18–9) during a regular season matchup this past January with a convincing sweep in Reno, Nevada. This time the winner will go on to face either Pepperdine or Loyola Chicago in the semifinals, which would mark an eighth Final Four appearance for LBSU in the last nine seasons.
“We can’t look past them because everyone wants to make it to the next round,” said LBSU captain and outside hitter Skylar Varga of Fort Valley State. “They may be coming from a weaker conference but they’re still a good team and we can’t underestimate them.”
Varga was part of the Long Beach State team last year that lost in the national championship to UCLA at the Walter Pyramid. He’s using that experience as extra motivation along with the drive to win it for some of his injured teammates.
“With the last two championships that we played in being losses, it definitely sets a fire in me for sure,” he said. “Especially sending off our seniors with something to take home, like Sotiris [Siapanis]. I’m very close friends with him and I feel like since he can’t come back on the court [this season] I really want to win a championship for him.”
The story of the season for LBSU has largely revolved around 18-year-old Bulgarian star Moni Nikolov — and rightfully so. Last week, it was announced that the setter had won Big West Player of the Year honors, becoming just the second freshman to do so after his brother Alex Nikolov won in 2022.
The older Nikolov led Long Beach State to the national championship match that year but fell to Hawaii before turning pro. Moni has joked about one-upping his brother by potentially adding a national title to his resume, and he isn’t taking that opportunity lightly.
“At this level, anything can happen,” he said. “Especially when it’s a one and done game and not a series. One person can have the best game of their life and make you totally change your plan. So the only thing you can expect is to expect everything and be ready for anything.”
There have been moving pieces all over the court for the Beach this season after losing 10 seniors from a stacked class last year. DiAeris McRaven is the only player who has remained in the same position, while Varga, the only other returning starter, has since transitioned to opposite.
The Beach has also been plagued by injuries, including the loss of standout senior Siapanis midway through the season and ongoing issues for outside hitter Daniil Hershtynovich. Still, players like Alex Kandev, Nato Dickinson, Sebastiano Sani, and Ben Braun have stepped up, and LBSU has found ways to make it work with just about anyone on the floor.
“What I’m most impressed about with this group is that nothing has rattled them,” Knipe said. “You hear the cliche all the time of ‘next man up,’ but literally whoever we’ve put out there we’ve felt like we can win.”
As the No. 1 seed in the bracket, Long Beach State won’t get a highly anticipated rematch against either No. 2 Hawaii or No. 3 UCLA unless the teams meet in Monday’s championship game. On the other side of the bracket, Hawaii faces No. 7 Penn State in the quarterfinals while UCLA takes on No. 6 Belmont Abbey.
If the Beach wins on Thursday, their matchup against either Pepperdine or Loyola Chicago will take place on Saturday at 2 p.m. PST. The national championship will be on Monday at 4 p.m. PST.
CLICK HERE for the full NCAA tournament bracket.
