Top-Ranked Long Beach State Faces No. 4 Hawaii On The Islands In a Battle For First

#1 LONG BEACH STATE @ #4 HAWAI’I

Saturday, April 8 • 7 p.m. (PT) | 10 p.m. (HT) • Honolulu, Hawai’i • SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

TV: Spectrum Sports (Islands) / ESPN+ (Mainland)

TV Talent: Kkanoa Leahy and Chris McLachlin

Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

X: @LBSUMVB

Top-Ranked Long Beach State Faces No. 4 Hawaii On The Islands In a Battle For First

The No. 1 Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball team will travel to Honolulu, Hawaii for a pair of matches against No. 4 Hawaii. Both teams have identical 5-1 Big West records therefore, should either team sweep the series, that team will take sole possession of first place heading into the final weekend of the regular season. 

Catch All The Action

LB Nation can live stream both of Long Beach State’s matches this weekend on ESPN+ on the mainland and Spectrum Sports om the island. Live stats can be found at StatBroadcast.com. 

Staying Social

Follow Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball on Twitter and Instagram at @LBSUMVB. You can also stay up-to-date on all things Long Beach State by following @LBSUAthletics on X. Be sure to “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram at @LBSU. And don’t forget our hashtag #GoBeach.

About The Beach

• No. 1 Long Beach State opened the 2025 campaign with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Saint Francis on Friday, Jan. 10. 

• The Beach are looking to build on a successful 2024 season which saw the post a 27-3 overall record in a season in which they were the National Runner Up. The Beach went 9-1 in Big West action winning their third-straight regular season title and second conference tournament title.

• Long Beach State Head Coach Alan Knipe returns to the helm for his 22nd season. The winningest coach in LBSU Men’s Volleyball program history, Knipe owns a career record of 420-168 for a winning percentage of 714.

• Knipe’s staff of Associate Head Coach Nick MacRae, Assistant Coach McKay Smith, Volunteer Assistant Coach Andy Read, and Technical Coordinator Jon Parry are also back for the Beach. The seasoned quartet have worked together for the last eight seasons helping Long Beach State capture two NCAA National Titles, two Big West Championships, and have led the Beach to six NCAA Tournament appearances.

• The Beach return 16 players from one year ago and welcome eight newcomers. 

• Senior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis and junior opposite Skyler Varga return to the court after having been named AVCA All-Americans last season. Siapanis garnered First Team accolades, while Varga earned Honorable Mention status.

• Siapanis and Varga, along with sophomore middle blocker Lazar Bouchkov earned All-Big West Honors. Siapanis led the way with a First Team nod, while Varga collected Honorable Mention recognition, and Bouchkov was named to the All-Freshman Team.

• Freshman setter Moni Nikolov leads a talented group of newcomers. Nikolov comes to LBSU from Sofia, Bulgaria where he was a nine-time national champion in his age group. A member of the Bulgarian National Team, Nikolov also played with the U19 squad and helped his team win the European Championship Bronze Medal.

• In addition to Nikolov, freshman liberos Kellen Larson and Ford Harman also highlight the newcomers on the roster. Larson was the starting libero on the USA Boys National Team, while Harman was a First Team All-American at AAU Junior Nationals.

In the Rankings

• Long Beach State has been ranked No. 1 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll for 11 consecutive weeks. The Beach garnered 460 total points and all 23 first-place votes.  

• The Big West is one of the most competitive Division I Men’s Volleyball conferences as all six Big West schools are nationally ranked, with three of them sitting in the Top 5.  

• Long Beach State will face only nationally ranked opponents for the remainder of the season including No. 4 Hawaii and No. 10 UC San Diego.  

• Hawaii is ranked No. 4 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll. The Rainbow Warriors moved up one spot after splitting last week’s series split against CSUN.

Scouting Hawaii

• No. 4 Hawaii comes into the match against the Beach with a 22-3 overall record to go along with a 5-1 Big West mark

• The Rainbow Warriors are averaging 13.51 kills per set on a .355 attack percentage. Additionally, Hawaii adds 7.87 digs per set and 2.39 blocks per set to go along with 1.86 aces per set.  

• Kristian Titriyski leads the ‘Bows with 4.24 kills per set on a .325 attack percentage. He also contributes to the defense with 1.11 digs per set and 0.63 blocks per set.

• At setter, Tread Rosenthal has distributed 934 assists for a conference-leading 10.86 assists per set average. 

• In the backrow, ‘Eleu Choy anchors the defense with 1.70 digs per set.  

• At the net, Kurt Nusterer leads the way with 81 blocks to average 1.03 per set. He also contributes 1.15 kills per set on a .420 attack percentage.  

The Series: The Beach vs. The Rainbow Warriors

• Long Beach State and Hawaii will meet for the 100th time in program history.  

• Overall, Long Beach leads the series 52-47. When playing each other on the island, Hawaii leads 27-18.

• In their last meeting, the Beach defeated the ‘Bows in five sets on March 16, 2024 at the Walter Pyramid.

Acing The Competition

• Freshman Moni Nikolov is leading a charge against numerous serving records at Long Beach State, the Big West and the NCAA. With what is believed to be the fastest recorded serve in NCAA history, Nikolov has set a new season record with 82 service aces with four regular season match remaining in the season. That ranks as second all-time in the Big West, and currently is 6th in NCAA history across all eras.

• Long Beach State has half as dozen players with over 10 aces already this season, and has made 186 in total as a team, ranking third in single season history for the Beach. 

• As a team, Long Beach State has an opportunity to reach three other elite serving teams with different records; the Big West record holders of Hawai’i with 224 aces in 2022, the 25-point rally scoring record set last year by Saint Francis of 237, and the all-time record set in 2007 by Stevens of 289.  

Among The Nation’s Best

Long Beach State is ranked in the Top 5 in in the country in half a dozen different statistical categories this season. The Beach lead the nation in hitting percentage (.400) while serving up 2.83 aces per set. The team ranks second in blocks per set (2.74). If that weren’t enough, LBSU also ranks third in kills per set (13.23) and fifth in assists per set (12.08). 

Individually, the Beach boasts four players who rank in the Top 50 in the nation in their respective disciplines. Leading the way, setter Moni Nikolov ranks first in aces per set (1.11), as well as being ranked for assists (20th – 9.68). DiAeris McRaven ranks 25th in the nation with a .983 block per set average. Two players are ranked in the Top 20 for hitting percentage. Skyler Varga leads the way being ranked 14th (.386) with Daniil Hershtynovich coming in 18th (.366). Daniil Hershtynovich is also ranked 46th in kills per set (3.18) and 43rd for points per set (3.82). Varga is also ranked in points per set (47th-3.79). 

Up Next

Long Beach State will close the regular season against UC San Diego on Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19. Both matches are set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcasting live on ESPN+.