No. 2 LBSU Men’s Volleyball Travels To The Midwest For A Trio Of Road Contests

Wednesday, January 15

St. Charles, Mo.

5:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Lindenwood

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 LBSU Men’s Volleyball Travels To The Midwest For A Trio Of Road Contests

1/14/2025 6:24:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

LBSU MVB Notes

The Beach will face Lindenwood, McKendree, and No. 12 Lewis this week

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (1-0) @ LINDENWOOD (1-0)
Wednesday, January 15 • 5:00 p.m. (PT) | 7:00 p.m. (CT) • St. Charles, Mo. • Robert F. Hyland Arena
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: LindenwoodLions.com
X: @LBSUMVB

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (1-0) @ McKENDREE (1-3)
Thursday, January 16 • 5:00 p.m. (PT) | 7:00 p.m. (CT) • Lebanon, Ill. • Melvin Price Convocation Center
Live Stream: GLVCSN.com/McKendree
Live Stats: McKBearcats.com
X: @LBSUMVB

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (1-0) @ #14 LEWIS (2-0)
Saturday, January 18 • 5:00 p.m. (PT) | 7:00 p.m. (CT) • Romeoville, Ill. • Neil Carey Arena
Live Stream: YouTube.com/LewisMensVB/streams
Live Stats: LewisFlyers.com
X: @LBSUMVB

No. 2 LBSU Men's Volleyball Travels To The Midwest For A Trio Of Road Contests
The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team hits the road for a three-match road stretch in the Midwest. The Beach will face Lindenwood on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 5 p.m. (PT) | 7 p.m. (CT) in St. Charles, Mo. The next day, Long Beach will take on McKendree on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. (PT) | 7 p.m. (CT) in Lebanon, Ill. LBSU will conclude the road swing at No. 12 Lewis on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. (PT) | 7 p.m. (CT) in Romeoville, Ill.

Catch All The Action
The Beach's match at Lindenwood will be broadcast live on ESPN+. LB Nation can live stream Long Beach State's match at McKendree on GLVCSN.com/McKendree and the LBSU-Lewis match via YouTube.com/LewisMensVB/Streams. Live stats for all three matches can be found on the host team's respective schedule pages.

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.

In the Rankings
• Long Beach State is ranked No. 2 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll after picking up a 3-0 sweep over Saint Francis in the season opener. The Beach garnered 438 total points and three first-place votes.
• Lindenwood comes into the match against Long Beach State unranked, but receiving votes in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll. The Lions are 1-0 this season after sweeping Rockhurst in the season opener.
• McKendree opened the season ranked 20th in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll, but dropped out of the rankings this week after going 1-3 in the season-opening weekend. The Bearcats are receiving votes this week.
• Lewis moved up to 12th in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll after the Flyers kicked off the 2025 season with a pair of sweeps over Maryville (Mo.) and then-No. 8 Penn State.
• 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.
• This season, Long Beach State will face 10 nationally ranked opponents in No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 UC Irvine, No. 4 Hawaii, No. 9 Grand Canyon, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 12 Lewis, No. 15 CSUN, No. 16 UC Santa Barbara, No. 17 UC San Diego, and No. 19 Princeton. Additionally, the Beach will play five teams that are receiving votes in McKendree (25), NJIT (10), Belmont Abbey (5), Lindenwood (5), and Saint Francis (5).

About The Beach
• No. 2 Long Beach State opened the 2025 campaign with a dominant 3-0 sweep of Saint Francis on Friday.
• 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 eaarned 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.

Scouting Lindenwood
• Lindenwood comes into the match against the Beach with a 1-0 overall record after opening the season with a 3-0 sweep over Rockhurst last week.
• The Lions, which are receiving votes in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Poll, are averaging 16.33 kills per set on a .385 attack percentage. Additionally, Lindenwood adds 10.33 digs per set and 2.00 blocks per set to go along with 1.33 aces per set.
• Brendan Louthain leads the Lions with 4.33 kills per set on a .478 (13-2-23) attack percentage. He also leads the team with a pair of aces.
• At setter, Zach Solomon has distributed 37 assists for a 12.33 assists per set average on his way to guiding the Lions to a .385 clip. He also contributes 1.67 digs, 1.67 kills, and 0.33 blocks per set on the year.
• In the backrow, Lincoln Geist anchors the defense with 4.33 digs per set, while also chipping in 2.00 assists per set.
• At the net, Owen Walsh leads the way with four blocks to average 1.33 per set. He also adds 2.67 kills per set on a .667 (8-0-12) clip.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Lions
Long Beach State and Lindenwood will meet for the fifth time in program history. Overall, the Beach lead the all-time series 4-0 as the Lions are looking for their first ever win over LBSU. When playing each other in St. Charles, Mo., Long Beach State holds the edge 1-0. The two teams will meet for the first time since January 14, 2023 when LBSU swept Lindenwood, 3-0 [25-17, 25-21, 25-17] in Long Beach, Calif.

Scouting McKendree
• McKendree comes into the week with a 1-3 overall record.
• The Bearcats suffered three-straight road losses to Hawaii (3-1 & 3-0) and UC San Diego (3-0) to open the season, before picking up their first win over Rockhurst (3-2).
• As a team, McKendree is hitting .254 with 11.93 kills per set. The Bearcats average 9.47 digs per set, to go along with 2.07 blocks per set and 1.00 aces per set.
• Kevin Schuele leads the Bearcats' offense with 3.53 kills per set on a .270 (53-22-115) hitting percentage. He is second on the squad in digs with 1.53 per set.
• At setter, Nathan Flayter sets the tone with a 9.93 assists per set average. He also leads the team wiht seven aces to average 0.47 aces per set. Flayter is solid all around adding 1.27 digs, 0.93 kills, and 0.47 blocks per set.
• Yadiel Diaz controls the defense in the backrow with 2.20 digs per set. He also chips in 0.47 assists per set.
• Aaron McCraney leads McKendree with 19 total blocks to average 1.27 per set. He also contributes 1.80 kills per set on a .431 (27-5-51) clip.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Bearcats
Long Beach State and McKendree will meet for the fifth time in program history. Overall, the Beach lead the all-time series 4-0 as the Bearcats are looking for their first ever win over LBSU. This is the first time in program history the two teams will face each other in Lebanon, Ill. Thursday's meeting between LBSU and McKendree is the first since Jan. 10, 2020 when the Beach defeated the Bearcats, 3-1 [15-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-23] in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Scouting Lewis
• No. 12 Lewis opened the season strong with a pair of sweeps over Maryville (Mo.) and then-No. 8 Penn State to improve to 2-0 on the year.
• With the convincing win over the Nittany Lions, the Flyers moved from 14th to 12th in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Rankings.
• The Flyers are hitting .382 on the year with 12.50 kills on 11.83 assists per set. Defensively, Lewis adds 8.50 digs and 2.83 blocks per set to go along with 2.00 aces per set.
• Lewis is led offensively by Daniel Haber's 3.50 kills per set. Right on Haber's heels are the duo of Max Roquet and Oguzhan Oguz who each add 3.17 kills per set.
• Roquet and Oguz also lead the Flyers in digs and service aces with 2.50 digs per set and four aces each to average 0.67 aces per set.
• At setter, Tyler Morgan has dished out 66 assists to average 11.00 assists per set on his way to guiding the Flyers to a .382 clip.
• On blocking defense, Shawn Baggs has posted 11 total blocks for an average of 1.83 blocks per set. He also adds 0.83 kills per set on a .444 (6-1-9) hitting percentage.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Flyers
Long Beach State and Lewis will meet for the ninth time in program history. Overall, the Beach lead the all-time series 6-2 and have been victorious over the Flyers in the last three contests, including a 3-1 win on January 21, 2022 in Romeoville, Ill. When playing each other in Romeoville, the Beach lead the series 2-0. Lewis is looking for its first win over LBSU since March 10, 2012 when the Flyers defeated the Beach 3-1 in Long Beach, Calif.

Among The Nation's Best
Long Beach State is ranked in the Top 25 in in the country in half a dozen different statistical categories this season. The Beach lead the nation in blocks (4.17 per set), hitting percentage (.630), and opponent hitting percentage (.000). If that weren't enough, LBSU ranks 15th in aces per set (1.67), 24th in assists per set (10.67), and 25th in kills per set (11.33). Individually, the Beach boasts five players who rank in the Top 40 in the nation. Leading the way, middle blocker Ben Braun leads the country in blocks per set with 2.33. Coming in behind Braun are teammates Moni Nikolov (14th - 1.33), Daniil Hershtynovich (36th - 1.00), DiAeris McRaven (36th - 1.00), and Sotiris Siapanis (36th - 1.00). Hershtynovich also ranks 19th in the nation with a .455 hitting percentage, while Nikolov comes in 27th in the NCAA with 8.67 assists per set.

Up Next
Long Beach State will return to the Walter Pyramid on Friday, Jan. 24 to host Concordia at 7 p.m. The Beach will then face No. 10 Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.