Saturday, January 4
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
3
vs
0
Calgary
The United States Wins The 2025 North American Challenge, Moni Nikolov Named Tournament MVP
1/4/2025 11:05:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The United States Wins The 2025 North American Challenge, Moni Nikolov Named Tournament MVP
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The 2025 North American Challenge came to a close on Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid. The United States won the tournament after sweeping all nine matches over two days for a total of 24 points. Long Beach State's 3-0 [25-15, 25-20, 25-19] sweep of Calgary concluded the tournament.
The Beach were led by freshman setter Moni Nikolov who was named MVP of the All-Tournament Team. Also selected to the All-Tournament Team were Skyler Varga and Sotiris Siapanis.
In the match against Calgary, Nikolov paced the Beach with 25 assists, while serving up six aces. Additionally, Nikolov contributed five digs, four kills, and three blocks. He did a solid job spreading the ball around as Sebastiano Sani, Connor Bloom, and Nato Dickinson all led LBSU with six kills. Bloom hit .500 (6-1-10), while Dickinson hit .444 (6-2-9) in the contest.
Siapanis was efficient on both sides of the ball. He tallied five kills on a .286 clip (5-1-14) to go along with a team-best six digs and five blocks.
Long Beach State opened the match on a 4-0 run as Nikolov served up three quick aces. After Ben Braun led the Beach on a 3-0 run with a kill and two solo blocks to put LBSU up 11-6, Calgary called for a timeout. The Beach went on to score five-straight points highlighted by a kill from Dickinson as LBSU took a 16-7 advantage over the Dinos. From there, the Beach cruised to a 25-15 lead to take the first set.
The Beach kicked off the second set with three-straight points including another ace for Nikolov. However, a 5-0 Calgary run put the Dinos ahead, 7-5. Back-to-back kills from Bloom highlighted another 5-0 Long Beach State run that saw LBSU take an 18-14 lead over Calgary. The Dinos would not go quietly. Calgary used a 3-0 run of its own to pull within two (22-20), but the Beach went on to close the set with a 3-0 run of its own to take a 2-0 lead after winning, 25-20.
The third set started off close, but a pair of 3-0 runs by Long Beach State gave the Beach a 17-12 lead after a kill from Sani. Siapanis and Noah Robin teamed up for a block assist which was followed by an other Nikolov service ace. Siapanis closed the run with a kill that gave Long Beach State a 23-16 lead. The Beach went on to put the game, set, and match away with a 25-19 set three score.
Erik Godwin led Calgary with seven kills on a .600 hitting percentage (7-1-10). Setter Zack Durrant finished the match with 21 assists, while Emil Olsen anchored the backrow with five digs. Jackson Meier led the Dinos at the net as he put up four total blocks in the match.
Long Beach State will officially open the 2025 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they welcome the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
The 2025 North American Challenge All-Tournament Team presented by Lytle Screen Printing
Jacob Baird – Saskatchewan
Cole Hartke – Pepperdine
Jacob Reilly – Pepperdine
Kaden Schmidt – Trinity Western
Bryce Dvorak – UC San Diego
Anthony Cherfan – UC San Diego
Cole Czepuryk – Calgary
Sotiris Siapanis – Long Beach State
Skyler Varga – Long Beach State
Tournament MVP: Moni Nikolov – Long Beach State
The Beach were led by freshman setter Moni Nikolov who was named MVP of the All-Tournament Team. Also selected to the All-Tournament Team were Skyler Varga and Sotiris Siapanis.
In the match against Calgary, Nikolov paced the Beach with 25 assists, while serving up six aces. Additionally, Nikolov contributed five digs, four kills, and three blocks. He did a solid job spreading the ball around as Sebastiano Sani, Connor Bloom, and Nato Dickinson all led LBSU with six kills. Bloom hit .500 (6-1-10), while Dickinson hit .444 (6-2-9) in the contest.
Siapanis was efficient on both sides of the ball. He tallied five kills on a .286 clip (5-1-14) to go along with a team-best six digs and five blocks.
Long Beach State opened the match on a 4-0 run as Nikolov served up three quick aces. After Ben Braun led the Beach on a 3-0 run with a kill and two solo blocks to put LBSU up 11-6, Calgary called for a timeout. The Beach went on to score five-straight points highlighted by a kill from Dickinson as LBSU took a 16-7 advantage over the Dinos. From there, the Beach cruised to a 25-15 lead to take the first set.
The Beach kicked off the second set with three-straight points including another ace for Nikolov. However, a 5-0 Calgary run put the Dinos ahead, 7-5. Back-to-back kills from Bloom highlighted another 5-0 Long Beach State run that saw LBSU take an 18-14 lead over Calgary. The Dinos would not go quietly. Calgary used a 3-0 run of its own to pull within two (22-20), but the Beach went on to close the set with a 3-0 run of its own to take a 2-0 lead after winning, 25-20.
The third set started off close, but a pair of 3-0 runs by Long Beach State gave the Beach a 17-12 lead after a kill from Sani. Siapanis and Noah Robin teamed up for a block assist which was followed by an other Nikolov service ace. Siapanis closed the run with a kill that gave Long Beach State a 23-16 lead. The Beach went on to put the game, set, and match away with a 25-19 set three score.
Erik Godwin led Calgary with seven kills on a .600 hitting percentage (7-1-10). Setter Zack Durrant finished the match with 21 assists, while Emil Olsen anchored the backrow with five digs. Jackson Meier led the Dinos at the net as he put up four total blocks in the match.
Long Beach State will officially open the 2025 campaign on Saturday, Jan. 11 when they welcome the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
The 2025 North American Challenge All-Tournament Team presented by Lytle Screen Printing
Jacob Baird – Saskatchewan
Cole Hartke – Pepperdine
Jacob Reilly – Pepperdine
Kaden Schmidt – Trinity Western
Bryce Dvorak – UC San Diego
Anthony Cherfan – UC San Diego
Cole Czepuryk – Calgary
Sotiris Siapanis – Long Beach State
Skyler Varga – Long Beach State
Tournament MVP: Moni Nikolov – Long Beach State
Players Mentioned
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