No. 2 Long Beach State Opens The 2025 Campaign Against Saint Francis On Friday Night

Friday, January 10

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Saint Francis (Pa.)

Photo by: John Fajardo

No. 2 Long Beach State Opens The 2025 Campaign Against Saint Francis On Friday Night

1/9/2025 5:47:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

LBSU MVB Notes - Saint Francis

The Beach will host Saint Francis in the 2025 season opener on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

#2 LONG BEACH STATE (0-0) vs. SAINT FRANCIS (0-1)
Friday, January 10 • 7:00 p.m. • Long Beach, Calif. • Walter Pyramid
Live Stats: BeachLiveStats.com
X: @LBSUMVB
Tickets: LongBeachState.com/Tickets

No. 2 Long Beach State Opens The 2025 Campaign Against Saint Francis On Friday Night
The No. 2 Long Beach State Men's Volleyball Team will kick off the 2025 season on Friday, January 10 against Saint Francis at 7 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.

Catch All The Action
LB Nation can follow all the game on live stats via BeachLiveStats.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.

In the Rankings
• After finishing the 2024 season as the National Runner Up, Long Beach State starts the 2025 season ranked No. 2 in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Beach garnered 435 total points and one first-place vote.
• Saint Francis is receiving votes in the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll. The Red Flash accumulated 15 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.
• This season, Long Beach State will face 11 nationally ranked opponents in No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 UC Irvine, No. 4 Hawaii, No. 9 Grand Canyon, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 14 Lewis, No. 15 CSUN, No. 16 UC Santa Barbara, No. 18 UC San Diego, No. 19 Princeton, and No. 20 McKendree. Additionally, the Beach will play five teams that are receiving votes in NJIT (37), Belmont Abbey (18), Lindenwood (18), Saint Francis (15), and Fort Valley State (7).

About The Beach
• No. 2 Long Beach State open the 2025 campaign looking to build on a successful 2024 season which saw the Beach 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 419-168 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.

Scouting Saint Francis
• Saint Francis opened the 2025 season with a 3-0 loss at No. 18 UC San Diego on Wednesday night as the Red Flash bring an 0-1 overall record into Long Beach.
• The Red Flash start the year on a nine-match road stretch in which they will face UCSD, UCLA, Long Beach State, Loyola Chicago, Rockhurst, Princeton, NJIT, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Lincoln Memorial.
• SFU is coming off a 2024 campaign that saw them post a 20-9 overall record and a perfect 12-0 mark in Northeast Conference play on their way to claiming their second-straight NEC Regular Season Title. This season, the Red Flash have been chosen to win the NEC in the preseason poll.
• The Red Flash are coached by Mike Rumbaugh who is in his 27th year at the helm. He is the winningest coach in SFU Men's Volleyball program history with 319.
• Leading the way among returners for the Red Flash is Nathan Zini who was a 2024 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention selection. The NEC Player of the Year finished his junior season with 410 kills, 125 digs, and 63 aces.
• At UC San Diego, the Red Flash were led by Michael Mosbacher and Brady Stump who both averaged 3.00 kills per set.
• At setter, Brayden Kuruzovich dished out 17 assists to average 8.50 as the Red Flash hit .215 in their season opener.
• Anchoring the back row, Cole Dorn logged seven digs for a 2.33 average.
• At the net, Nicholas Lynch put up three blocks to average 1.00 blocks per set.

The Series: The Beach vs. The Red Flash
Long Beach State and Saint Francis will meet for the seventh time in program history. Overall, the Beach lead the all-time series 6-0 as the Red Flash are looking for their first ever win over LBSU. When playing each other in Long Beach, Calif., LBSU owns a 3-0 record including a four-set win over SFU last season.

The Beach in Season Openers
Long Beach State has been successful in its season openers over the last 40 years. Since 1983, the Beach are 36-6 in season openers and 37-5 in home openers. When opening the season at home, Long Beach State boasts a perfect 11-0 record.

Big West Preseason Favorite
The Big West released the 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll and Team on Thursday, December 19, and Long Beach State was chosen as the preseason favorite. Additionally, the Beach led the way with the most Preseason Coaches' Team selections as Sotiris Siapanis, Skyler Varga, and Moni Nikolov earned the nod.

Siapanis earned the preseason honor for the second-straight year after a productive junior year which earned him AVCA All-America First Team accolades. The two-time All-American and Big West All-Conference selection finished the year ranked in the Top 10 in the league in kills (3.18), hitting percentage (.342), and points per set (3.80). The senior outside hitter led the Beach with 19 double-figure kill performances, while recording three double-doubles. Siapanis led Long Beach State in kills on 11 separate occasions.

Varga was named to the Preseason Coaches' Team for the first time in his career. The junior opposite is coming off of an impressive sophomore campaign which culminated in AVCA Honorable Mention status. He led the Beach in aces per set (0.36), while ranking in the Top 10 in the conference in blocks per set (0.92). He finished the year averaging 2.98 kills per set on a .263 clip. Varga tallied 16 double-figure kill showings, while boasting a career-high 20-kill performance against Grand Canyon on May 2.

Nikolov is a freshman setter who comes to Long Beach State 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 the team win the European Championship Bronze Medal. One of the top setters in the world, Nikolov has volleyball in his genes as his father, Vladmir played professionally overseas until 2016, and his brother Alex is currently playing professionally and on the Bulgarian National Team after playing at LBSU and becoming the first-ever men's volleyball player to be named AVCA National Player of the Year as a freshman in 2022.

The trio headline a talent-filled roster that looks to return to the NCAA National Championship and bring home the program's fourth National Title.

Long Beach State was chosen to finish first after garnering 24 total points and four first-place votes. UC Irvine was picked to finish second with 21 points and two first-place votes. Hawaii's 18 points put them in third place, while UC Santa Barbara slid into fourth place with 12 points. Rounding out the bottom of the poll were CSUN (8 points) and UC San Diego (7 points) which were chosen to place fifth and sixth, respectively.

North American Challenge
Long Beach State hosted the North American Challenge, a preseason exhibition tournament which featured a total of six teams from the United States and Canada.

The took place from Friday, Jan. 3 - Saturday, Jan. 4 with five matches played on day one and four on day two. The tournament was held in both the Walter Pyramid and the Gold Mine.

The participating teams include some of the top talent in North America such as No. 2 Trinity Western, No. 6 Saskatchewan, Calgary, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 18 UC San Diego, and host, No. 2 Long Beach State.

The United States won the tournament after sweeping all nine matches over two days for a total of 24 points.

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.

Wall of Honor
The Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program will be inducting five new members into the Wall of Honor as TJ DeFalco, Kyle Ensing, Josh Tuaniga, as well as longtime supporters Mike and Therese Butler will join the prestigious group.

The quintet of inductees will be forever enshrined in the Wall of Honor at the annual Randy Sandefur Memorial Golf Tournament on Monday, June 9, 2025.

The major criteria for the Wall of Honor, as outlined by the committee, are as follows: the person must have represented the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program with unparalleled success or achievement and truly embodied the passion, commitment, and loyalty that defines the true meaning of a 49er.

The five inductees have done just that as they have demonstrated a commitment to the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program that has far exceeded expectations. These five have proudly represented the Black and Gold and helped the Beach establish itself as one of the perennial powerhouses in the nation over the last several decades.

"This particular group of young men played all four years together at Long Beach State and are the embodiment of the winning culture of head coach Alan Knipe," said Wall of Honor Co-Chairs Harold Noriega and Mike D'Alessandro. "Their hard work and dedication not only contributed to two National Championship titles for the university but has created fine and outstanding young men and citizens.

"In addition, this year we are honoring longtime supporters of the program, Therese and Mike Butler. Team Butler has supported the program long before their son Matt played his four years of volleyball at Long Beach State, and they still continue today with their support of the program. We are excited to welcome these five new Legends into the Wall of Honor."

The trio of players were part of one of the most decorated classes in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball history as they put together a record of 108-15 (.878) from 2016-19. During that span, DeFalco, Ensing, and Tuaniga led LBSU to two NCAA National Championships, four-straight NCAA Final Four appearances, three regular season conference titles, two conference tournament championships, and set a program record 43-consecutive home victories inside the Walter Pyramid.

A three-time National Player of the Year (2017-19) and four-time AVCA First Team All-American (2016-19), DeFalco finished his Long Beach State career as the program's all-time service aces leader (183), is ranked fifth all-time with 1,661 career kills, and comes in seventh in career digs (773).

DeFalco kicked off his collegiate career as the 2016 MPSF Freshman of the Year and went on to win the 2017 MPSF and 2018 Big West Player of the Year awards, respectively. He was a four-time All-Conference First Team selection as he earned the honors twice in both the MPSF and The Big West. He was named to the NCAA Tournament Teams in 2016 and 2018, and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2019.

Following his graduation from Long Beach State, DeFalco has made a name for himself playing professionally in Italy, Poland, and Japan. He also has been an integral part of the USA Men's National Team, representing the United States in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and in the 2024 Paris Olympics where he won a Bronze Medal.

Ensing is a two-time AVCA First Team All-American and the 2019 Big West Player of the Year. He concluded his career at Long Beach State with 1,421 kills to rank 10th all-time at the Beach. In his senior year, he set the LBSU single-match record for most aces in an NCAA Tournament match after he served up six aces against Pepperdine in the 2019 Final Four. The three-time First Team All-Conference selection and 2018 NCAA All-Tournament Team selection registered 140 service aces in his career to rank third all-time at Long Beach State.

The 6-foot-7 Ensing has played professionally overseas in Germany, Israel, and France since graduating from Long Beach State in 2019. Earlier this season, he helped Saint Nazaire win the French League Championship.

A member of the U.S. Men's National Team since 2017, Ensing competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games and served as an alternate at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In 2023, he helped lead Team USA to Gold in the Olympic Qualifier, after earning Silver in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League.

Tuaniga wrapped up his career at Long Beach State as the 2018 AVCA National Player of the Year and was a three-time AVCA All-American. He was named to both the 2018 and 2019 All-Tournament Teams earning the Most Outstanding Player distinction in 2018. Known for running one of the most efficient offenses in collegiate volleyball from 2016-19, Tuaniga distributed 4,607 career assists to rank fourth at the Beach. He is just one of five players in Long Beach State program history to record at least 4,000 career assists.

The 2019 graduate of Long Beach State University went on to play professionally in Poland. A member of the U.S. Men's National Team since 2016, Tuaniga earned Silver at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League Final Round, took Bronze at the 2019 FIVB World Cup, and won Gold at the 2016 NORCECA Continental Championship where he was named MVP and Best Setter.

"This is a very special class for many reasons, but mainly because these three players will always be attached at the hip when you talk about that era," said Long Beach State Head Men's Volleyball Coach and Wall of Honor member Alan Knipe. "They all started as freshmen, went to four Final Fours, won two National Championships, three National Player of the Year awards, and three conference player of the year awards. The accolades speak to what they were able to do for us.

"Post Long Beach, they've gone on to have national careers playing professionally and in the Olympic Games. All three are great examples of what the Wall of Honor means. They are fully committed, all in, and bleed Black & Gold."

Rounding out the Wall of Honor selections are Mike and Therese Butler who have long been associated with the Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program. The couple have supported the Beach as fans, donors, and parents, as well as part of the stats crew on gamedays. They have organized fundraisers and socials over the years, often behind the scenes, quietly dedicating their lives to LBSU Men's Volleyball. Both alumni of Long Beach State University, Mike and Therese have been part of the Beach family for decades.

"Mike and Therese have been invaluable supporters of our program from well before I was even a player," said Knipe. "Their commitment, love, and generosity are unmatched. Our program would not be what it is today without their help."

These five extraordinary individuals will have their names added to the Wall of Honor, which is located in the Hall of Champions in the Volleyball Suite of the Walter Pyramid.

Up Next
Following the 2025 season opener, Long Beach State will hit the road to the Midwest. The Beach will play three matches in Missouri and Illinois as they face Lindenwood on Wednesday, Jan. 15 in Saint Charles, Mo., at 5 p.m., before taking on No. 20 McKendree in Lebanon, Ill., on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m., and No. 14 Lewis on Saturday, Jan. 18 in Romeoville, Ill., at 5 p.m.