Women's Volleyball Plays Final Home Matches Of The Regular Season This Week

Thursday, November 13

Long Beach, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Riverside

Tickets From $11 - $19

Women's Volleyball Plays Final Home Matches Of The Regular Season This Week

11/11/2025 11:09:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes - Week 12

Critical seeding is on the line as the Big West Championship is just weeks away.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid for their final two home matches of the regular season, hosting UC Riverside and league leaders UC Davis. The Beach will start with the Highlanders on Thursday night before honoring their seniors as part of a huge final home match of the season on Friday night. Both matches will be televised live on ESPN+.

RIGHT AWAY
• Hitting the road to the Central Coast, Long Beach State dropped a pair of road matches last week at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara. Redshirt Freshman Logan King and Senior Elise Agi both averaged 3.00 kills per set and the Beach got a lift from redshirt freshman Preslie Yates against the Gauchos, but couldn't find the way to the wins and are now tied for third in the Big West standings with UCSB.

ENIOR NIGHT
• Long Beach State is excited to honor their four seniors following the final home contest of the season Friday against UC Davis. The Beach has two fourth-year players with the program as well as two transfers who will be playing their final regular-season match in the Walter Pyramid. Tatum Hoff has made an increased impact in her final season, playing in 21 matches in her last year with the program. Rhiann Sheffie is another fourth-year player, earning a spot as a starter this season while she has played in every match, averaging 1.76 kills and 0.98 blocks per set while hitting .286. Nieko Thomas finishes her career at the Beach, hitting .265 this season while averaging 1.13 blocks per set, and Elise Agi closes her career in her second season at LBSU, second on the team at 2.98 kills per set as a key outside hitter for the Beach.

MILESTONE PERFORMANCES
• In Long Beach State's five-set comeback win over Cal State Bakersfield, sophomore Madi Maxwell led the way in a memorable all-around performance, finishing with 12 kills, 41 assists and 17 digs to record the first triple-double for Long Beach State since 2012. That effort came from Tara Roenicke, who finished with 11 kills, 43 assists and 14 digs against Cal State Fullerton 13 years ago.

• In less than a week, Maxwell repeated the feat in a 3-0 sweep against UC Irvine. Guiding Long Beach State to .270 hitting as a team, Maxwell finished with 10 kills on .529 hitting hersef while making 27 assists and 11 digs on November 1.

• Also against Cal State Bakersfield on October 25, senior Elise Agi led the team with 23 kills and 20 digs, becoming the first player since Nele Barber in 2016 to finish with a 20/20 night for Long Beach State.

FIRST YEAR PHENOM
• Redshirt freshman Logan King earned her fifth Big West Freshman of the Week award after another outstanding week against CSUN and Cal State Bakersfield. King matched a career high with 21 kills on .581 hitting against CSUN, and then had a double-double against the Runners with 17 kills and 17 digs.

• King was recognized in back-to-back weeks to start the season, and has now won the award in three of the last five weeks. The opposite ranks among the Big West leaders in a number of offensive categories, and is first on Long Beach State in kills at 3.56 per set while adding 17 aces, 206 digs and 74 total blocks on the year.

• After the October 27 win, King is now just two away from tying the Big West record of seven Freshman of the Week wins, set by Adlee Van Winden of Cal Poly in 2015. King was also chosen as the Big West Offensive Player of the Week on October 6.

SETTER SPOTLIGHT
• Sophomore Madi Maxwell is making the most of her new opportunity, taking over as the team's primary setter in her second season with the program after earning Big West All-Freshman Team honors as an opposite in 2024, finishing the year averaging 1.89 kills per set with 19 service aces.

• Now a two-time Big West Setter of the Week, Maxwell has quickly adapted to her new role, leading Long Beach State in multiple areas. Maxwell is averaging 9.09 assists per set while leading the Beach with 21 aces and 246 digs on the year, while contributing 0.63 blocks per set and over a kill per set while guiding the Beach to .235 hitting as a team, third-best in the conference.

BLOCK PARTY
• Middle Blocker Nieko Thomas is another weekly award winner, selected following a 2-0 week for the Beach on October 20 where she averaged 2.0 blocks per set in wins over UC San Diego and Hawai'i, including matching a career-high with 10 blocks against the Tritons.

• Thomas leads Long Beach State and the Big West in total blocks with 105, a tally that ranks in the Top 100 in Division I. She ranks fourth in the Big West in blocks per set, averaging 1.13. She tied her career high with 10 blocks on Oct. 16 against UC San Diego.

• Rhiann Sheffie adds depth with 82 total blocks, ranking in the Top 10 in the Big West in total blocks, and is effective on offense as well, ranking in the league's Top 10 in hitting percentage at .286 on the year.

• As a team, LBSU is 38th in blocks per set nationally at 2.54 blocks per set, and defensively the Beach have been very strong, limiting teams to .191 hitting which ranks in the nation's Top 100.

PLAYER NOTES
• Senior Elise Agi has been a veteran presence for the squad, averaging 2.98 kills per set, second-most on the team while adding 17 aces, 46 blocks and 2.55 digs per set as a constant presence for the Beach.

• Agi was named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week on September 22 after leading LBSU to a 3-0 record at the UniWyo Invite. Agi hit .326 while averaging 3.46 kills, 3.00 digs, and 3.88 points per set. She posted two double-doubles, including a career-high 16 digs vs. Wyoming and 24 kills vs. Idaho State.

• Long Beach State has another true freshman making an impact offensively in Sidney Hamaker. The freshman outside hitter posted double-digit kills in five straight matches earlier this season, capped by a season-high 14 against UC Santa Barbara, and ranks third on the team with an average of 2.32 kills per set.

• Two Division I transfers have also earned a role this season for the Beach. Sophomore Pola Bujnarowska has now played in 26 sets, averaging 0.69 blocks per set and hitting .235 after one season at Syracuse, while junior Anabel Kotzakov has played in 60 sets, averaging 1.43 kills per set and 1.40 digs per set after coming to the Beach from Boise State.

• Bringing even more versatility to the Beach, sophomore Madi Collins has added 74 assists and four aces this year, allowing Long Beach State to bring in a second setter to supplement the all-around skills of Madi Maxwell at the position.

• Redshirt freshman Preslie Yates saw her first significant time of the year at UC Santa Barbara on November 8 and rewarded the team with a strong performance, setting career highs in both blocks and kills with eight blocks and seven kills on .353 hitting.

DOUBLE LIBERO
• The Beach are utilizing a double libero rotation featuring Anna Jelinek and Izzy Mahaffey. Jelinek is tied for fourth on the team in digs with 155 in total this season, with five double-digit efforts, including a season-high 13 vs. San Diego State on September 13. Mahaffey is even with Jelenek in total digs with 155 and has made 11 aces on the year, recording double-digit digs three times including a season-best of 15 twice against Wyoming and Idaho State.