Saturday, February 22
Long Beach, Calif.
7:30 p.m.
Long Beach State University
13-0,0-0Big West
3
vs
0
Barton College
8-6,3-1Conference Carolinas
1
2
3
F
Barton
14
14
16
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
25
3
Men’s Volleyball Grabs Second Sweep Of The Weekend Against Barton
2/22/2025 9:46:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach were led by Alex Kandev who had 11 kills against the Bulldogs.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - No. 1 Long Beach State showcased their depth in a 25-14, 25-14, 25-16 win over Barton with 14 players seeing action and eight finishing with a kill, led by freshman Alex Kandev who had 11 kills on .421 hitting.
Long Beach State (13-0) utilized a number of different players on the night. Sebastiano Sani and Connor Bloom both finished with nine kills each, with Bloom leading the team with three aces of the team's nine on Saturday.
Long Beach State started the match on a 7-1 run, and kept the pressure on Barton (8-6), increasing their lead to 16-6. Up 19-9, two aces from Bloom and Sani helped the Beach close out a 25-16 first set win.
Barton College was able to find their footing in the second set as Lawson Hink got a kill to start the set. They continued to grab points, but Ben Braun entered the match to pick up the Beach defense as he grabbed a block to make it 7-3. Kandev kept the energy up as he helped the Beach pull away with back-to-back kills at 13-5. A few errors gave the Bulldogs a run to get to 16-11, but a huge kill by Braun stopped the momentum, and Bloom hit his third ace of the night to end the set and put the Beach up 2-0.
The Beach was down early in the third set as Barton again tried to find their rhythm. A service ace by Nikolov tied the set at 4-4. A kill from Bloom gave Long Beach State the lead but Barton kept scrapping for points. Another kill from Hink brought the Bulldogs within one point at 11-10. A service error gave the Beach a sideout, and kills by Sani and Bloom gave the Beach a cushion at 14-10. Kandev's 10th kill of the night pushed the Beach to a 22-16 lead, and Georgi Binev closed out the night with an ace to finish off the third set 25-16.
Long Beach State will play a second game against Barton tomorrow, with first serve scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.
Long Beach State (13-0) utilized a number of different players on the night. Sebastiano Sani and Connor Bloom both finished with nine kills each, with Bloom leading the team with three aces of the team's nine on Saturday.
Long Beach State started the match on a 7-1 run, and kept the pressure on Barton (8-6), increasing their lead to 16-6. Up 19-9, two aces from Bloom and Sani helped the Beach close out a 25-16 first set win.
Barton College was able to find their footing in the second set as Lawson Hink got a kill to start the set. They continued to grab points, but Ben Braun entered the match to pick up the Beach defense as he grabbed a block to make it 7-3. Kandev kept the energy up as he helped the Beach pull away with back-to-back kills at 13-5. A few errors gave the Bulldogs a run to get to 16-11, but a huge kill by Braun stopped the momentum, and Bloom hit his third ace of the night to end the set and put the Beach up 2-0.
The Beach was down early in the third set as Barton again tried to find their rhythm. A service ace by Nikolov tied the set at 4-4. A kill from Bloom gave Long Beach State the lead but Barton kept scrapping for points. Another kill from Hink brought the Bulldogs within one point at 11-10. A service error gave the Beach a sideout, and kills by Sani and Bloom gave the Beach a cushion at 14-10. Kandev's 10th kill of the night pushed the Beach to a 22-16 lead, and Georgi Binev closed out the night with an ace to finish off the third set 25-16.
Long Beach State will play a second game against Barton tomorrow, with first serve scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.
Team Stats
Barton
LBSU
Kills
17
40
Errors
17
14
Attempts
65
82
Hitting %
.000
.317
Points
18.0
56.0
Assists
17
37
Aces
0
9
Blocks
1
7
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
3
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OPP/OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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