Long Beach State University
9-0,0-0Big West
UCLA
6-2,0-0MPSF
No. 1 Long Beach State Defeats No. 3 UCLA 3-1 In Sold Out Walter Pyramid
2/7/2025 10:15:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Long Beach State played a gritty four-set match against the Bruins and came out victorious.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 1 Long Beach State continued their undefeated season with a win over No. 3 UCLA. After being tied at one set a piece, Long Beach State ran away with the lead to finish two fast paced sets and take the match 3-1.
Skyler Varga led the team with 12 kills and Hershtynovich also finished with double-digit kills making 10. Moni Nikolov led the Beach with seven service aces to lead the team, along with adding five kills and 35 assists to the offense. Lazar Bouchkov led the team in blocks, as the Long Beach State blockers held the Bruins to a .304 hitting percentage.
Long Beach State (9-0) started the game strong and stayed ahead of the Bruins (6-2) throughout the first set. Moni Nikolov hit back-to-back aces to put the Beach up 7-4. Creative plays by the freshman allowed the team to gain momentum and cause UCLA to take a 13-8 timeout. Nikolov stayed aggressive on offense as he had three kills of his own in the first set. A block by Lazar Bouchkov and Daniil Hershtynovich out of the timeout kept Long Beach in the lead.
More players began to light up the offense as DiAeris McRaven hit one straight down to push the Beach up to 20-16 lead. Sotiris Siapanis got an ace off the tape and shortly after hit a 65 mph serve to nab back-to-back aces. A kick save from Nikolov that was converted into a kill by Skyler Varga gave Long Beach State their first set point. Long Beach State played three set points and had to fight off a service ace that shot UCLA to 20-24. A service error by the Bruins ended the set 25-21 in favor of Long Beach State.
The second set proved to be more of a challenge for The Beach as UCLA found their rhythm. David Decker hit a service ace early in the set to put UCLA up 9-7. The Beach was down 12-9 but Daniil Hershtynovich found the back corner to grab a point after a Long Beach State timeout. They were able to come back within one of the Bruins but UCLA kept pushing. The momentum stayed with them to hit set point at 24-19. Lazar Bouchkov fended off the set loss with a kill but UCLA answered back to take the set and tie the game at one set a piece.
The third set stayed competitive with runs of momentum from both sides. A huge block from Nikolov and McRaven gave Long Beach State their first lead of the set at 6-5. Long rallies ended in favor of the Beach, and another Nikolov ace caused UCLA to take a timeout at 11-7. Lazar Bouchkov lit the team up with two strong swings down the middle to push the score to 14-10. McRaven continued to be a force at the net as he and Nikolov stopped the UCLA offense to go on a three- point run to 17-11. The pace of the match continued to pick up as The Beach increased to 22-15. Moni Nikolov hit his fourth service ace of the night to reach set point at 24-15 and LBSU quickly closed the set 25-16.
Moni Nikolov could not be stopped from the service line as he hit three service aces to start the fourth set. A successful challenge gave UCLA momentum, even as they were down 9-6. Nikolov hit a kill from the overpass to snatch the momentum right back. Nikolov aided in a triple block to put the Beach up 20-16. Long Beach State reached match point thanks to a hit off the block by Siapanis and a service error from the Bruins closed out the match 25-22.
Long Beach State will head to Pauley Pavilion to face the Bruins in a rematch between the two Top 5 programs on Wednesday, January 12 at 7 p.m.
