Long Beach State University
17-0,2-0Big West
CSUN
14-4,0-2Big West
No. 1 Men’s Volleyball Remains Undefeated After A Sweep Of No. 7 CSUN
3/14/2025 9:54:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Long Beach State continued their dominant run with another sweep of the Matadors.
LONG BEACH, Calif. - No. 1 Long Beach State held No. 7 CSUN to their lowest hitting percentage of the season as they swept the Matadors for the second time this year, winning 25-17, 25-14, 24-18. The Beach hit 13 service aces, their second highest number of aces this season, to go with a .356 hitting percentage.
Long Beach State (17-0, 2-0 Big West) started with a 6-1 run over CSUN (14-4, 0-2 Big West) as Daniil Hershtynovich grabbed back-to-back kills. Moni Nikolov hit his first of seven service aces in the match to bump the score to 9-3. Long Beach State widened the score to a 10-point lead with a service ace from Sebastiano Sani. CSUN was able to grab a few points as Lorenzo Bertozzi, one of their leading scorers, got a few kills off of the Long Beach State block. Nikolov hit back-to-back aces to push the Beach to 20-9. The Matadors answered with a 4-0 scoring run to close the gap, but an attack error gave Long Beach State their first set point. The Matadors' only ace of the night held off the Beach but a kill from Hershtynovich took the first set 25-17.
Two service aces from Skyler Varga gave the Beach another hot start that caused CSUN to take an early timeout at 9-3. More service pressure from the Beach allowed the lead to widen again at 13-7. Varga hit four aces in the second set, with one dropping off the tape after a timeout from CSUN. The Matador offense struggled as DiAeris McRaven put up five blocks to lead both teams. The score was 25-14 as Long Beach State closed out the second set with a block from McRaven.
CSUN used a solo block from Joao Favarim to take an early lead in the third set at 4-2. The Beach pulled within one point and tied the set with a triple block at 6-6. The lead changed twice but Nikolov's serve grabbed two more points as the Beach began to pull away at 12-8. CSUN stayed within two points at 15-13. On top of his high-level defense, McRaven had a perfect night on offense as he had his fourth kill on four swings from the back row to reach 20-14. A kill from Nato Dickinson closed out the win as the Beach defeated the Matadors in three sets.
Long Beach State will be back in action tomorrow as they take on No. 19 Princeton in the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m.
