Friday, April 11
Manoa, Hawaii
10:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
24-1,6-1Big West
3
at
1
Hawai'i
22-4,5-2Big West
1
2
3
4
F
Long Beach St.
25
25
18
25
3
Hawaii
21
18
25
21
1
No. 1 Long Beach State Takes Down No. 4 Hawaii In 3-1 Road Win
4/12/2025 3:05:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Daniil Hershtynovich and Alex Kandev lead the LBSU offense in the victory
HONOLULU – In front of a sold-out crowd of 10,300 at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center, top-ranked Long Beach State gained sole possession of first place in The Big West after taking down No. 4 Hawaii, 3-1 [25-21, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21].
The Beach (24-1, 6-1 Big West) cruised through the first two sets over the Rainbow Warriors (22-4, 5-2 Big West), before dropping the third and battling out a competitive fourth set. In the match, Long Beach State hit .365 while recording 51 kills and 11.5 blocks per set.
Sophomore Daniil Hershtynovich led the Beach with 17 kills on a .364 hitting percentage, while also adding five digs and two blocks. Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev chipped in 15 kills of his own on a .440 clip, while leading Long Beach State with three aces.
Rookie setter Moni Nikolov spread the ball around as he got four hitters to record at least five or more kills. His 38 assists led the Beach to a .365 attack percentage. Nikolov also contributed on the defensive end as he tied for the team lead with seven digs and five blocks.
Defensively, freshman libero Kellen Larson logged seven digs in the backrow while Ben Braun and Nikolov each posted five blocks at the net.
Long Beach State opened the match on a 6-1 run and never looked back. Despite the Beach leading the entire first set, it was a close one. LBSU held a 15-12 lead by the media timeout, before opening the game up, 22-17, thanks to a kill from Skyler Varga that led to a Hawaii timeout. The Beach came out of the break in action and promptly sent it to set point before a Kandev kill secured the set, 25-21.
Set two was all Long Beach as well. LBSU led the entire set, only allowing the Bows to tie the game once at 1-1. From there, the Beach pushed its lead to six (10-4) highlighted by an ace from Kandev. A block assist from Varga and Braun forced Hawaii to call a timeout as LBSU led, 13-7. The Beach would pull away late in the set on a 5-0 run that put them on top, 21-14. With the momentum in LBSU's favor, the Beach claimed the second set, 25-18, and took a 2-0 set lead over the Bows.
Hawaii was determined to avoid the sweep as the Bows out-hit the Beach, .375 to .192 during the third set. In the frame, the conference foes battled each other through four ties and two lead changes before the Bows closed the game on a 5-1 run to win, 25-18.
The fourth set was competitive throughout as the Beach and the Bows fought through 10 ties during the frame. Ryan Peluso came in to serve and notched an ace, his second of the night, to even the score at 16-all. The Beach went on a 4-0 run to break the final tie of the match and take a 22-20 advantage over Hawaii. From there, Long Beach State put the game and match away on a block assist from Kandev and DiAeris McRaven to win 25-21.
Hawaii hit .294 in the match and was led by Finn Kearney's 17 kills, while Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko chipped in 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Setter Tread Rosenthal notched a double-double with 40 assists and 13 digs.
The Beach and the Bows will battle it out once more on Saturday, April 12 at 7 p.m. (HT)/10 p.m. (PT). The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
The Beach (24-1, 6-1 Big West) cruised through the first two sets over the Rainbow Warriors (22-4, 5-2 Big West), before dropping the third and battling out a competitive fourth set. In the match, Long Beach State hit .365 while recording 51 kills and 11.5 blocks per set.
ROOF! The Beach get the stop as Hawaii calls a timeout #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/ZMFlS7PbQs
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 12, 2025
Sophomore Daniil Hershtynovich led the Beach with 17 kills on a .364 hitting percentage, while also adding five digs and two blocks. Meanwhile, freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev chipped in 15 kills of his own on a .440 clip, while leading Long Beach State with three aces.
Rookie setter Moni Nikolov spread the ball around as he got four hitters to record at least five or more kills. His 38 assists led the Beach to a .365 attack percentage. Nikolov also contributed on the defensive end as he tied for the team lead with seven digs and five blocks.
Defensively, freshman libero Kellen Larson logged seven digs in the backrow while Ben Braun and Nikolov each posted five blocks at the net.
Long Beach State opened the match on a 6-1 run and never looked back. Despite the Beach leading the entire first set, it was a close one. LBSU held a 15-12 lead by the media timeout, before opening the game up, 22-17, thanks to a kill from Skyler Varga that led to a Hawaii timeout. The Beach came out of the break in action and promptly sent it to set point before a Kandev kill secured the set, 25-21.
Alex Kandev knocks the set-winning kill down as the Beach lead the Bows, 1-0 #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/TTWH43QtjJ
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 12, 2025
Set two was all Long Beach as well. LBSU led the entire set, only allowing the Bows to tie the game once at 1-1. From there, the Beach pushed its lead to six (10-4) highlighted by an ace from Kandev. A block assist from Varga and Braun forced Hawaii to call a timeout as LBSU led, 13-7. The Beach would pull away late in the set on a 5-0 run that put them on top, 21-14. With the momentum in LBSU's favor, the Beach claimed the second set, 25-18, and took a 2-0 set lead over the Bows.
Hawaii was determined to avoid the sweep as the Bows out-hit the Beach, .375 to .192 during the third set. In the frame, the conference foes battled each other through four ties and two lead changes before the Bows closed the game on a 5-1 run to win, 25-18.
The fourth set was competitive throughout as the Beach and the Bows fought through 10 ties during the frame. Ryan Peluso came in to serve and notched an ace, his second of the night, to even the score at 16-all. The Beach went on a 4-0 run to break the final tie of the match and take a 22-20 advantage over Hawaii. From there, Long Beach State put the game and match away on a block assist from Kandev and DiAeris McRaven to win 25-21.
Hawaii hit .294 in the match and was led by Finn Kearney's 17 kills, while Adrien Roure and Louis Sakanoko chipped in 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Setter Tread Rosenthal notched a double-double with 40 assists and 13 digs.
The Beach and the Bows will battle it out once more on Saturday, April 12 at 7 p.m. (HT)/10 p.m. (PT). The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
LBSU
Hawaii
Kills
51
51
Errors
13
19
Attempts
104
109
Hitting %
.365
.294
Points
68.5
59.5
Assists
46
51
Aces
6
3
Blocks
11.5
5.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
15
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP/S
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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