Saturday, April 19
Long Beach, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
Long Beach State University
26-2,8-2Big West
3
vs
0
UC San Diego
17-11,3-7Big West
1
2
3
F
UC San Diego
12
21
18
0
Long Beach St.
25
25
25
3
Photo by: John Fajardo
Top-Ranked Long Beach State Captures the 2025 Big West Regular Season Title With Sweep over No. 10 UC San Diego
4/19/2025 10:08:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
The Beach hit .468 in the match and posted 13.0 blocks in the Senior Night victory
LONG BEACH, Calif. – In front of the third-highest attendance in Long Beach State Men's Volleyball program history, the top-ranked Beach put on a show for the 4,364 fans on their way to winning the 2025 Big West Regular Season Title after sweeping No. 10 UC San Diego, 3-0 [25-12, 25-21, 25-18] on Saturday for Senior Night.
With the victory, Long Beach State (26-2, 8-2 Big West) earns the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2025 Big West Championships hosted by Hawaii. UC San Diego (17-11, 3-7 Big West) will head into the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
In the final regular season home match, the Beach hit .468 and recorded 13.0 blocks, while limited the Tritons to just a .105 attack percentage.
Seniors Nato Dickinson and DiAeris McRaven got the start and finished with eight and five kills respectively. Dickinson hit .319 (8-2-19) for the night while posting a team-leading six blocks, three digs, two aces, and one assist. McRaven led the Beach with an impressive .714 hitting percentage (5-0-7), while putting up five blocks.
Junior Skyler Varga led the Beach offense with 12 kills on a .550 clip (12-1-20), while freshman Alex Kandev chipped in seven kills, while hitting .500 (7-1-12).
Pacing the Beach was freshman setter Moni Nikolov who dished out 35 assists. Additionally, he contributed six kills on a .364 (6-2-11) attack percentage, while adding four digs, three aces, and two blocks.
Freshman libero Kellen Larson logged eight digs in the backrow to lead the defensive efforts.
The Beach were unstoppable in the opening set as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. LBSU hit .778 (14-0-18) in the frame and posted a 91% sideout percentage. Following an early 1-1 tie, Long Beach took the lead and led the rest of the way. A 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Dickinson gave the Beach a double-digit lead as they found themselves leading the Tritons 20-8. LBSU continued its offensive tear as the Beach cruised to a 25-12 win.
UC San Diego came out in the second set and quickly took a 3-0 lead. The two teams traded points battling through half a dozen ties. With the set tied at 16-all, the Beach scored back-to-back points to take the lead for good thanks to a kill from Varga. From there, LBSU took the game, 25-21.
Leading 2-0, Long Beach State opened the third set on a 5-1 run and never trailed. The Beach used a 4-0 run to jump out in front 13-7, before stringing together three-straight points to extend their lead to eight (16-8). The Beach went on to complete the sweep with a 25-18 win.
Following the match, Long Beach State recognized its five seniors in Noah Robin, Sebastian Rodriguez Sotiris Siapanis, Dickinson, and McRaven.
UC San Diego was led by Josh Schellinger's 12 kills on a .333 clip. Bryce Dvorak finished with 26 assists, while Leo Pravednikov and Keegan Cook each tallied five digs.
With the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Long Beach State earns a bye into the semifinals. The Beach will play the winner of the No. 4 seed UC San Diego/No. 5 UC Santa Barbara match on Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. (PT).
With the victory, Long Beach State (26-2, 8-2 Big West) earns the No. 1 seed in the upcoming 2025 Big West Championships hosted by Hawaii. UC San Diego (17-11, 3-7 Big West) will head into the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
In the final regular season home match, the Beach hit .468 and recorded 13.0 blocks, while limited the Tritons to just a .105 attack percentage.
Seniors Nato Dickinson and DiAeris McRaven got the start and finished with eight and five kills respectively. Dickinson hit .319 (8-2-19) for the night while posting a team-leading six blocks, three digs, two aces, and one assist. McRaven led the Beach with an impressive .714 hitting percentage (5-0-7), while putting up five blocks.
BOOM BABY! ?? pic.twitter.com/8uPr1iJpRt
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 20, 2025
Junior Skyler Varga led the Beach offense with 12 kills on a .550 clip (12-1-20), while freshman Alex Kandev chipped in seven kills, while hitting .500 (7-1-12).
Pacing the Beach was freshman setter Moni Nikolov who dished out 35 assists. Additionally, he contributed six kills on a .364 (6-2-11) attack percentage, while adding four digs, three aces, and two blocks.
Freshman libero Kellen Larson logged eight digs in the backrow to lead the defensive efforts.
The Beach were unstoppable in the opening set as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back. LBSU hit .778 (14-0-18) in the frame and posted a 91% sideout percentage. Following an early 1-1 tie, Long Beach took the lead and led the rest of the way. A 4-0 run highlighted by back-to-back kills from Dickinson gave the Beach a double-digit lead as they found themselves leading the Tritons 20-8. LBSU continued its offensive tear as the Beach cruised to a 25-12 win.
UC San Diego came out in the second set and quickly took a 3-0 lead. The two teams traded points battling through half a dozen ties. With the set tied at 16-all, the Beach scored back-to-back points to take the lead for good thanks to a kill from Varga. From there, LBSU took the game, 25-21.
Leading 2-0, Long Beach State opened the third set on a 5-1 run and never trailed. The Beach used a 4-0 run to jump out in front 13-7, before stringing together three-straight points to extend their lead to eight (16-8). The Beach went on to complete the sweep with a 25-18 win.
Following the match, Long Beach State recognized its five seniors in Noah Robin, Sebastian Rodriguez Sotiris Siapanis, Dickinson, and McRaven.
A kill for Noah Robin on Senior Night #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/1zG4Xf76Fb
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 20, 2025
UC San Diego was led by Josh Schellinger's 12 kills on a .333 clip. Bryce Dvorak finished with 26 assists, while Leo Pravednikov and Keegan Cook each tallied five digs.
With the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Long Beach State earns a bye into the semifinals. The Beach will play the winner of the No. 4 seed UC San Diego/No. 5 UC Santa Barbara match on Friday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. (PT).
Team Stats
UCSD
LBSU
Kills
30
43
Errors
21
6
Attempts
86
79
Hitting %
.105
.468
Points
33.0
62.0
Assists
30
40
Aces
3
6
Blocks
0
13
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
6
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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/ Men's VolleyballOPP
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