No. 1 Long Beach State Sweeps No. 16 UC Santa Barbara

Friday, April 4

Long Beach, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

23-1,5-1Big West

UC Santa Barbara

11-12,2-4Big West

UC Santa Barbara

Long Beach St.

Photo by: John Fajardo

4/4/2025 9:46:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score LBSU-UCSB Box

The Beach hit .347 with 10 blocks in the straight set win on Friday night

By: Lindy Zamora, Associate Athletic Communications Director

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The top-ranked Long Beach State Men's Volleyball team recorded its 18th sweep of the season as the Beach rolled past No. 16 UC Santa Barbara, 3-0 [25-14, 25-20, 25-17], on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid.

The Beach (23-1, 5-1 Big West) controlled the match as they hit .347, while limiting the Gauchos (11-12, 2-4 Big West) to a mere .012 attack percentage. LBSU led UC Santa Barbara in all statistical categories as the Beach led in kills (37-21), assists (31-19), aces (5-0), digs (32-18), and blocks (10-4).

Offensively, the Beach were led by Alex Kandev and Daniil Hershtynovich as each finished the match with 11 kills. Kandev was efficient as he hit .526 (11-1-19), while Hershtynovich posted a .300 (11-5-20) clip. Kandev also led the Beach with three aces, to go along with seven digs, and four blocks. Meanwhile, Hershtynovich added six digs, three blocks, and one assist.

An ace ?? from Alex Kandev sends us to set point before the Beach win the first set, 25-14, over UC Santa Barbara #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/JIfkojlA72
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 5, 2025

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov ran an excellent offense dishing out 27 assists, while adding four kills of his own. An all-around player, Nikolov also contributed defensively with five digs, one block, and one ace.

On the defensive end, freshman libero Kellen Larson anchored the back row as he logged a career-high nine digs. He also notched his first career kill in the third set.

At the net, Ben Braun put up six blocks in addition to registering three kills on the night.

The Beach got off to a hot start as they never trailed in the first set. After seven ties, Long Beach State used a 7-0 scoring run to open up the set (18-11). The run was highlighted by a pair of kills from Hershtynovich. The Beach put the game away on a 5-0 run that saw Kandev record a pair of aces before Hershtynovich tallied a kill to win it, 25-14.

The second set was the closest of the three as the Beach and the Gauchos battled each other through seven ties and three lead changes. Both teams kept it close early on. However, Long Beach State took the lead for good after scoring five-straight points to go up 22-19. The Beach would go on to win the second set, 25-20, on a kill from Braun.

The Beach turned in a .632 attack percentage and a 94% sideout percentage in the third set as they kept the Gauchos at bay. LBSU led the entire set and found themselves leading 15-11 at the media timeout. The Beach went on to lead, 20-13, after an ace from Nikolov. A key block assists from McRaven and Hershtynovich set up match point (24-16) for the Beach. McRaven put the game and match away with a kill to complete the sweep, 25-17.

The Beach defeat the Gauchos in straight sets on a kill by DiAeris McRaven #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/g6K97yc2Cg
— Long Beach State Men's VB (@LBSUMVB) April 5, 2025

George Bruening led UC Santa Barbara with 10 kills, while Cole Schobel recorded 17 assists, and Riggs Guy registered six digs.

Long Beach State fly to Honolulu next week to face No. 5 Hawaii on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 at the Stan Sheriff Center. First serve is set for 10 p.m. (PT) and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.