By Jack Haslett
Redshirt junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga and freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev led No. 1 ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball (16-0) to a 3-0 win over Sacred Heart University (3-11) on March 7 at the Walter Pyramid.
The victory marks the team’s seven straight sweep.
The first set was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, who found themselves tied at eight after a constant exchange of scoring.
The Beach took a steady lead after that point but struggled to keep the Pioneers more than three points away until LBSU scored five unanswered points to win the first set 25-18.
Long Beach State carried their momentum into the second set and hopped out to a lead that grew to as much as six and led 14-8 after a 5-2 run.
Varga slammed down two straight kills to extend The Beach’s lead to 17-9 in the second as The Beach rode that lead to a dominant 25-16 second set win.
The redshirt junior opposite hitter was a staple of The Beach’s offense and led The Beach in kills with 12 and attacks with 25.
Kandev was close behind Varga in the scoring column with his nine kills and seven digs. The two LBSU players combined for 14 of LBSU’s 22 kills in the first two sets and 21 of the team’s 39 kills in the game.
Freshman setter Moni Nikolov was a major part of the offense, as usual, and tallied 24 of The Beach’s 30 assists on the night.
“He’s [Nikolov] extremely physical, especially compared to other players in his position in our league,” Redshirt junior outside/opposite hitter Connor Bloom said. “It’s something special to be out there and watching him play with that sort of physicality.”
LBSU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the third set, looking to shut the door and seal its victory. The Pioneers immediately turned the tide with a 5-0 run to flip the script on The Beach and take the lead 7-5.
Sacred Heart sophomore middle blocker Alec Niemczyk was the cornerstone of its run, slamming down three straight kills to put the Pioneers ahead.
“I think one of my jobs is to bring a lot of positivity,” Freshman libero Kellen Larson said. “When things didn’t go our way.. I think what I tried to do was bring a lot of positivity and… like, go on to the next point because staying in the last point isn’t going to help you at all.
Not content to be behind, The Beach answered with a 4-0 run of their own to jump back ahead 11-9, halfway to victory in their final set and the match at large.
The two teams went point for point through the last 10 exchanges of the game, with The Beach keeping the Pioneers at arms length until a Pioneer service error awarded the final point to The Beach, who took home the third set and the match 25-20, the closest margin of scores between all three sets.
The win keeps The Beach’s perfect season rolling, and they will remain at home to host Cal State Northridge at the Walter Pyramid on March 14 at 7 p.m.
“We’re not going to look too far into the future; we all know what we’re striving… to get to,” Associate head coach Nick MacRae said. “It’s going to be difficult, and that’s part of the gig. We’re going to continue to come in and ask for more and push for more and we’re going to see where it takes us.”
