By No. 1 Long Beach State’s run of dominance continues with their eighth straight sweep, moving them to 17-0 this season with their win over No. 7 Cal State Northridge. The Beach improves to a ridiculous 51-4 in sets this year.
The Matadors entered Friday’s contest boasting an impressive 14-3 record themselves, one of those losses coming to The Beach just a week ago, also coming via a sweep in the Matadome at Northridge.
Not only has LBSU established themselves as the best team in the nation thus far, but as a captivating team as well in the NCAA, with their electric style of play bringing a crowd of over 3,000 fans to the Walter Pyramid Friday night.
The Beach began the match with a 6-1 run, as LBSU maintained full control throughout the first set. Superstar freshman setter Moni Nikolov went to the service line midway through and was met with a silent arena all with their phones out looking to capture his next viral highlight.
Sophomore outside hitter Sani Sebastiano, senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven and freshman setter Moni Nikolov combined for a triple block for LBSU. The Beach defense shutdown the Matadors as they failed to score more than 20 points in the three sets that were played. Photo credit: Mark Siquig.
“Tonight was really all about our serving, the best part of that was that it was a big emphasis for the entire week,” head coach Alan Knipe said. “When we can transfer the areas we’ve identified early in the week and go out in the match and do it, that’s a huge piece of the match.”
Nikolov delivered with a service ace registered at 74 miles per hour to the delight of the LBSU crowd to make it 9-2. Soon after LBSU grabbed their first double-digit lead of the night with another service ace, this time from sophomore outside hitter Sebastiano Sani, leading to a CSUN timeout.
The Beach would tally 31 service aces throughout the match, and take set one by a score of 25-17.
The second set featured a heavy dose of the duo, Nikolov and redshirt junior opposite hitter Skylar Varga, who led the charge for LBSU offensively. The connection was on display all night with Nikolov tallying a game-high 30 assists and Varga hitting .600.
“I know I’m a good server, and I know I can go back there and rip my serve. Today I definitely felt comfortable tossing the ball,” Varga said.
CSUN made costly errors that are impossible to survive against a team the calibar of LBSU, with double the amount of service errors (18-9). The Beach dominated the front row, outblocking the Matadors 8-2, with senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven posting a game-high five.
“We’ve been pushing a lot with our block on defense, but we’ve also been pushing our middle with our quicks,” Knipe said. “DiAeris put in extra effort on both the offensive side and the defensive side. I’ve been really really proud of the improvements he’s made.”
LBSU won set two by a double digit margin, winning 25-14.
The Matadors pushed back in set three, as it was the most tightly contested set of the night, with some back and forth action early on. With things ramping up and the score even at 8-8, Nikolov and CSUN’s fellow Bulgarian countrymen, freshman middle blocker Stilian Delibosov got into a chirping match.
LBSU sophomore opposite hitter Daniil Hershtynovich skies up for the kill versus CSUN on Friday night at the Walter Pyramid. He finished with a game-high 12 kills as The Beach dominate at home. Photo credit: Mark Siquig.
Nikolov used the playful smack talk as fuel, as The Beach was able to take and maintain the lead the rest of the way through, including a play in which he went into the front row of the stands to save a ball, ensuing in a rally which he finished off with an assist to Daniil Hershtynovich.
The sophomore opposite hitter, Hershtynovich led all players with a game-high 12 kills, serving as the main beneficiary of Nikolov’s passes. The Beach took care of things, finishing the third set 25-18, for another 3-0 win.
LBSU has not lost a set in now over a month, with their last coming on Feb. 7, during their 3-1 win over UCLA. The Beach return to action Saturday night against No. 19 Princeton back at the Pyramid at 7 p.m.
