By Davis Ramage
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No.1 seed Long Beach State men’s volleyball proved to be too physical in its sweep of the No. 8 seed Fort Valley State Wildcats on Thursday, May 8, at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Despite synchronized jumping jacks and dances from the FVSU bench, LBSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and freshman setter Moni Nikolov‘s fingerprints were all over the first three points.
He started the match with a one-handed dump, combined with junior middle blocker Ben Braun for a block and topped it off with a kill to give The Beach an early advantage.
Outside of Nikolov’s run, The Beach got off to a start that LBSU head coach Alan Knipe described as “a slow start, kind of a weird start at times.”
The Beach had eight attack errors and three service errors in the first half as they were struggling to deal with the Wildcats’ athleticism.
Their athleticism was on display when returning serves and kept them in the match as the score was 16-15 in favor of The Beach halfway through the first set.
The Beach eventually settled in and extended their lead to 22-16, and Nikolov’s comfort showed on his mid-air patented fake hit to set motion.
The Wildcats fought back during The Beach’s match point from 24-17 to 24-21, but redshirt senior opposite hitter Nato Dickinson ended the run and clinched the set with a kill.
Dickinson finished with 12 kills on the night.
LBSU’s kill leader, redshirt junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga, started the set off with one of his popular tip kills that was part of a four-point service run from senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven, who the FVSU bench players coined “McDonalds,” to put LBSU up 4-1 early.
Nikolov was spreading the ball around efficiently, and to multiple players, as midway through the second set, five Beach players had at least three kills, including himself with eight.
LBSU freshman setter Moni Nikolov sets up senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven for a kill versus the Wildcats. McRaven finished the game with four kills. Photo credit: Mark Siquig
He stuffed the stat sheet and finished the match with 31 assists, eight kills and three aces.
FVSU junior outside hitter Isaiah Fedd showed why he is 14th in the country with 3.84 kills per set, as his incredible leap from the back row guided him to 10 kills through two sets.
“Isiah has an arm that’s equal to the best arm on all the teams that are here [NCAA Tournament],” Knipe said. “He gets up and he takes a swing and he doesn’t get cheated ever.”
Despite Fedd’s efforts, Varga’s third kill of the match put an exclamation mark on the second set as The Beach cruised to a 25-16 second-set victory.
The energy on the LBSU side of the court was positive all night, with Nikolov and McRaven constantly smiling and giving their teammates constructive comments.
“I really like the conversations that were happening during the match,” Knipe said. “If you can hear guys talking and it sounds a little more like video sessions… that’s a good thing.”
The third set started just as the previous two did. The Wildcats hung around early but were eventually overpowered by The Beach’s physicality.
That physicality was evident on the block as The Beach’s two middles, Braun and McRaven, weren’t putting up block statistics that jump off the page. However, the duo rejected and altered numerous kill attempts from Fedd and others.
LBSU freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev and senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven block a kill attempt versus Fort Valley State. The Beach’s defense shut down the Wildcats, only allowing a total of 32 points in the last two sets. Photo credit: Mark Siquig.
A Wildcat timeout down 18-12 was their last chance to muster up a run to keep themselves alive. They were not able to do so as The Beach went on to take the third set 25-16.
FVSU’s men’s volleyball was established in 2022, and they have already made two NCAA Tournament appearances. Though overpowered by LBSU, the program has a bright future.
“These guys are fighters, these guys are unified. You should be worried,” FVSU head coach Larry Wrather said.
With the quarterfinal sweep of FVSU, LBSU advances to the semifinals and will take on the winner of No. 4 Loyola Chicago and No. 5 Pepperdine on Saturday, May 10 at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
