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The No. 1-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team has been rolling undefeated through the season, but faced their biggest test of the year in the Walter Pyramid on Friday night as they hosted No. 3 UCLA in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 4,400 fans. The Beach passed the test with relative ease, dominating the defending national champion Bruins in four sets, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16, 25-22.
“We’ve had some decent matches but that was our first opportunity to be in that environment,” Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe said. “I thought the guys by and large did a lot of really, really good things. What I was most impressed about was when we didn’t play the way we wanted to–for a team that has not been together very long–they did a wonderful job in their reset and their communication.”
The Beach will have to reset for a match at UCLA next Wednesday at 7pm in Pauley Pavilion, a match sure to draw another big crowd as well as the eyes of the greater volleyball world.
Unsurprisingly, freshman setter Moni Nikolov was once again the star of the show. The 18 year old phenom put on a dazzling array of volleyball skill, with seven aces, 35 assists as a setter, five kills, two blocks, and two digs. His serves ranged in speed from 25 miles per hour to 78 miles per hour–clocking aces on both ends of the spectrum.
“Coach has given me the freedom to choose (my serves) and to not put me in a box in terms of what to do and when,” said Nikolov.
“100% of every decision that was made tonight serving was Moni’s decision of how to serve,” Knipe said.
Knipe is a sports junkie who has been trying all kinds of analogies to explain how special Nikolov is, as a 6-8 setter with all-world athleticism and a rocket arm both as a server and a hitter when needed. The closest thing to it is Victor Wembanyama currently, since he’s so oversized for his skill set. But Knipe has also referenced Magic Johnson in discussing Nikolov’s creativity–setting unconventional balls and angles.
“We’ve definitely improved a lot in terms of me trying different stuff,” said Nikolov. “We had our issues in the Fall where people were like…I would fake my own teammates, or they wouldn’t approach. I think we’ve done a really good job–our coaches encourage the hitters to expect greatness, that’s what we talk about every day in training. And I expect greatness for my hitters.”
Skyler Varga was on the end of a lot of those sets on Friday, finishing with 12 kills on .333 hitting with three digs and a block.
“Moni’s an impressive player, he’s a great player to have on your team,” said Varga. “I’d hate to see him across the net obviously. Having a setter that’s as creative as him makes everything so much easier. Being able to create is, it’s fun, and it makes volleyball fun.”
In the first set, the Beach raced out to an early lead thanks to back-to-back aces by Nikolov, the first of which hit 75 miles per hour and drew a huge roar from the Pyramid crowd. UCLA took a timeout down 13-8 after a massive overpass kill by Nikolov, and the Beach still won easily despite the Bruins fighting off five set points behind Andrew Rowan’s excellent service game; eventually a Rowan serve went long to give the Beach set point and a 1-0 lead after the 25-21 opening set victory.
UCLA took an early lead in the second set and the Beach spent the rest of the time trying to claw their way back into it, pulling within a point several times but never drawing even. The Bruins outhit the Beach .524 to .182 in the second frame to even the match 1-1 after a 25-20 second set victory.
In the third set, Nikolov’s all-world service ability shone, and took the set for the Beach. He stepped to the back line with the match knotted, and served up a 4-0 run that included an ace. His serves ranged in velocity from 45-78 miles per hour, with the ace coming on a mid-speed curveball he bent over the net. Sotiris Siapanis finished a back row kill then Varga tooled one, putting the Beach up 12-8 by the time Nikolov’s service run was over.
He took the line again up 21-15 and went on a 3-0 run that included his fourth ace of the night. The Beach easily won the set 25-16 after outhitting the Bruins .429 to .077 in the frame.
The fourth set opened with a 4-0 lead for the Beach courtesy of three straight aces by Nikolov, forcing an early UCLA timeout. The Beach maintained their lead all set and took match point on a service error by Rowan.
The two teams will meet again next week at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday at 7pm.
