The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2023-24 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team was able to flex its depth on Saturday night in the Walter Pyramid, relying on a handful of different guys in a dominant win over visiting Barton College. The Beach won 25-14, 25-14, 25-16.
LBSU had eight different players record a kill including seven with more than one, which was a direct result of coach Alan Knipe using his subs to get different guys in the mix. Alex Kandev had a game-high 11 kills for The Beach while Connor Bloom and Sebastiano Sani each had nine.
“Everyone’s seen the last couple of games and definitely tonight that there’s a lot of guys and arms with talent that we would like to use at different times so it’s really good for us when we get to do it,” said Knipe. “But more importantly for those guys to get real game experience. I love getting guys out there and I love the look on their faces when they take it out on the ball a little bit and it was fun to watch tonight.”
“It says about our team that we’re pretty dominant, and for me personally it gives me a sense of comfort in my own skills,” added Bloom. “I can lean on my teammates and my teammates can lean on me to score points and that all feels very secure.”
In getting different guys involved, Knipe also explained the difficulty of being limited in his number of subs in comparison to women’s volleyball. That gave him the predicament of deciding who and when to sub, which he says he had to be very tactical about.
Knipe made sure to blend in different groups of players together, and tried to balance letting guys hit off of superstar setter Moni Nikolov while also letting Island Doty get some reps at setter. The 6-foot-8 Nikolov moved around to both outside hitter and opposite with Doty in the lineup, again showing the depth and versatility of The Beach with Nikolov’s multifaceted skill set on full display.
“There’s no perfect way to do it but you’re trying to get as many combinations as you can,” Knipe said. “As far as getting a little creative and trying stuff, let’s just say Moni has a little bit of confidence in trying stuff on his own. That wasn’t necessarily always by design.”
After dropping the first point of the match, LBSU never trailed again through the first two sets and sunk into a steady rhythm while serving the ball. The Beach totaled nine aces for the match on .836 serving, including a game-high three aces from Bloom and a pair from Nikolov.
“I’m always trying to serve my best and be out there at my best, especially in my role as a serving sub normally,” said Bloom, who spent almost the whole game at outside hitter. “It’s a little easier when you’re always on the court, so I definitely felt a little more comfortable today with my serving.”
The third set was by far the closest set, and the Knights found themselves within three points with a 16-13 Beach lead midway through the set. LBSU closed out the set on a 9-3 run to earn its fourth sweep in a row.
Lawson Hink led Barton with nine kills while Seth Deppe racked up 14 assists. Jose Ruiz also had a game-high 10 digs for the Knights.
The pair will square off once again on Sunday afternoon in the Walter Pyramid for the Beach’s third consecutive game in a row. LBSU remains undefeated at 13-0 and has only dropped four sets all season.
