2025 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team

2025 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
2025 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
Big West Regular Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, Champions
Conference	Big West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
Record	30-3 (8-2 Big West)
Head coach	Alan Knipe (22nd season);
Assistant coaches	Nick MacRae (13th season); McKay Smith (5th season); Andy Read (29th season);
Home arena	Walter Pyramid

2025 Big West Conference men's volleyball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Long Beach State ‍†‍‍^y	8	–	2	.800	30	–	3	.909
No. 3 Hawaii ‍‍‡‍^y	7	–	3	.700	27	–	6	.818
No. 5 UC Irvine ‍‍‍	6	–	4	.600	21	–	7	.750
No. 10 UC San Diego ‍‍‍	3	–	7	.300	18	–	12	.600
No. 17 UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍	3	–	7	.300	12	–	16	.429
No. 9 Cal State Northridge ‍‍‍	3	–	7	.300	18	–	11	.621

† – Conference champion ‡ – Big West tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from AVCA

The 2025 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team represented Long Beach State University in the 2025 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Beach, led by twenty-second year head coach Alan Knipe, played their home games at Walter Pyramid. The Beach competed as members of the Big West Conference. The Long Beach State Beach lost to Hawai'i in the Big West Conference tournament. The team then received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, and went on to win the national championship versus UCLA, winning in three straight sets. This is their fourth men's volleyball NCAA championship, and their first since their back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019.

Preseason

Coaches poll

The preseason poll was released on December 19, 2024. Long Beach State was picked to finish first in the Big West Conference standings.^[1]

Big West Coaches' Poll

Coaches' Poll
Pos.	Team	Points
1	Long Beach State	24 (4)
2	UC Irvine	21 (2)
3	Hawai'i	18
4	UC Santa Barbara	12
5	CSUN	8
6	UC San Diego	7

Roster

2025 Long Beach State Beach roster^[2]

Defensive specialist/libero

11 Kellen Larson - Freshman
28 Chris Connelly - Sophomore
40 Ford Harman - Freshman

Middle blockers

3 Lazar Bouchkov - Sophomore
5 Isaiah Preuitt - Freshman
6 Ben Braun - Junior
19 DiAeris McRaven - Senior
24 Noah Robin - Senior

Outside hitters

2 Sebastian Rodriguez - Senior
8 Sotiris Siapanis - Senior
9 Sebastiano Sani - Sophomore
10 Connor Bloom - Junior
12 Alex Kandev - Freshman
17 Dane Hillis - Junior
20 Georgi Binev - Sophomore
34 Nate Baddeley - Freshman

Opposite hitters

4 Skyler Varga - Junior
9 Nathan Harlan - Junior
10 Connor Bloom - Junior
16 Nico Lietz - Sophomore
18 Nato Dickinson - Senior
20 Georgi Binev - Sophomore
25 Ryan Peluso - Sophomore
31 Daniil Hershtynovich - Sophomore

Setters

1 Moni Nikolov - Freshman
13 Island Doty - Junior
25 Ryan Peluso - Sophomore
40 Ford Harman - Freshman

Schedule

Source:^[3]

Legend
	Beach win
	Beach loss
	Postponement
*	Non-Conference Game

2025 Long Beach State Beach Men's Volleyball Game Log (30–3)

Regular Season (26–2)

January (7–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
Exhibition - North American Challenge
January 3	-	Saskatchewan*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California	3-0	(25–23, 25–21, 25–19)	–	–	–
January 3	-	Trinity Western*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–15, 25–17, 25–15)	–	–	—
January 4	-	Calgary*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–15, 25–20, 25–19)	157	–	—

January 10	ESPN+	Saint Francis*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–13, 25–15, 25–12)	1,281	1-0	—
January 15	ESPN+	at Lindenwood	No. 2	Robert F. Hyland Performance Arena St. Charles, Missouri	3-0	(25–14, 25–16, 25–19)	612	2-0	—
January 16	ESPN+	at McKendree*	No. 2	Melvin Price Convocation Center Lebanon, Illinois	3-0	(25–19, 25–20, 25–23)	350	3-0	—
January 18	ESPN+	at No. 12 Lewis*	No. 2	Neil Carey Arena Romeoville, Illinois	3-1	(20–25, 27–25, 25–16, 25–23)	1,400	4-0	—
January 24	ESPN+	Concordia Irvine*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–22, 25–19, 25–15)	1,625	5-0	—
January 26	ESPN+	at No. 11 Pepperdine*	No. 2	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California	3-2	(25–14, 24–26, 18–25, 25–17, 15–7)	630	6-0	—
Silver State Showdown
January 31	ESPN+	vs. Fort Valley State*	No. 1	Reno Convention Center Reno, Nevada	3-0	(25–19, 25–17, 25–20)	100	7-0	—

February (7–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
February 1	ESPN+	vs. Belmont Abbey*	No. 1	Reno Convention Center Reno, Nevada	3-0	(25–17, 25–14, 25–20)	150	8-0	—

February 7	ESPN+	#3 UCLA*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-1	(25–21, 20–25, 25–16, 25–22)	4,420	9-0	—
February 12	B1G+	at No. 3 UCLA*	No. 1	Pauley Pavilion	3-0	(25–23, 25–19, 25–23)	4,248	10-0	—
February 14	ESPN+	Vanguard*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–15, 25–11, 25–22)	1,763	11-0	—
February 21	ESPN+	No. 8 Grand Canyon*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–18, 27–25, 25–18)	2,450	12-0	—
February 22	ESPN+	Barton*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–14, 25–14, 25–16)	1,508	13-0	—
February 23	ESPN+	Barton*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–14, 25–13, 25–20)	1,338	14-0	—

March (7–1)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
March 5	ESPN+	at No. 7 CSUN	No. 1	Premier America Credit Union Arena Northridge, California	3-0	(25–22, 25–15, 25–20)	1,107	15-0	1–0
March 7	ESPN+	Sacred Heart*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–18, 25–16, 25–20)	1,927	16-0	—
March 14	ESPN+	No. 7 CSUN	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–17, 25–14, 25–18)	3,165	17-0	2–0
March 15	ESPN+	No. 19т Princeton*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–19, 25–22, 25–19)	2,278	18-0	—
March 21	ESPN+	NJIT*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-1	(25–9, 25–14, 23–25, 25-19	1,890	19-0	—
March 22	ESPN+	NJIT*	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–18, 25–13, 25–20)	1,572	20-0	—
March 28	ESPN+	No. 5 UC Irvine	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	0-3	(25–27, 19–25, 19–25)	4,676	20-1	2–1
March 29	ESPN+	No. 5 UC Irvine	No. 1	Bren Events Center Irvine, California	3-0	(25–23, 25–19, 29–27)	4,758	21-1	3–1

April (5–1)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
April 3	ESPN+	at No. 16 UC Santa Barbara	No. 1	The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California	3-1	(25–23, 25–16, 19–25, 25–19)	2,243	22-1	4–1
April 4	ESPN+	No. 16 UC Santa Barbara	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–14, 25–20, 25–17)	2,921	23-1	5–1
April 11	ESPN+	at No. 4 Hawai'i	No. 1	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, Hawai'i	3-1	(25–21, 25–18, 18–25, 25–21)	10,300	24-1	6–1
April 12	ESPN+	at No. 4 Hawai'i	No. 1	Stan Sheriff Center	2-3	(25–21, 20–25, 25–18, 19–25, 13–15)	10,300	24-2	6–2
April 18	ESPN+	at No. 10 UC San Diego	No. 1	LionTree Arena La Jolla, California	3-0	(25–23, 25–10, 25–22)	4,000	25-2	7–2
April 19	ESPN+	No. 10 UC San Diego	No. 1	Walter Pyramid	3-0	(25–12, 25–21, 25–18)	4,364	26-2	8–2

Postseason (1–1)

Big West Tournament (1–1)^[4]
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Record	BWC Tournament Record
April 24	ESPN+	vs. No. 10 UC San Diego (4) Semifinals	No. 1 (2)	Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, Hawai'i	3-0	(25–18, 25–23, 25–17)	7,209	27-2	1–0
April 25	ESPN+	vs. No. 3 Hawai'i (2) Finals	No. 1 (2)	Stan Sheriff Center	1-3	(21–25, 22–25, 25–21, 22–25)	8,576	27-3	1-1

NCAA Tournament (3–0)^[5]
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	Tournament Record
May 8	ESPN+	vs. Fort Valley State (8)	No. 1 (1)	Covelli Center Columbus, Ohio	3-0	(25–21, 25–16, 25–16)	2,263	28-3	1–0
May 10	ESPN+	vs. No. 6 Pepperdine (5)	No. 1 (1)	Covelli Center	3-1	(20–25, 25–23, 25–19, 25–23)	3,342	29-3	2–0
May 12	ESPN+	vs. No. 3 UCLA (3)	No. 1 (1)	Covelli Center	3-0	(25–17, 25–23, 25–21)	3,063	30-3	3–0
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AVCA Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific.

Rankings

Source:^[6]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AVCA	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

References

^ "Defending Champion Long Beach State Voted Men's Volleyball Preseason Favorites in the Powerhouse Big West". Big West Conference. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
^ "2025 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
^ "2025 Men's Volleyball Schedule - Long Beach State University Athletics". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
^ "The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship". The Big West. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
^ "2025 NC Men's Volleyball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
^ "Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball". avca.org. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

[1] "Defending Champion Long Beach State Voted Men's Volleyball Preseason Favorites in the Powerhouse Big West". Big West Conference. Retrieved September 2, 2025.

[2] "2025 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved September 2, 2025.

[longbeachstate-3] "2025 Men's Volleyball Schedule - Long Beach State University Athletics". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

[bigwest-4] "The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship". The Big West. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

[ncaa-5] "2025 NC Men's Volleyball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

[avca-6] "Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball". avca.org. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

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[6]

Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
Venues	LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid
Seasons	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
National championship seasons in bold