2025 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team

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.

Big West Coaches' Poll Coaches' Poll 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 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:

Legend Beach win Beach loss Postponement*Non-Conference Game

{| class="toccolours" width=95% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" |- ! colspan=2 style="" | 2025 Long Beach State Beach Men's Volleyball Game Log (30–3) |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Regular season (26–2) |- valign="top" | January (7–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC Exhibition - North American Challenge January 3 - Saskatchewan* No. 2 Walter PyramidLong 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 CenterLebanon, Illinois 3-0 (25–19, 25–20, 25–23) 350 3-0 — January 18 ESPN+ at No. 12 Lewis* No. 2 Neil Carey ArenaRomeoville, 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 FieldhouseMalibu, 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 CenterReno, 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 ArenaNorthridge, 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 ThunderdomeSanta 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 CenterHonolulu, 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 |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Postseason (1–1)

(1–1) 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 CenterHonolulu, 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

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="margin:auto; width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:95%" ! colspan=12 style="padding-left:4em;" | (3–0) |- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Date ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | TV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Opponent ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Rank ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Stadium ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Score ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Sets ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Attendance ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Overall ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Tournament Record |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | May 8 || ESPN+ || vs. Fort Valley State (8) || No. 1 (1) || Covelli CenterColumbus, Ohio || 3-0 || (25–21, 25–16, 25–16) || 2,263 || 28-3 || 1–0 |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | 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 |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | 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

Rankings Source:

References