Long Beach State completes series sweep of Hawaii men’s volleyball

Long Beach State outside hitter Alex Nikolov put away 18 kills to lead the second-ranked Beach to a four-set win and a series sweep over No. 4 Hawaii today at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

Beach pin hitters Clarke Godbold and Spencer Olivier added 12 kills each in LBSU’s 25-23, 25-20, 21-25, 25-19 Big West victory in the first regular-season men’s volleyball match to get national television coverage on ESPNU.

Nikolov hit .484 and had 12 digs, two aces and was in on five of LBSU’s 15 blocks. Middle blocker Simon Torwie finished with eight blocks and two aces.

UH middle blocker Guilherme Voss posted a career-high 11 kills and outside hitter Spyros Chakas also had 11, but the Rainbow Warriors hit a collective .174 while falling to 18-5 overall and 3-3 in Big West play. Setter Jakob Thelle fired four aces to help keep UH extend the match in the third set and take a 5-0 lead in the fourth. But LBSU (16-3, 5-1) rallied then pulled away to finish off the win.

The Warriors and Beach picked up there they left off on Friday with another back-and-forth opening set in the rematch.

UH went on a 4-1 run late in the set and led 23-21 on a Cole Hogland kill in the middle. But Long Beach State sent back three consecutive blocks to earn set point and Nikolov’s serve down the line landed in to give the Beach the set.

The second set was tied at 16-16 when LBSU went on a three-point surge with back-to-back aces by Torwie. The Beach held off the Warriors the rest of the way and Nikolov’s tip gave LBSU a 2-0 lead in the match.

With Dimitrios Mouchlias and Filip Humler struggling on the right side, Alakai Todd was summoned off the bench and sparked the Warriors with four kills early in the third set. The Beach led 11-9 when UH went on a 7-1 run with aces from Thelle and Chakas. Thelle added his third ace of the set in a 4-1 run to close out the set and extend the match.

Thelle opened the fourth set with a five-point service run, including his fourth set of the match. Voss opened the run with a block and hammered two kills in the middle. Long Beach State erased the deficit with a 6-1 run to force a UH timeout at 10-10.

The Beach led 13-11 after a Nikolov ace to cap a 7-1 run. Nikolov added six more kills and a solo block as the Beach pulled away and UH lost in the Pyramid for the ninth straight visit.