Big West Conference

After another sweeping set of victories with Moni Nikolov directing the Long Beach State offense, the freshman has earned Big West Setter of the Week for the second time this season. The first nod came on Feb. 17, which was also coupled with freshman honors. 

Nikolov averaged 10.0 assists per set, finishing with 30 apiece in a pair of sweeps of No. 7 CSUN and No. 19 Princeton. Nikolov led Long Beach State to team hitting totals of .387 against the Matadors and .333 against the Tigers. 

On Friday, the product of Sofia, Bulgaria, was in on four blocks and served up seven strikes against CSUN. With a tally of 65 aces and counting, Nikolov is now the Long Beach State single-season aces record holder with more than a month remaining of the season. 

In Saturday’s win against the Tigers, Nikolov added four kills, two blocks and three aces to the stat sheet, alongside the 30-assist effort. Starting every match at setter, Nikolov and the Beach are now 18-0 on the year.  

Nikolov leads the country in ace average at 1.121, far and away ahead of second-place Hilir Henno of UC Irvine at 0.673. Nikolov’s 9.60 assists per set season average rates fifth in the league and 20th nationally.