Alex Nikolov Award Freshman of the Week Week Of 4/4/2022 Sport Men's Volleyball School Long Beach State Year Freshman Position Outside Hitter Hometown Sofia, Bulgaria High School Vasil Levski Sport School Alex Nikolov led second-ranked Long Beach State to a pair of four-set triumphs over No. 4 Hawai’i inside the Walter Pyramid. The freshman outside hitter totaled 41 kills (5.13 per set) and 50.5 points (6.31 per set). The product of Sofia, Bulgaria put down 23 kills, one shy of his career best, to lead all players on Friday night, hitting .333 (23-8-45) with five digs, three aces, three block assists and a season-high five set assists for 27.5 total points. The next night in front of a national television audience on ESPNU, Nikolov notched his second collegiate double-double with a match-best 18 kills and a career-high 12 digs. He attacked at a .484 (18-3-31) rate and added a season-high five total blocks (one solo), two more aces and a set assist for 23 points. Nikolov is one of three Beach players to start all 19 matches, and has registered double-figure kill totals in 17 of them, including nine in a row. He continues to lead his team in both kills (312) and aces (42). Nikolov is a seven-time Big West Freshman of the Week, having now earned back-to-back-to-back honors twice. He previously did so starting on Jan. 24, with another selection in between on March 7. He is also a two-time Offensive Player of the Week (Jan. 24 and April 4).