AVCA release | LBSU release
LOS ANGELES - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced Long Beach State true freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov as its 2022 Player of the Year late Wednesday.

The award was presented at a banquet at UCLA ahead of the 2022 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship semifinals, as Nikolov takes his second-ranked No. 1 national seed Beach up against third-ranked host UCLA on Thursday, May 5, at 5 p.m. PT inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom in Los Angeles.

Nikolov previously on Monday morning was one of 12 standouts named to the National Volleyball Association (NVA)/AVCA NCAA Division I-II Men’s All-America First Team, and was also chosen as the AVCA Newcomer of the Year, now becoming the first student-athlete to earn both of the AVCA’s two major awards in the same season. He is also the first freshman to be selected AVCA Player of the Year. Out of 33 prior honorees across 31 seasons going back to 1991, three were sophomores.

The product of Sofia, Bulgaria, leads the nation in aces (57) and aces per set (0.61), is second in points per set (5.56), and third in kills per set (4.60). His .385 hitting percentage is second in The Big West and 16th nationally. Nikolov is one of three LBSU players to start all 25 matches, and has provided double-digit kill totals in all but two, including the last 15 in a row, alongside a pair of double-doubles. He has put down 20-plus kills on seven occasions, with a season-high 28 coming in the OUTRIGGER Big West Championship semifinals against No. 14 UC Irvine on April 22 in Honolulu. Nikolov’s 57 aces are a Beach single-season freshman record, and three shy of equaling the program standard.

Nikolov is The Big West’s fourth AVCA Player of the Year in the five seasons since the conference began its sponsorship of men’s volleyball, and second in a row. Hawai’i great Rado Parapunov, a three-time first-team AVCA All-American, was the 2021 recipient, with the Long Beach State duo of setter Josh Tuaniga and outside hitter TJ DeFalco going back-to-back in The Big West’s first two campaigns in 2018 and 2019.

Nikolov is The Big West’s third AVCA Newcomer of the Year, following fellow 2022 All-Big West first teamers Ryan Wilcox of UC Santa Barbara in 2019 and Kyle McCauley of UC San Diego in 2020.

Nikolov gives Long Beach State seven AVCA Player of the Year and three AVCA Newcomer of the Year distinctions in program history.

This is the sixth time in 23 seasons that the AVCA Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year are from the same school, after Loyola in 2015, USC in 2012, UC Irvine in 2006, and Pepperdine in 2005 and 2002.

UCLA (22-4) set up Thursday’s semifinal showdown between area foes with Long Beach State (20-5) by getting past fifth-ranked Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion and rival Pepperdine in four sets on Tuesday. Thursday’s late semifinal at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom in Los Angeles features top-ranked defending national champion Hawai’i (25-5) and fourth-ranked No. 2 national seed Ball State (23-3). First serve for that one is slated for 7:30 p.m. PT/4:30 p.m. HT. Both contests can be watched for free on NCAA.com. Saturday’s national championship match is scheduled for a 5 p.m. PT start in front of a national television audience on ESPN2.