What 2 Watch 4
Four Big West teams are in action in non-conference play, headlined by a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in Westwood between top-ranked UCLA and second-ranked defending national collegiate champion Long Beach State. The Beach at the Bruins highlights the three-game Friday slate.
Action gets started on Wednesday, with No. 14 UC Santa Barbara and No. 17 CSUN each playing host to nationally-ranked squads on ESPN+. Both the Gauchos and Matadors stay home for the weekend, also taking to the court on Friday, with UCSB’s game set for broadcast.
The light week of competition is rounded out on Saturday as No. 10 UC San Diego heads to the Bay Area for a date with Menlo.
Both No. 3 Hawai’i and No. 4 UC Irvine have an idle week returning to the court to host top-tier sides next week as No. 1 UCLA heads to The Bren while No. 7 BYU takes to the skies to compete in a pair of matches on O’ahu.
Three Big West home contests are set for broadcast on ESPN+ this week. Check listings for additional match information.
Poll Position
The Big West sees three teams in the top five for the fifth straight week with No. 2 Long Beach State, followed by No. 3 Hawai’i and UC Irvine up to No. 4 in the latest AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll. UC San Diego remains at 10th with UC Santa Barbara rising to 14th and CSUN checking in at No. 17. The Beach is currently receiving one first-place votes in the latest listings.
We’re No. 1
Various teams and individuals are ranked in the top 10 nationally highlighted by multiple list leaders:
• Long Beach State leads the nation in team aces per set at 2.94, with Skyler Varga (.879) and Alex Kandev (.786) 1-2 nationally to pace the country. The Beach serving and digging also tops the single-game charts thus first in the regular-season.
• UC Irvine’s Trevor Clark paces the country with a .583 hitting percentage.
• Hawai’i setter Tread Rosenthal averages 10.41 assists per set to lead the career charts.
Weekly Winners
The Big West weekly winners went to a trio of Hawai’i players in Kainoa Wade (offensive), first-time selection Quintin Greenidge (defensive) and Tread Rosenthal (setter) as well as UCI first-year player Andrej Jokanovic (freshman).
Last Week, Today
The Big West went 7-3 on the week with three victories coming over ranked opponents. Some highlights included:
No. 2 Long Beach State (9-1, 0-0 BW)
The Beach posted a tidy Valentine’s Day sweep over Vanguard with Alex Kandev dominating from the service line with seven aces, to go along with six blocks and nine kills on .533 hitting and just one error. LBSU hit .373 as a team. Senior middle blocker Ben Braun joined Kandev with a six-block outing. Redshirt freshman setter Jake Pazanti orchestrated the attack with 28 assists.
No. 3 Hawai’i (12-1, 0-0 BW)
The Rainbow Warriors traveled to No. 18 Stanford and swept through the Cardinal twice. Big West Offensive Player of the Week Kainoa Wade contributed 4.50 kills per set highlighted by 15 strikes on .737 hitting in the rematch. Junior libero Quintin Greenidge scooped up a first career weekly honor as the Defensive Player of the Week with 3.17 digs per set to hold down the back line. Bringing it all together, Big West Setter of the Week Tread Rosenthal directed UH to a combined .474 hitting percentage on the weekend while averaging 12.50 assists per set. The award was Rosenthal’s fourth of the season and ninth career setter honor and 16th all-time.
No. 4 UC Irvine (12-1, 0-0 BW)
The Anteaters split their series with then-No. 4 Southern California as both teams entered the week previously unbeaten on the year. The two ended the week flip-flopped in the rankings with UCI rising to fourth, their highest poll position of the season. William D’Arcy led the way in both matches including 21 kills, six digs, three block assists and two aces in the road rematch and four-set win. Big West Freshman of the Week Andrej Jokanovic 3.50 kills, 4.13 points and 1.35 digs on the week with 15 kills, five digs, three blocks and a career-best three aces in Friday’s victory.
No. 10 UC San Diego (7-4, 0-0 BW)
The Tritons picked up a trio of sweeps, including two against CUI. Both home matches saw solid hitting with a season-high .507 percentage against UC Merced on Monday. Sebastiano Sani powered the UCSD offense in both games against the Golden Eagles, highlighted by a career-high 17 kills on .365 hitting in last Wednesday’s home meeting. In Monday’s match, Leo Pravednikov put down a match-high 14 kills. Setter John Luers averaged 12.50 assists per set against CUI with Cameron Wurl and Luers combining for 39 helpers against UC Merced.
No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (6-5, 0-0 BW)
The Gauchos bumped up to No. 14 in the most recent national poll after pushing No. 6 Pepperdine to five sets in a Valentine’s Day road match. The duo of George Bruening and Ethan Saint put down 15 kills apiece to lead UCSB’s offense with Cole Schobel assisting on 36 scoring plays with eight digs. Libero Jason Walmer posted a career-high 10 digs in the narrow loss.
No. 17 CSUN (7-4, 0-0 BW)
The Matadors fell in three at No. 1 UCLA on Friday, with Jalen Phillips leading all players with 14 kills while adding five digs and two blocks. Owen Douphner added 24 assists with an ace and Chris Karnezis popped up seven digs in the match.
On the Watch List
The AVCA publicized its first-ever Watch List for its National Collegiate Men’s Player of the Year award to open the month of February with five of the 15 on the list coming from The Big West. The lone freshman earning a spot is UC Irvine’s Andrej Jokanovic, with CSUN represented by Jalen Phillips. Long Beach State senior Skyler Varga an to Hawai’i duo of Adrien Roure and Tread Rosenthal also see distinction.
The Big West has flexed its muscles since sport sponsorship in 2018 with seven of the last eight Players of the Year coming from the conference, including the last five. Historically, Big West schools have claimed 14 awards since 1991. Recent winners include Rado Parapunov (2021 - Hawai’i), Alex Nikolov (2022 - Long Beach State), Jakob Thelle (2023 - Hawai’i), Hilir Henno (2024 - UC Irvine) and Moni Nikolov (2025 - Long Beach State).
Be There at the Bren
UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center is home of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men’s Volleyball Championship on April 23-25. All six conference members will head to Irvine to vie for The Big West’s automatic berth into the first year of a 12-team national postseason bracket. UCI will be playing host for the second time, also serving as the championship site in 2023, when the Anteaters finished as runners-up. Hawai’i reigns as Big West defending champion and has earned four total postseason crowns (2025, ’23, ’22, ’19). Long Beach State has three Big West titles to their name (2024, ’18) with UC Santa Barbara finishing atop the 2021 bracket.
All-session tickets are available for purchase today! Read more and secure your seats >>>
National Superiority
Taking home the first four national championships when The Big West began sponsoring men’s volleyball in 2018 and a fifth in 2025, the league is looking to continue its strength on the national stage in 2026. With the Beach and the ’Bows claiming back-to-back national collegiate titles around the pandemic-shortened 2024 season and LBSU reigning supreme in the latest edition, The Big West has enjoyed at least one national finalist in each of the last seven seasons. Always dominant in the sport, the league opens the season with all six teams ranked in the national listings with four squads in the Top 10.
Coaches’ Corner
The Big West coaching lineup is decorated by national champions as players and coaches, national coaches of the year, one newcomer and 855 career wins heading into the 2026 campaign. Long Beach State alumni and long-time assistant Nick MacRae took the reigns from Hall of Fame coach Alan Knipe in December ahead of the 2026 campaign. Uniquely, five of the league’s six head coaches have only been the leader of their current team, with UCSB's Rick McLaughlin the only coach to have two stops on the resume.
Preseason Prognostications
For the third straight season, defending national champion Long Beach State was voted atop the 2026 Big West Men’s Volleyball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Beach are coming off a Big West regular-season championship and a third national title since men’s volleyball became a conference-sponsored sport in 2018.
The Beach earned top billing with four first-place votes and 24 total points in the voting, edging out 2025 Big West champions and National Collegiate Championship semifinalists, Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors were just two points back with 22 total points and the remaining two first-place votes in the polling of the league’s six head coaches. UC Irvine landed in third with 17 total points. A three-way tie for fourth between CSUN, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the polling with the Matadors, Tritons and Gauchos knotted at nine points apiece.
The preseason coaches team sees a trio of Rainbow Warriors in junior setter Tread Rosenthal and sophomore scoring duo of Adrien Roure and Kristian Titriyski. The Beach claimed two spots on the team with high-octane offensive players senior Skyler Varga and sophomore Alex Kandev. CSUN opposite hitter Jalen Phillips and UCSB redshirt sophomore George Bruening round our the seven-player team. Watch the preseason show >>>
2025 in Review
Long Beach State held serve in the national postseason, upholding their No. 1 ranking for much of the season by claiming the crown at the 2025 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship in Columbus, Ohio. The Beach swept through back-to-back defending champion UCLA to hoist their fourth national title trophy.
The Beach were joined by Big West champion Hawai’i on the national stage, where the Rainbow Warriors advanced to the semifinal round as the No. 2 seed in the brackets.
Long Beach State freshman phenom Moni Nikolov was named AVCA National Player of the Year, giving The Big West five straight awards. Nikolov was also named National Newcomer of the Year.
UC Irvine senior Hilir Henno earned the AVCA’s Distinction of Excellence Award whose contribution to the sport extends beyond accolades, uniting generational athletic excellence with personal integrity, academic commitment, and a long-term impact.
All six league programs were ranked in every poll throughout the season and finished up in the AVCA listings as: No. 1 Long Beach State, No.3 Hawai’i, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 9 CSUN, No. 10 UC San Diego and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.
Including honorable mention selections, a total of 22 Big West men’s volleyball players earned recognition on the AVCA’s All-American listings. Six men representing four member-institutions were named to the first team.
A total of six men’s volleyball student-athletes representing four member-institutions were tapped for the CSC Academic All-District listings. |
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