What 2 Watch 4
National heavy-hitters highlight the week’s light non-conference slate that sees four of the six Big West programs in action.
Headlining the week is Friday’s showdown between No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Long Beach State at Walter Pyramid, a rematch of the last two national collegiate championship games. The defending champion Beach come in with an 8-0 mark on the year where six contests have been decided in three sets. Likewise sporting an 8-0 record, the Bruins enter with seven sweeps on the season but have only played one true road game thus far in 2026.
No. 4 Southern California dots the schedule of both No. 16 CSUN (7-1) and No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (5-3) with both games set to take place at the Galen Center. The Matadors also see No. 6 Pepperdine this week with the Trojans and Waves as the first ranked foes on their schedule.
No. 5 UC Irvine (9-0) plays two close-to-home road contests at Vanguard and RV CUI looking to keep their perfect season intact. Both No. 3 Hawai’i and No 10 UC San Diego are idle.
The two Big West home contests on this week’s seven-match schedule are set for broadcast on ESPN+. Check listings for additional match information.
Poll Position
The Big West sees three teams in the top five for the third straight week with No. 2 Long Beach State, followed by No. 3 Hawai’i and No 5 UC Irvine holding firm in the latest AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Poll. UC San Diego bumped back up to 10th with UC Santa Barbara at No. 15 and CSUN checking in up one place to No. 16. The Beach is currently receiving two 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 2.96, with Skyler Varga serving up 1.080 aces average topping the individual category.
• Big West Freshman of the Week Grayson Albers of CSUN is hitting at a .587 clip to lead the country.
• Hawai’i setter Tread Rosenthal averages 10.36 assists per set to lead the career charts.
Weekly Winners
The Big West weekly winners went to a trio of first-tme honorees in Kainoa Wade (offensive) and Justin Todd (defensive) of Hawai’i and CSUN’s Grayson Albers (freshman). UH setter Tread Rosenthal picked up an eighth career weekly setter award and a 15th total weekly distinction.
Last Week, Today
The Big West picked up eight wins, including six against ranked foes around the country. Some highlights included:
No. 2 Long Beach State (7-0, 0-0 BW)
The Beach notched a 3-1 win at No. 6 Pepperdine with Skyler Varga’s 18 kills on .417 hitting leading the attack. Opposite hitter Daniil Hershtynovich played a key two-way two-way role with 15 kills, seven digs, three service aces and two blocks in Malibu and redshirt freshman Jake Pazanti dished out 44 assists (11.0 per set) in the victorious effort.
No. 3 Hawai’i (10-1, 0-0 BW)
The Rainbow Warriors saw their first road trip of the season and took down Saint Francis and No. 14 Penn State in a trio of contests. Sophomore Kainoa Wade was the scoring catalyst for UH, averaging 4.40 kills, 5.50 points and 1.90 digs per set. After two sweeps, Wade matched a career-high with 21 kills on .450 hitting in the four-set finale from Happy Valley, earning both Big West Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Collegiate Player of the Week. Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors went to another first-time awardee as Justin Todd led the team with 15 total blocks, 13 of which came against Penn State. Effective on the swing, Todd also finished with 14 kills on 17 swings to hit .765. The highly decorated Tread Rosenthal picked up Big West Setter of the Week for an eighth time, averaging 11.00 assists per set while the ’Bows hit a combined .405 on the weekend. Rosenthal also served up six aces.
No. 5 UC Irvine (9-0, 0-0 BW)
The Anteaters stayed unbeaten with a pair of home wins against No. 16 Stanford. Senior opposite hitter William D’Arcy led UCI with a team-high 16 kills in each match. In Friday’s four-setter D’Arcy registered a season-best eight digs and career-high five blocks. In Saturday’s five-set victory, junior Andon Kiriakou finished with a first career double-double of a career-high 14 digs to go along with 10 kills.
No. 10 UC San Diego (4-4, 0-0 BW)
The Tritons faced a pair of Midwest Top 10 foes, highlighted by an upset of No. 9 Lewis on Friday. Sebastiano Sani finished with 14 kills, five digs and four blocks - including two solo - in the victorious effort. Senior John Luers came off the bench in set two and then started the final three sets in UCSD’s reverse sweep as the setter had 32 assists while also adding two kills, seven digs and three blocks.
No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (5-3, 0-0 BW)
The Gauchos dropped a pair of three-set home matches against No. 8 BYU. In Friday’s match, Ben Pearson opened the night going six-for-six in the first frame to record six of his team-best seven kills as UCSB forced extra points in the 29-27 frame. Josh Aruya put up six blocks with Cole Schobel tallying a match-high 24 assists with five digs.
No. 16 CSUN (7-1, 0-0 BW)
The Matadors picked up a third straight sweep against Edward Waters on Friday with the Douphner brothers leading multiple categories. Setter Owen finished with match-bests of 37 assists and five digs while Noah added a team-high 10 kills and three aces Big West Freshman of the Week Grayson Albers added five kills on seven swings and no errors to hit .714 in the match. Impressively, Albers leads the country in hitting percentage at .587.
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 are 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, opening the season in sixth nationally, lands in third with 17 total points. A three-way tie for fourth between CSUN, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara rounds 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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