Hope emerges that Moni can be stopped
NCAA men: UC Irvine handed phenom Nikolov's Beach bunch their first loss; Road in the MIVA now runs through Loyola
Though 20 victories in 20 matches, 71% of its regular season, Long Beach State had projected an aura of near invincibility.
Led by freshman sensation Moni Nikolov, likely the best player that men’s NCAA volleyball has seen in a decade, the top-ranked Beach appeared to be riding a Maverick’s-sized wave to an undefeated season and an inevitable national title. Sixteen of their victories had checked in at the minimum of three sets.
But then came the wipeout, with Big West Conference Black & Blue rival UC Irvine upsetting Long Beach State in a sweep on Friday night that stunned a record crowd for volleyball of 4,678 at the Beach’s iconic Pyramid.
For perhaps the first time, Moni and Co. looked vulnerable, more or less self-destructing.
The Anteaters attacked at .472 efficiency (29-for-53 against four errors), out-blocked the top blocking team statistically in the nation 7.5-to-0 and dialed up eight aces to the Beach’s four. Nikolov is the national leader in aces at 1.113 per set and he got his three, but his mates added only one more and Long Beach State totaled 22 service errors, an average of 7.33 free points to the opposition per stanza.
The Anteaters won the the first set 27-25, but took the next two by six points each. UC Irvine lost the kills battle (29 to 41) but won the attack-errors war by a wide margin (18 to 4) and committed eight fewer services mistakes while ripping eight aces.
Beach Coach Alan Knipe acknowledged that his team’s inaccuracy from the service line was a significant factor.
“We came close tonight to giving them an entire set with service errors and that’s a tough recipe to expect to win,” he told the media.
Said Knipe: “We had every opportunity to win that (first) set, and we kind of errored ourselves out of it. I would’ve liked to see a better response by us, and our guys know that.”
But Knipe also noted that this single loss gave little cause to hit the panic button.
“This is not a postseason match in a one-and-done tournament,” he said. “You get a chance to respond. That’s what the conference season is about. It’s about growing.”
That bounce-back opportunity came the next night in the second half of a Big West back-to-back home-and-away with the Anteaters.
This time, the record crowd was at the sold-out Bren Events Center, 4,758 strong. Long Beach (21-1, 3-1 Big West) flipped the script, sweeping UC Irvine (15-5, 1-3) 25-23, 25-19, 29-27. Nikolov had a single ace on the night, and when did it come? On match point.
The Beach still had a bushelful of service miscues for a three-setter, 17, but they cashed in on five winners. Knipe’s crew slowed down the Anteaters’ attack to a far-more-reasonable .286 clip while hitting at .424.
When the AVCA Division I-II men’s volleyball coaches poll came out on Monday afternoon, Long Beach State still was No. 1, picking up 21 first-place votes to two for second-ranked UCLA (16-3). The weekend split moved UC Irvine up a spot to fourth.
The Beach has six matches left in the regular season, all against ranked squads, playing 16th-ranked UC Santa Barbara (11-10) in a home-and-away, traveling to No. 6 Hawaii (21-2) for a back-to-back, and finishing at No. 10 UC San Diego (16-6) in another home-and-away scenario.
New leader in the MIVA
Road losses to Ohio State in five on Thursday and Ball State in four two days later by No. 11 McKendree (15-7, 10-3 MIVA) put a different spin on the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association race.
The Bearcats had been on top for many weeks, but replacing them in first place by half a game in the crucial loss column was No. 6 Loyola (19-2, 10-2), which took care of business at home with sweeps against Lindenwood. (7-14, 4-9).
The Ramblers have the inside track to the regular-season title that also determines the top seed in the MIVA Tournament and home-court advantage in potentially every round. They travel to Queens (10-15, 2-10) in Charlotte, North Carolina, for matches on Thursday and Saturday, then go to archrival and 14th-ranked Lewis (19-7, 9-4) on April 10 and concluding at Gentile Arena against No. 15 Ball State (17-9, 9-4) on April 12.
No. 18 Ohio State (12-10, 7-5) also factors in the MIVA mix.
Loyola still figures as a long-shot possibility for one of two at-large bids into the eight-team NCAA field. The Ramblers are fifth in the RPI and here’s the Top 10: 1. Long Beach State; 2. Hawaii; 3. UC Irvine; 4. UCLA; 5. Loyola; 6. McKendree; 7. Brigham Young; 8. USC; 9. Grand Canyon; 10. UC San Diego.
NOTE: Mount Olive (20-2) broke into the AVCA coaches poll this week at No. 20, the first time in program history the Trojans have been ranked. They own a 16-match winning streak and have clinched the regular-season title in Conference Carolinas with a 13-0 record. Mount Olive is No. 17 in the RPI.
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