2026 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team

2026 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
2026 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
Conference	Big West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
Record	9–1 (0–0 Big West)
Head coach	Nick MacRae (1st season);
Assistant coaches	McKay Smith (6th season); Amir Lugo-Rodriguez (1st season); Matt Prosser (1st season);
Home arena	Walter Pyramid

2026 Big West Conference men's volleyball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Hawaii ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	12	–	1	.923
No. 4 UC Irvine ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	12	–	1	.923
No. 2 Long Beach State ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	9	–	1	.900
No. 17 Cal State Northridge ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	7	–	4	.636
No. 10 UC San Diego ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	6	–	4	.600
No. 14 UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍	0	–	0	–	6	–	5	.545

† – Conference champion ‡ – Big West tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of February 16, 2026 Rankings from AVCA

The 2026 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team represents Long Beach State University in the 2026 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Beach, led by first-year head coach Nick MacRae, play their home games at Walter Pyramid. This is the first year since 2012 that Alan Knipe did not coach the team.^[1] Previously Knipe had coached the team from 2001 to 2009. The Beach compete as members of the Big West Conference.

Previous season

In 2025, the Long Beach State Beach lost to Hawai'i in the Big West Conference tournament 1–3.^[2] The team then received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, and went on to win the national championship versus UCLA, winning in three straight sets.^[3] This is their fourth men's volleyball NCAA championship, and their first since their back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019.

Preseason

Source:^[4]

Both the preseason All-Big West team, and the Big West Coaches' Poll were released on December 29, 2025. Both Alex Kandev and Skyler Varga made the preseason team.

Player	No.	Position	Class
Preseason All-Big West Team
Alex Kandev	12	Outside Hitter	Sophomore
Skyler Varga	4	Opposite Hitter	Redshirt Senior

Big West Coaches' Poll

Coaches' Poll
Pos.	Team	Points
1	Long Beach State	24 (4)
2	Hawai'i	22 (2)
3	UC Irvine	17
T-4	CSUN	9
	UC San Diego
	UC Santa Barbara

Roster

2026 Long Beach State Beach roster^[5]

Defensive specialist/libero

11 Kellen Larson - Sophomore

Middle blockers

1 Jackson Cryst - Freshman
5 Isaiah Preuitt - Sophomore
6 Ben Braun - Senior
21 Braedon Marquardt - Sophomore

Outside hitters

2 Myles Jordan - Freshman
8 Jette Estes - Freshman
10 Connor Bloom - Senior (Also listed as an opposite hitter)
12 Alex Kandev - Sophomore
17 Dane Hillis - Senior
34 Nate Baddeley - Sophomore

Opposite hitters

4 Skyler Varga - Senior
25 Ryan Peluso - Junior (Also listed as a setter)
31 Daniil Hershtynovich - Junior
45 Wojciech Gajek - Freshman

Setters

13 Island Doty - Senior
26 Jake Pazanti - Freshman

Schedule

Source:^[6]

Legend
	Beach win
	Beach loss
	Postponement
*	Non-Conference Game

2026 Long Beach State Beach Men's Volleyball Game Log (9–1)

Regular Season (9–1)

January (8–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
Exhibition - North American Challenge
January 2	-	Calgary*	No. 3	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California	3–0	(25–10, 25–14, 25–23)	1,510	–	—
January 4	-	Calgary*	No. 3	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–18, 25–18, 25–15)	256	–	—
January 4	-	Alberta*	No. 3	Walter Pyramid	3–1	(25–19, 25–27, 25–13, 25–19)	1,219	–	—

January 9	ESPN+	Lindenwood*	No. 3	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–21, 25–16, 25–20)	1,414	1–0	—
January 10	ESPN+	No. 15 McKendree	No. 3	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–22, 35–33, 25–16)	1,435	2–0	—
January 14	ESPN+	at Central State*	No. 2	Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium Wilberforce, Ohio	3–0	(25–14, 25–10, 25–20)	30	3–0	—
January 16	ESPN+	at No. 20 George Mason*	No. 2	Covelli Center Columbus, Ohio	3–0	(25–21, 25–16, 25–15)	231	4–0	—
January 17	ESPN+	at T-No. 13 Ohio State*	No. 2	Covelli Center	3–1	(21–25, 25–18, 25–18, 25–20)	1,670	5-0	—
January 23	ESPN+	Fort Valley State*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–13, 25–19, 25–10)	1,650	6–0	—
January 24	ESPN+	Long Island*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–18, 25–15, 25–15)	1,766	7–0	—
January 30	B1G+	at No. 6 Pepperdine*	No. 2	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California	3–1	(25–20, 20–25, 30–28, 27–25)	937	8–0	—

February (1–1)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
February 6	ESPN+	No. 1 UCLA*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California	2–3	(25–16, 25–22, 22–25, 19–25, 10–15)	4,252	8–1	—
February 14	ESPN+	Vanguard*	No. 2	Walter Pyramid	3–0	(25–21, 25–16, 26–24)	1,581	9–1	—
February 20	B1G+	at No. 1 UCLA*	No. 2	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California	—	—	—	—	—
February 27	ESPN+	Concordia Irvine*	—	CU Arena Irvine, California	—	—	—	—	—
February 28	ESPN+	Concordia Irvine*	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—

March (0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
March 7	ESPN+	Penn State	—	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California	—	—	—	—	—
March 13	ESPN+	Jessup*	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—
March 20	ESPN+	Hawai'i	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—
March 21	ESPN+	Hawai'i	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—
March 27	ESPN+	CSUN	—	The Matadome Northridge, California	—	—	—	—	—
March 28	ESPN+	CSUN	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—

April (0–0)
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Overall	BWC
April 3	ESPN+	UC San Diego	—	LionTree Arena San Diego, California	—	—	—	—	—
April 4	ESPN+	UC San Diego	—	Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California	—	—	—	—	—
April 10	ESPN+	UC Santa Barbara	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—
April 11	ESPN+	UC Santa Barbara	—	The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California	—	—	—	—	—
April 17	ESPN+	UC Irvine	—	Walter Pyramid	—	—	—	—	—
April 18	ESPN+	UC Irvine	—	Bren Events Center Irvine, California	—	—	—	—	—

Postseason (0–0)

2026 Big West Tournament (0–0)^[7]
Date	TV	Opponent	Rank	Stadium	Score	Sets	Attendance	Record	BWC Tournament Record
April 23/24	ESPN+	vs. TBD	—	Bren Events Center Irvine, California	—	—	—	—	—
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AVCA Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific.

Rankings

Source:^[8]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AVCA	3 (5)	2 (4)	2 (3)	2 (2)	2 (2)	2 (1)	2 (1)

References

^ Kirk, Roger; Director, Associate Athletics; Communications; Broadcast. "Alan Knipe Announces Retirement Following Hall Of Fame Career At Long Beach State". Long Beach State University Athletics. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
^ Guardabascio, Mike (April 27, 2025). "Long Beach State Volleyball Falls to Hawaii in Big West Championship". The562.org. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
^ "Long Beach State wins the 2025 men's volleyball championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
^ "Defending National Champion Long Beach State Picked to Win Conference Crown in Big West Preseason Polling". bigwest.org. December 29, 2025. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
^ "2026 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
^ "2026 Men's Volleyball Schedule". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
^ "The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship". The Big West. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
^ "Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball". avca.org. Retrieved February 2, 2026.

[1] Kirk, Roger; Director, Associate Athletics; Communications; Broadcast. "Alan Knipe Announces Retirement Following Hall Of Fame Career At Long Beach State". Long Beach State University Athletics. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

[2] Guardabascio, Mike (April 27, 2025). "Long Beach State Volleyball Falls to Hawaii in Big West Championship". The562.org. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

[3] "Long Beach State wins the 2025 men's volleyball championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

[4] "Defending National Champion Long Beach State Picked to Win Conference Crown in Big West Preseason Polling". bigwest.org. December 29, 2025. Retrieved December 30, 2025.

[5] "2026 LBSU Men's Volleyball Roster". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved February 3, 2026.

[6] "2026 Men's Volleyball Schedule". longbeachstate.com. Retrieved February 2, 2026.

[bigwest-7] "The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship". The Big West. Retrieved February 2, 2026.

[avca-8] "Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball". avca.org. Retrieved February 2, 2026.

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Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball
Venues	LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid
Seasons	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
National championship seasons in bold