2026 Long Beach State Beach men's volleyball team

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. Long Beach began the season ranked second in the nation. This is the first year since 2012 that Alan Knipe did not coach the team. Previously Knipe had coached the team from 2001 to 2009. The Beach compete as members of the Big West Conference. This year is also the first year that twelve teams will have a chance to play in the NCAA men's volleyball tournament, as the NCAA expanded the tournament to accommodate the sport's growth.

Previous season

In 2025, the Long Beach State Beach lost to Hawai'i in the Big West Conference tournament 1–3. 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. This is their fourth men's volleyball NCAA championship, and their first since their back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2019.

Preseason Source:

Both the preseason All-Big West team, and the Big West Coaches' Poll were released on December 29, 2025. The Beach was picked to finish first, and had two players make the preseason team.

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

Big West Coaches' Poll 1 24 (4) 2 22 (2) 3 17T-4 9

Roster Source: No. Name Position Height Year Hometown1Jackson CrystMB6'10"Fr.Long Beach, Calif.2Myles JordanOH6'5"Fr.Houston, Texas4Skyler VargaOH6'7"Sr.Muenster, Saskatchewan5Isaiah PreuittMB6'7"So.Happy Valley, Ore6Ben BraunMB6'11"Sr.Rancho Mirage, Calif.8Jette EstesOH6'3"R-Fr.Los Alamitos, Calif.10Connor BloomOH/OPP6'5"Sr.Huntington Beach, Calif.11Kellen LarsonL5'10"So.Irvine, Calif.12Alex KandevOH6'7"So.Sofie Bulgaria13Island DotyMB6'5"Sr.Colorado Spring, Colo.17Dane HillisOH6'3"SrSan Clemente, Calif.21Braedon MarquardtMB6'5"So.Anaheim Hills, Calif.25Ryan PelusoOPP/S6'2"Jr.Orlando, Fla.26Jake PazantiS6'3"R-Fr.Huntington Beach, Calif.31Daniil HershynovichOPP6'9"JrToronto, Ontario34Nate BaddeleyOH6'5"So.Seal Beach, Calif.45Wojciech GajekOPP6'6"Fr.Katowice, Polad

Coaches Head Coach Nick MacRae1stAssistant coach 1 McKay Smith6thAssistant coach 2 Amir Lugo-Rodriguez1stAssistan coach 3Matt Prosser1st

Schedule Source:

Legend Beach win Beach loss Postponement*Non-Conference Game

{| class="toccolours" width=95% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" |- ! colspan=2 style="" | 2026 Long Beach State Beach Men's Volleyball Game Log (25–5) |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Regular season (22–4) |- valign="top" | January (8–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC Exhibition - North American Challenge January 2 - Calgary* No. 3 Walter PyramidLong 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 GymnasiumWilberforce, Ohio 3–0 (25–14, 25–10, 25–20) 30 3–0 — January 16 ESPN+ vs No. 20 George Mason* No. 2 Covelli CenterColumbus, 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 FieldhouseMalibu, California 3–1 (25–20, 20–25, 30–28, 27–25) 937 8–0 —

February (3–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC February 6 ESPN+ No. 1 UCLA* No. 2 Walter PyramidLong 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 PavilionLos Angeles, California 1–3 (15–25, 25–23, 25–27, 24–26) 4,842 9–2 — February 27 ESPN+ at Concordia Irvine* No. 2 CU Arena Irvine, California 3–1 (19–25, 25–17, 25–18, 25–14) 250 10–2 — February 28 ESPN+ Concordia Irvine* No. 2 Walter Pyramid 3–0 (25–17, 25–23, 25–21) 1,721 11–2 —

March (5–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC March 7 ESPN+ No. 16 Penn State No. 2 Walter PyramidLong Beach, California 3–0 (26–24, 25–18, 25–19) 2,855 12–2 — March 12 ESPN+ Jessup* No. 2 Walter Pyramid 3–0 (25–13, 25–18, 25–16) 1,206 13–2 — March 13 ESPN+ Jessup* No. 2 Walter Pyramid 3–0 (25–20, 25–20, 25–14) 1,338 14–2 — March 20 ESPN+ No. 3 Hawai'i No. 2 Walter Pyramid 2–3 (24–26, 25–23, 19–25, 25–20, 12–15) 3,680 14–3 0–1 March 21 ESPN+ No. 3 Hawai'i No. 2 Walter Pyramid 0–3 (18–25, 22–25, 20–25) 3,723 14–4 0–2 March 27 ESPN+ at No. 18 CSUN No. 3 The MatadomeNorthridge, California 3–2 (25–20, 20–25, 21–25, 25–18, 15–11) 388 15–4 1–2 March 28 ESPN+ No. 18 CSUN No. 3 Walter Pyramid 3–0 (25–21, 25–16, 25–14) 1,571 16–4 2–2

April (6–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC April 3 ESPN+ at No. 13 UC San Diego No. 3 LionTree ArenaSan Diego, California 3–1 (23–25, 29–27, 25–21, 25–20) 958 17–4 3–2 April 4 ESPN+ No. 13 UC San Diego No. 3 Walter PyramidLong Beach, California 3–1 (25–22, 25–15, 31–33, 29–27) 1,841 18–4 4–2 April 10 ESPN+ No. 8 UC Santa Barbara No. 3 Walter Pyramid 3–0 (25–20, 25–19, 25–20) 2,131 19–4 5–2 April 11 ESPN+ at No. 8 UC Santa Barbara No. 3 The ThunderdomeSanta Barbara, California 3–0 (25–13, 25–20, 25–21) 1,341 20–4 6–2 April 17 ESPN+ No. 5 UC Irvine No. 3 Walter Pyramid 3–2 (25–17, 25–21, 24–26, 21–25, 15–9) 2,816 21–4 7–2 April 18 — at No. 5 UC Irvine No. 3 Bren Events Center Irvine, California 3–1 (25–19, 25–13, 20–25, 25–23) 2,887 22–4 8–2 |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Postseason (3–1)

(2–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Record BWC Tournament Record April 24 SSN/ESPN+ vs. No. 5 UC Irvine (3)Semifinals No. 3 (2) Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 3–0 (29–27, 25–16, 25–18) 3,444 23–4 1–0 April 25 SSN/ESPN+ vs. No. 2 Hawai'i (1)Finals No. 3 (2) Bren Events Center 3–2 (20–25, 27–25, 22–25, 30–28, 15–11) 3,501 24–4 2–0

{| class="wikitable collapsible" style="margin:auto; width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:95%" ! colspan=14 style="padding-left:4em;" | (1–1) |- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Date ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | TV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Opponent ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Rank ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Stadium ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Score ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Sets ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Attendance ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Record ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | NCAA Tournament Record |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | May 2 || ESPN+ || No. 9 Loyola Chicago (6) || No. 2(3) || Walter PyramidLong Beach, CA || 3–0 || (25–21, 25–21, 25–19) || 1,716 || 25–4 || 1–0 |-bgcolor="ffbbbb" | May 9 || ESPN+ || No. 3 Hawai'i (2) || No. 2(3) || Walter PyramidLong Beach, CA || 1–3 || (15–25, 25–18, 21–25, 22–25) || 9,409 || 25–5 || 1–1

Rankings Source:

References