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Moni Nikolov delivered in the clutch from the service line – and this time in a walk-off fashion.
Nikolov had a match-winning ace in a third-game overtime as No. 1/1 Long Beach State swept No. 5/5 UC Irvine 25-23, 25-19, 29-27 on Saturday in Irvine, California.
The freshman setter was on the verge of being held to no aces for the first time before providing a jump serve ace that landed inches in front of the endline. Nikolov now has a nation-best 79 aces this season and remains on pace to break the NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball single-season aces record.
Nkiolov also guided the Long Beach State offense to out-hit UC Irvine .424 to .286.
Outside attacker Alex Kandev led the Beach with a season-high 15 kills on a .609 attack percentage. Kandev added six kills in the final game, including a kill to fight off a UC Irvine game-point and force overtime.
Nikolov also had a season-high 10 kills and hit .643 in front of a road crowd of 4,758 people in attendance.
UC Irvine outside attacker Hiilir Henno in the loss finished with a match-high 21 kills on a .350 attack percentage.
Long Beach State with this victory split the home-and-home conference series against UC Irvine. The Anteaters upset the Beach in three games on Friday to end Long Beach State’s attempt at an undefeated season.