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There were barely any exuberant facial expressions from Moni Nikolov throughout the championship match.
While his teammates on the bench were running around and waving towels beyond the playing area in celebration of scoring points in the third game, Nikolov remained stoic on the court.
It hasn’t been in the nature of the 19-year-old freshman from Bulgaria all season to show a ton of emotion on the court. Nikolov has simply let his play do all the talking – and his play has said a lot this season.
Nikolov finished with a match-high four aces and guided the offense to a .354 attack percentage as the No. 1 seed Long Beach State swept the No. 3 seed UCLA 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 in the NCAA Tournament finals on Monday in Columbus, Ohio.
Nikolov opened the match with an ace and then had back-to-back aces late in the second game of a comeback win. The NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player also had an ace as part of a 4-0 run early in the third game to help the Beach secure their first national championship since 2019.
The championship performance caps off a record-setting year for the freshman.
Nikolov entered the finals having already set the NCAA single-season record for aces and finished with 106 aces. The setter also became the second freshman to win the National Player of the Year – joining his brother who won the award in 2022.
The Beach hit almost .500 through the first two games against the Bruins.
Freshman outside attacker Alex Kandev finishes with a match-high 1 kills on a .450 attack percentage. In addition, opposite Nato Dickinson had seven kills and hit .417.
UCLA was limited to a .192 attack percentage, including hitting a match-low .111 in the final game.
Middle attacker DiAeris McRaven had match-high five blocks, while Kandev and Isaiah Preuitt each contributed four blocks.
UCLA pin-hitter Cooper Robinson in the loss had a team-high 10 kills on a .381 attack percentage. Robinson, though, was the only Bruin to have more than five kills and hit more than .200.
Long Beach State led 8-6 in the third game before scoring three consecutive points with Nikolov from the service line to take a lead that it would not relinquish.
The Long Beach State beach during the run received a yellow card because their celebration of Nikolov’s ace extended beyond the restricted bench area.
UCLA opened the second game on a 6-2 run that featured two blocks and a kill from Sean McQuiggan on three consecutive plays. Long Beach State, though, rallied and tied the game at 20-20 after Nikolov had back-to-back aces.
McRaven completed the comeback victory with a kill on the team’s second game-point opportunity to prevent overtime.
Long Beach State in the opening game committed one attack error and hit a match-best .688. Preuitt was one of three Beach players to have three kills and zero errors and added a game-high three blocks.
This was the third time in the last seven years that the Bruins and Beach have met in the NCAA Tournament finals.
Long Beach State rallied to beat UCLA in five games in 2018 to win its first of two consecutive NCAA champions. The Bruins defeated the Beach in four games last year to win back-to-back national titles.
UCLA was attempting to become the first team since the 1980s to win three consecutive NCAA championships.
The Beach with this victory has now won four national championships and ties USC for the third-most NCAA titles.