NCAA Semifinal Results
And then there were two...
The finals are set and #1 seed Long Beach will take on #3 UCLA for the 2025 National Championship.
In the first match of the day, Pepperdine came out strong taking the first set against Long Beach. From there, Long Beach kicked it into gear behind Moni Nikolov’s 5 aces. With his fourth ace of the night, Nikolov officially broke the NCAA record for aces in a single season. He now has 102 (and counting) heading into the last match of the season.
In the second semifinal, it was all UCLA beginning to end. The Bruins swept Hawaii while hitting .370% for the match. UCLA had a very balanced attack from their pins. Robinson, Rama, and Kelly had 23-24 attacks each. Having that type of balance with impactful middles is a recipe for a championship.
Now we wait for the national championship on Monday, a rematch from 2024.
Yesterday's Scores
Non-conference
#1 Long Beach (74%) def. #5 Pepperdine (26%)
3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23)
#3 UCLA (48%) def. #2 Hawai'i (52%)
3-0 (25-14, 25-23, 25-22)
The future is bright for UH as with few exception many of the men featured will be on the squad in '26 in starring roles.
Pepperdine is also a team that will have some really important pieces returning plus an incoming USA u19 OH who's already in the gym and an exciting S transfer.
A rematch of last year's final has a ton of intrigue.