No. 4-seeded UC San Diego men’s volleyball (18-12, 3-7 Big West) fell in straight sets (25-18, 25-23, 25-17) to top-seeded Long Beach State (27-3, 8-2 Big West) in the 2025 Big West Championship semifinals in Hawai’i on Friday, April 25.
The Beach also swept UCSD 3-0 last week in the last two matches of the regular season. The Tritons came into this match looking for redemption but were eliminated from the tournament in straight sets.
The loss stands in stark contrast to Thursday evening’s first-round matchup, when late-set rallies drove UCSD to a quarterfinal victory (20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13) over the No. 5-seeded UC Santa Barbara (12-16, 3-7 Big West). The Tritons stayed undefeated against the Gauchos this season after pulling off a dramatic comeback in the fifth set to advance to the semifinals.
UCSB opened the fast-paced first set with an early 4-0 run. The Triton offense struggled to match its rallies, and the Gauchos outpaced UCSD to take the first set, 25-20.
The second set was a photo finish — the two teams found themselves tied at 24-24 and 25-25, battling it out in extra points. Redshirt junior middle blocker Peter Selcho scored the last 3 points of the second set to win it for the Tritons, 27-25.
Locked in a stalemate by the third set, UCSD finally pulled ahead on a powerful spike from senior outside hitter Sebastian Lara to bring the score to 22-21. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jim Garrison netted the final 2 points for the Tritons to close out the set in their favor, 25-22.
The Gauchos built a 19-13 lead to claw themselves back into contention in the fourth set. The UCSD offense went on a 5-0 scoring run to draw even, but the Tritons were unable to close out the match. The teams tied at 20-20 — then 21, 22, and 23. The Gauchos slammed down a pair of kills to take the fourth set 25-23.
The do-or-die final set saw more of the fiery, competitive play that had kept the teams tied for most of the night. The Gauchos and the Tritons drew even at 13-13, both teams now 2 points from victory.
On the next point, redshirt junior outside hitter Josh Schellinger hit a kill off the Gaucho blockers to put UCSD up, 14-13. The Tritons had fought their way to the lead at match point with a ticket to the Big West semifinals on the line.
A handy block by Schellinger and Garrison stymied UCSB’s leading scorer and took the match point for the Tritons to win the set, 15-13.
The 3-2 victory marked the third time this season that UCSD sent the Gauchos home empty-handed.
UCSD returned to the court on Friday night to face Long Beach but was eliminated in straight sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-17) by the reigning Big West champion. The semifinal match was half as long and twice as desperate as the first round against the Gauchos. The Tritons struggled to hold off the Beach’s freshman setter Moni Nikolov, who put up 38 and 35 assists to defeat UCSD in last week’s double-header.
UCSD did not make it easy for the Beach in the first set, forging a narrow 13-11 lead. However, Long Beach pulled away on a 4-point run toward the end of the first set to win it with a score of 25-17.
UCSD came to life in the second set, going up 14-10, but the Beach weren’t so easily deterred. Nikolov sent an ace across the net — his 88th of the season — to set a new Big West record for most aces in a single season. He would bring the record to 90 by the end of Friday night’s clash.
The second set went the same way as the first: 25-23 in the Beach’s favor.
Long Beach continued to dominate the third set, scoring the last 6 points of the match almost uninterrupted — its only concession being a service error by Nikolov. The Tritons fell 25-17, marking their third straight-set loss to the Beach in the span of a week.
Despite their semifinal elimination, the Tritons had an impressive postseason showing. UCSD has only advanced past the first round of the championship once in the past seven years, defeating Cal State Northridge in the 2021 quarterfinals. Four years ago, the Tritons were promptly eliminated in the semifinal by the then-top-seeded Hawai’i. History repeated itself as UCSD was deposed by the top seed again on Friday night.
The Beach battled the No. 2 seed Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors for the Big West Championship title and a spot in the NCAA tournament on Saturday night, April 26, losing 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22. Hawai’i has now won the Big West title three times in four years.
UCSD’s second-round defeat marked an improvement from last season’s first-round tournament exit. This time, the Tritons’ semifinal defeat capped off a remarkable 18-12 season — the most Division-I wins in program history.
