The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2023-24 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.

The562’s coverage of Long Beach State Volleyball is sponsored by Naples Island Car Wash. Visit NaplesIslandCarWash.com to learn more.

Every year an athlete or a team breaks out of the local media world and takes off as a national viral sensation. This year, the Viral Moment of the Year was the entire Spring season, as Long Beach, America, and the world’s volleyball fans were gripped by what LBSU head coach Alan Knipe called ‘Moni Mania.’

Indeed, Long Beach has had some world-class athletes, but we’ve maybe never seen anything like LBSU freshman setter Moni Nikolov, who became the second-ever men’s player to win Nationanl Player of the Year as a frosh (his brother was the first), and who led the Beach to the NCAA championship in Ohio this year.

But his on-court accomplishments don’t encapsulate the star power that made him special. Every online highlight got hundreds of thousands of views as Nikolov brought a worldwide Tik Tok following to the Walter Pyramid.

After the Beach’s road win over Irvine, fans flooded the area around the court at the Bren Events Center, waiting for selfies and autographs.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in men’s volleyball, or really even honestly at Long Beach State,” said LBSU head coach Alan Knipe. “He’s just something that you’ve never really seen in our sport. I hope it’s showing everyone how special this game is and how fast it’s evolving worldwide.”

His millions of followers on social media made viral clips break out of nearly every match. During a match in Chicago early this year, Nikolov hit a serve over 80 mph for an ace, and a clip went viral of the opposing team looking at each other astounded after it hit the floor. Following the match, a mob of fans pressed to meet Nikolov, who happily signed autographs and took pictures for a long while until finally giving a nod to assistant coach McKay Smith that it was time to go.

“Part of my job this year is just making sure we can get him out when he’s ready to go,” said Smith. “It’s pretty cool for men’s volleyball–I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Smith isn’t the only LBSU employee that’s been conscripted into Moni security duty. Associate AD Roger Kirk normally has a pretty relaxed job escorting players to the post-match press conferences. This year he’s had to physically remove Tik Tokers from Nikolov a few times in order to usher the star player of the court at the Pyramid.

Nikolov is off to the world of pro volleyball, but sports fans in Long Beach aren’t likely to forget Moni Mania anytime soon.

After winning the regular season and GPAC tournament titles in 2024, Northwestern College is picked to finish second in the conference in 2025 by league coaches. Concordia is the new favorite in 2025 after finishing as the runner-up a year ago in the regular season and conference tournament before advancing to the NAIA National Quarterfinals.

Northwestern was perfect in conference play last season and finished 32-1 overall after a loss in national tournament pool play kept the Raiders from advancing to the quarterfinals. Dordt tied for fifth last season with a conference mark of 8-8 but is picked seventh this year. The Defenders were 14-16 overall in 2024 which was a 10 victory improvement from 2023.

Northwestern opens the season in the Siouxland Invitational August 22-23 against Spartanburg Methodist(SC), Valley City State(ND), McPherson(KS) and Missouri Valley. Dordt begins the season out in Fullerton, California next weekend facing Benedictine(KS), Embry-Riddle(AZ), Northwest University(WA) and Life Pacific(CA).

2025 GPAC Preseason Volleyball Coaches’ Poll:

MONTREAL — Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes know they’re in for a warm welcome this week in Montreal — especially as Olympic medallists.

Set to compete on home soil for the first time since winning silver at last summer’s Paris Games, Canada’s beach volleyball stars can already sense the excitement, whether it’s through social media or while walking down the street.

“We’ve been feeling an immense amount of support,” Wilkerson said Wednesday. “Random people are stopping us, telling us about their experience watching or their love for the game, and just sending a lot of love.

“We’re anticipating a really great Canadian crowd.”

Two years ago, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes lit up Montreal’s Elite16 stop on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, capturing the first gold medal of their months-old partnership and setting the stage for a historic 2024 season.

Now they’re back at Parc Jean-Drapeau, set to begin pool play Thursday, a little more than one full year removed from their memorable underdog run in Paris.

Under the bright lights at Eiffel Tower Stadium, the Toronto duo became the first Canadian women to reach the Olympic podium in beach volleyball.

After a disappointing 1-2 start, they won their lucky-loser match and advanced through the knockout rounds in a stunning turnaround to reach the final, falling in three sets to Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos (Duda) Lisboa — also competing in Montreal this week — on Aug. 9, 2024.

Canada’s only other medal in the sport was a men’s bronze at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Since their historic finish in Paris, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson have felt the expectations on them increase, but nothing compares to the standards they set for themselves.

“There is always a target on your back when you get a label like Olympic medallist, and it changes how people can perceive you,” Humana-Paredes said. “What doesn’t change is how we continue to show up and how we continue to want to improve.

“We know what we’re capable of and we know what we want to achieve … we’re also constantly never done trying to get better, no matter what results we achieve.”

The former York University volleyball teammates feel far from done despite their climb onto the Olympic podium.

They have their sights set on gold at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. That’s despite the fact they’ll both be in their mid-’30s — Humana-Paredes is 32, Wilkerson is 33 — and considered calling it quits years ago.

“I wasn’t sure if I would even go to Paris after Tokyo,” Humana-Paredes said. “However, I think after Paris, no matter how difficult it was, for me there was an immediate confirmation that I would absolutely want to do another Olympic run to L.A., and without a doubt with Brandie.

“I was like, ‘I hope she’s on the same page!’”

Wilkerson was, believing they’d only begun scratching the surface two years into the partnership.

“If this is what we could accomplish in two, give us another four,” she said. “I’m very excited about what’s coming up next.”

On the sand, their skill sets are a great fit. The athletic, five-foot-11 Wilkerson is a premier blocker in beach volleyball, while the five-foot-nine Humana-Paredes — a former FIVB defender of the year — covers the backcourt.

They’ve competed in four events this season, finishing in the top five three times under new head coach Ricardo de Freitas, who replaced Marcio Sicoli.

In the lead-up to Paris, the relatively new partners focused on setting a foundation with consistent passing, setting and serving, without much time to evolve beyond that.

With three years until the next Olympics, Humana-Paredes believes the areas they can grow are endless. They’re learning new offensive sets, working on situational play calls and exploring different ways to utilize their serves as a weapon.

“We now have time to experiment with and evolve and make more consistent,” Humana-Paredes said. “We’ve both been to two Olympics, so to have that feeling at this point in our careers, like, ‘Oh, we’re just tapping the surface and we can really build on our foundations,’ feels really exciting.”

A podium finish this season still escapes them, but perhaps they’ll have some more magic in store in Montreal.

“We had an amazing time the first go around. We were so impressed with the energy from the fans,” Wilkerson said. “To come back now, post-Olympics and just feeling even more ready, I think even more volleyball fans than before, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press

Pat Woepse developed a dependable morning swim with a couple of friends during the coronavirus pandemic.

The group would go from 34th Street on the Balboa Peninsula to the Newport Pier and back.

More than 150 people took those strokes Saturday morning, a show of support for Woepse’s family, his widow and NUT Carcinoma research.

The Patrick Woepse Foundation, created to honor Woepse’s life and legacy, hosted the first PWF Swim. People from the water polo community and beyond participated.

Swimmers paddle along the route during Saturday’s Patrick Woepse Foundation swim off the coast of Newport Becah.

(Courtesy of Jeff Musselman)

Woepse is a former Mater Dei High and UCLA men’s water polo standout who died last October at the age of 31 after developing the rare cancer.

His widow Maddie Musselman Woepse, a former Corona del Mar High and UCLA star who is a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist, called the turnout for Saturday’s event great.

She couldn’t participate in the swim as she recovers from a pair of hip surgeries, but she offered support to everyone in the water as well as a large group of walkers.

Maddie Musselman Woepse, center, poses with U.S. women’s national water polo team coach Adam Krikorian, left, and UCLA women’s water polo coach Adam Wright at Saturday’s event.

(Courtesy of Jeff Musselman)

“When I started the foundation, I was like, this has to be the swim,” said Musselman Woepse, 27, who is gearing up to start physician assistant school at Marshall B. Ketchum University in Fullerton next week. “It holds a lot of meaning for Pat and all of his friends. For our foundation’s event, it’s like the perfect swim. It’s not too long, where people don’t want to do it, but it’s not short where Pat would be like, ‘What’s the point of swimming it if it’s not hard?’”

Pat Woepse’s mantra was “We can do hard things.” Several members of his family participated in the event, including his father, Greg, who kicked off the swim.

The Patrick Woepse Foundation was founded to honor the late Pat Woespe, whose favorite saying was “We can do hard things.”

(Courtesy of Jeff Musselman)

CdM boys’ water polo coach Lucas Reynolds, who played two years with Pat Woepse at UCLA, brought nearly 40 of his current Sea Kings players to participate in the swim.

“I beat a couple of my kids, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Reynolds said with a laugh. “It was a fun event, and it was nice to see so many people come and support Pat … I just think it was awesome, something that Pat would appreciate for sure. He loved the idea of people getting together.”

Though the swim was not technically a competition, Olympians Ryder Dodd and Rachel Fattal were the fastest to finish among the men’s and women’s competitors, respectively.

Maddie Musselman Woespe, right, poses with friends and family including Pat Woepse’s best friend and UCLA teammate Dr. Danny McClintick, second from right, his wife and former CdM and UCLA women’s soccer star Annie Alvarado, center, and their son, Lennon Patrick McClintick. Also pictured is Pat Woepse’s mom Sherry and nephew Jones.

(Courtesy of Jeff Musselman)

Musselman Woepse called it a weekend of celebration. Sunday would have been Pat’s 32nd birthday, and a family dinner that night marked the occasion.

She said many who didn’t even know her late husband came up to talk to her about him at the swim.

“That was so awesome, and makes me feel like what I’m doing with the foundation is so worth it,” she said. “Making a difference, even in the smallest way … I’m hopeful that this will be a yearly swim that people can get excited for and just build on, as we have different events in the future.”

Women’s water polo standouts who participated in Saturday’s swim included Emma Skelly, Kodi Hill Roberts, Erica Beebe, Rachel Fattal and Kaleigh Gilchrist, left to right.

(Courtesy of Jeff Musselman)

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Tech is switching to the Southern Conference on July 1, 2026, and leaving the Ohio Valley Conference, where the Golden Eagles had been members since 1949.

“This historic move changes the trajectory of our athletic aspirations and makes a statement to our campus and our community that Tech sports will be a part of a vibrant conference with new geographic rivalries,” athletic director Casey Fox said Wednesday in a statement.

That will make the Southern Conference an 11-team league when Tennessee Tech joins East Tennessee State, Chattanooga, The Citadel, Furman, Mercer, North Carolina-Greensboro, Samford, Virginia Military Institute, Western Carolina and Wofford.

Tennessee Tech will have 14 of its 15 sports competing in the Southern Conference. Beach volleyball is not a conference sport.

The Golden Eagles are the preseason pick to win the Ohio Valley Conference-Big South title after going 7-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play last season. Tennessee Tech is ranked No. 22 in the Football Championship Series’ Top 25.

“Tech proves that winning and academic achievement go hand-in-hand — the Southern Conference standard,” Southern Conference Commissioner Michael Cross said.

OVC commissioner Beth DeBauche said the league has adapted to college athletics’ ever-changing landscape for 80 years.

“Our collective institutions and athletic programs remain committed to the conference, to one another and to our football association, and we will continue to aggressively pursue additional membership,” she said in a statement.