Catching The Wave: 3 LBSU athletes to watch this fall semester

Dante Estrada | Created for Long Beach Current

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Long Beach Current’s weekly sports column, “Catching The Wave!” Each week, this column will take a deeper look at three of the biggest stories in athletics at Long Beach State. 

This past spring, LBSU was home to spectacular athletes such as AVCA National Player of the Year Moni Nikolov, who helped lead The Beach to their fourth national title, the beach volleyball duo of Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah, who became the winningest flight duo in school history and Big West Track Athlete of the Year Rahni Turner, who became the LBSU record holder in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. 

Heading into the fall semester, we now turn our eye to three athletes who we expect to make huge waves in 2025. 

1. Derrick Michael Xzavierro, men’s basketball junior forward 

Derrick Michael Xzavierro was a rare bright spot in an otherwise dull season for LBSU’s men’s basketball, but now finds himself in an odd position heading into his junior season. 

As The Beach undergoes a thorough rebuild after a disappointing 7-25 campaign, Xzavierro is the lone returning player on the roster from last season. 

A top-five rebounder in the Big West at 6.8 per game and the second-best offensive rebounder in the conference at 2.7 per game, Xzavierro makes his presence felt around the rim.

Defensively, the Grand Canyon University transfer was fourth in the Big West in blocks per game at 1.2. As a two-way impact player, Xzavierro should be a key building block going forward under head coach Chris Acker.

2. Cherrie Cox, women’s soccer junior forward 

After a stupendous sophomore season that resulted in a 2023 Big West Offensive Player of the Year award, only the sixth in LBSU history, Cherrie Cox sadly lost the entire 2024 season to injury. 

Heading into 2025, Cox’s return is a significant source of optimism for The Beach. LBSU was ranked fourth in this year’s Big West Preseason Coaches’ Poll despite finishing seventh last season, and Cox was one of 11 players named to the Big West Preseason Coaches’ Team.

Cox led the conference in goals with 13 and finished eighth in NCAA Division I in goals per game at 0.76 in 2023, and is expected to pick up right where she left off in 2025.

3. Gabi Acosta, men’s water polo sophomore center

Gabi Acosta was the driving force on an unlikely conference champion as a freshman, as No. 5 seeded LBSU upset three higher seeds in a row in the Big West Championships to capture the school’s third title in program history.

Acosta was named Big West Player of the Year as a freshman, and to accomplish that extraordinary feat, the 6-foot-4 center from Barcelona scored an astounding 63 goals, which led the conference, in addition to racking up 27 steals and 33 drawn exclusions. 

In 2025, Acosta will play a major role in The Beach, defending their conference title.