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CJ Spain’s passion for sports has led him to give a recap of ºÚÁÏÍø’s men’s vo

lleyball team advancements. CJ is currently pursuing his Masters in Sports Psychology at ºÚÁÏÍø. A 2025 graduate of Morehouse College, he currently serves as a Graduate Assistant at the Black Resource Center on campus. CJ has been involved with sports from a young age and wants to work in the sports field in some managerial/service capacity. He explains how the third-ranked Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball team began the 2026 season with the goals of matching or improving last year’s performance and creating a streak for winning the national championship. From the start, The Beach showed confidence and consistency, winning their first seven matches in a row. During that stretch, they were dominant, winning a total of twenty-one sets while only losing two across all seven matches, a strong sign of how well the team was playing early in the season. 

That strong start was tested when Long Beach State faced first-ranked University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In a very close match that went the full five sets, The Beach came up just short, losing two sets to three. After that loss, the team responded by bouncing back with a win over Vanguard. However, their next match against UCLA ended in another loss, this time in four sets. 

Since the second match with UCLA, Long Beach State has continued to preserve. The team has earned six wins and two losses, with both losses coming against second-ranked University of Hawaii. Those matches showed the level of competition The Beach has been facing, because many of their toughest contests have come against the highest-ranked teams in the country. 

Currently, Long Beach State holds an overall record of fifteen wins and four losses, along with a one-and-two record against teams within the Big West Conference. Conference matches are important because they determine where teams sit in the standings. Now, The Beach is in fifth place at the conference, a position that does not reflect how competitive the team has been throughout the season. 

Seven matches remain in the regular season before the Big West Conference Tournament begins, giving Long Beach State plenty of opportunities to improve its standing. Several important matchups are still ahead, including games against University of California Irvine, University of California San Diego, and University of California Santa Barbara. Each of those teams currently ranks ahead of The Beach in the conference, making those matches critical as the season winds down. 

With less than a month remaining before tournament play begins, the ºÚÁÏÍø Men’s Volleyball team will look to play the best they can. By finishing strong, the Beach hopes to build confidence and momentum that they can carry into the conference tournament and beyond.