Corsairs say ‘Bye Bye Bye’ to the Long Beach, Vikings  — The

It was a hype city showdown between the Santa Monica College Corsairs and the Long Beach City College Vikings’ men’s volleyball team on Wednesday evening, March 11, 2026, at the Corsairs’ home gymnasium. SMC’s theme for the night was a “blackout,” and it was one of their most packed nights with fans in attendance.

With intense competition on the court and fans filling opposite sides of the bleachers, the Vikings pushed the game into five sets, ultimately ending in a 3-2 loss with set scores of 26-24 V, 25-21 C, 25-19 V, 25-20 C,15-7 C.

The sounds of big swings on service runs and during rallies electrified the stands and both teams’ sidelines. During each set, the winner was never obvious, and the Vikings ended the first and third sets looking like they might be the team to possibly hand the Corsairs their second conference loss.

“This is a big game, because the winner of our pod of four teams gets the automatic playoff seat,” said Vikings head coach Joshua Nehls pre-game. “We feel like it’s going to be one of these two teams tonight, so these matchups are very important for that.”

Former Corsair Ethan Hammond was also in the Corsairs’ house now as an opposite for the Vikings, finishing the game with 11 kills, four double blocks and one solo block.

“It’s good to be back, good to compete, excited for today,” said Hammond pre-game. “It’s just like any other game – any other game you know. Nothing personal, but gotta get the job done.”

The score stayed close throughout the majority of the sets — Corsairs leading, then a tie, Vikings leading, then a tie. The energy continued to rise on both sides of the court, almost as if they were having a competition on who could also have the most school spirit. The entire game consisted of big flexes, chest pumps, big smiles, screaming and high fives after each big play.

In the end, Corsairs’ OPP Samsun Hannemann had a song for the Vikings and it was “Bye Bye Bye” by *NSYNC. “Cause bye!” said Hannemann.

Tight on the net, Hannemann made a perfect duo with MB Soorya Raman by completing numerous double blocks together. If it wasn’t this duo, Raman was putting it down with OH RJ Carroll and continued to show dominance on the court.

On top of Hannemann and Raman locking down blocks together, they both were powerhouses for the Corsairs, crushing the ball and bringing energy — each finished averaging around 5-6 kills. It’s their second year playing together, and they both highly enjoy pairing up.

“Samanu is one of the blockers that I trust the most,” said Raman post- game. “I’m most comfortable with him and I know what he’s going to do so that makes me only have to focus on myself and honestly once I get there and once I know that we’re closed I’m confident that it’s going to be a block most of the time.”

“Yes, I trust him all the time,” said Hannemann. “He’s like one of my closest friends on this team — I was brand new to playing volleyball period last year and he’s just been like a brother to me.”

Hannemann is a sophomore and a player who just has it — height, attention to detail and the ability to get up in the air for a smackdown kill.

Outside hitter Demian Anisimov made his presence known immediately, putting the first point on the board for the Corsairs in set one with a blast into the center of the Vikings’ court. This was an immediate follow-up after Vikings key middle blocker Noah Pannek started the set off hot.

Pannek assisted OH Ezekiel Sablan with two double blocks in a rally resulting in their first point and then followed up with his first kill, leading the Corsairs 2-0.

After Anisimov’s first attack, he continued to ignite the Corsairs, dominating in kills and tips during each set, targeting open areas on the court. He finished the game with nine kills on average and several effective tips.

For the Vikings, sophomore OH Alden Jacobs was a big standout player next to Pannek and Sablan. His hustle and passion for the game could not go unnoticed as he consistently hustled and dove for each and every ball that was out of reach.

The Vikings trio made it difficult for the Corsairs to get a big lead, as Jacobs also had heavy power to blast through 6-foot-5 blocks while standing at 5-foot-10.

Jacobs is a sophomore and won’t be returning to volleyball after the current season, with five weeks remaining. He was found extremely upset and emotional after the team’s post-game meeting.

“I think it’s the frustration of knowing what we can do,” said Jacobs’. “Having this situation happen, this is the third time we’ve gone win, loss, win, loss, loss. Losing in five is always tough but knowing that we can do it and not being able to pull it out — that’s even more frustrating.”

“I’ve been playing sports my whole life,” said Jacobs’ with tears forming in his eyes. “Um, and I got…I’m sorry…I got five more weeks left of competitive sports so I’m doing everything I can to get every point I can.”

Jacobs’ currently has 126.5 points this season with 113 being kills. After he graduates this semester he plans to attend the California State University of Long Beach and focus on becoming a teacher.

Corsair setter Ethan Lo started to build his momentum early, attempting tips and fake sets on the Vikings, but they were either hitting the net or the Vikings’ defense was prepared. After only a few unsuccessful runs, his rhythm returned, and his tricks successfully assisted the Corsairs to their three wins.

Ryder Tuaolo who takes care of the Vikings sets had trouble at the service line during the matchup. He as well eventually found his rhythm in sets three and four but with his final service error in set five — he handed the Corsairs their fifteenth point to win the game.

Defensive honorable mentions go to sophomore liberos James Ban and Ryan Montero. Both stayed solid during the Vikings’ service runs, keeping their feet planted and arms strong for great digs and pancakes to keep rallies in play.

“I’m still shaking right now,” said Raman. “The adrenaline is just so high and we had a great crowd too, and like everything just went perfectly today I feel like.”

Hannemann’s aunts were also in the crowd along with the SMC women’s volleyball team and were ecstatic with how the game turned out. “Exciting, we’re very ecstatic about it,” said aunt Shelby Lynch. “Extremely exciting,” aunt Toi Arnold continued… “I almost lost my voice. I’m so elated about this and it’s nice to be able to cheer him on along with his teammates because sometimes there’s not a lot of people that come as fans.”

The Corsairs’ went on the road to face El Camino College on Friday, March 14, 2026 and secured another win putting them at a 5-1 conference record. Their next opponent will be the 3-2 Fullerton College Hornets taking a ride down to Corsair gym, facing off at 6 p.m on Wednesday, March 18, 2026.