Dante Estrada | Long Beach Current

This fall semester has seen some highs and lows for Long Beach State sports, and in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, this week’s edition of “Catching the Wave” presents the Naughty and Nice list of Long Beach sports. 

Nice: Natalie Reagan’s high-speed offense

If you were to describe LBSU women’s volleyball head coach Natalie Reagan’s offensive philosophy in one word, it would be: fast. 

Early on this season, junior outside hitter and Boise State transfer Anabel Kotzakov remarked on the challenges of finding her footing in the unique offensive style The Beach deploys. 

“The offense Long Beach runs is so fast compared to any other team, so it definitely took me a little bit to get used to it,” Kotzakov told The Current. 

In exchange for the longer learning curve, Reagan and her coaching staff have fielded an offense that ranks near the top of the Big West in every metric. 

LBSU ranks second in kills per set at 13.58, second in points with 17.29 and third in hitting percentage at .240.

After clinching a playoff berth on Nov. 13, The Beach will put their high-flying offense to the test in their pursuit of a Big West title. 

Naughty: The people of Long Beach

With a new expansion minor league baseball team coming to Long Beach in 2026, the team’s ownership group provided fans with a fun opportunity to help decide the name for the club. 

However, the people of Long Beach did not meet the moment. 

The three finalists of this naming competition are Long Beach Coast, Parrots and Regulators. 

While the Regulators is a very cool-sounding name, inspired by minority owner and rapper Warren G’s hit song “Regulate,” it’s unlikely to be chosen due to how easily ownership of a team can change. 

Excluding that idea, the Coast is unoriginal and far too similar to The Beach, the name of the majority of LBSU’s programs, and the Parrots would immediately rise to the top of the list of least intimidating sports team names of all time. 

Nice: Gabi Acosta, men’s water polo 

It’s rare for a player to be arguably the best player in his conference through his freshman to senior season, but that may end up being the case for Gabi Acosta. 

After being named Big West Player of the Year as a freshman with 63 goals, the 6-foot-4 center from Barcelona added 61 goals as a sophomore this season. 

Acosta is ranked 25th in career goals for the program after just two seasons, and if he can continue at his current pace, he will shatter the LBSU record of 231 goals held by Kyle Kopp. 

Naughty: Converting opportunities for women’s soccer

Despite finishing eighth in the Big West and missing the postseason, LBSU women’s soccer led the conference in shots on goal per game with 6.22, with 47% of the team’s shots being on target. 

However, The Beach’s inability to capitalize on these opportunities cost them big in close games throughout the season, going 3-6 in one-score games en route to a 5-8-5 campaign.