The UCLA and Long Beach State men’s volleyball teams won their respective conference tournaments on Saturday night, giving them additional momentum heading into the NCAA tournament and another potential national championship showdown next month.
Top-ranked UCLA (29-1) defeated crosstown rival USC (19-7) in four sets to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title in Provo, Utah, while defending national champ Long Beach State (24-4) outlasted rival Hawaii (27-5) in a five-set thriller to claim the Big West championship at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.
UCLA (2023, 2024) and Long Beach have combined to win the last three national championships and five of the past seven that were held (the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season), and both teams are locks to be among the top four seeds for this year’s NCAA tournament when the bracket for the expanded 12-team tournament is revealed on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT (streamed on NCAA.com).
The new format will seed the top four teams in a field that includes seven automatic qualifiers and five at-large selections. The top four seeds will each likely host a three-team regional next weekend, though the seeded teams do not automatically earn the right to host even if they submitted a bid to do so. The unseeded teams at each regional will square off on Friday (May 1) with the winner then facing the regional host on Saturday (May 2).
The four regional champions advance to the May 9 national semifinals at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. The national championship match is scheduled for Monday, May 11, also at Pauley Pavilion.
Locally, Pepperdine (23-6), UC Irvine (18-8) and USC all expect to be in the field, though the Trojans appear to be in a tight battle with Lindenwood (of Missouri) for the final at-large berth. Upsetting Pepperdine in a five-set MPSF semifinal on Thursday certainly helped USC’s case, but Sunday’s bracket reveal likely includes some what-if nervousness for the Trojans.
Big West regular-season champion Hawaii, which beat Long Beach on its home court twice in the regular season, and MIVA champion Ball State (25-4) appear to be locks for the other top-four seeds. EIVA champion Penn State (21-7), Conference Carolinas champion Belmont Abbey (20-5), NEC champion Saint Francis (17-11) and SIAC champ Fort Valley State (16-12) have all secured automatic berths. Loyola (20-8), like Hawaii, Pepperdine and UCI, is a lock for an at-large spot.
UCLA, whose only loss all season was a five-setter at Pepperdine, defeated USC, 25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 26-24, on Saturday at BYU’s Smith Fieldhouse.
Zach Rama paced the Bruins with 18 kills, while Sean Kelly added 12 kills and two blocks. Setter Andrew Rowan had 42 assists to pace quarterback UCLA to a .271 hitting percentage and was named the tournament MVP.
Sterling Foley had a team-best 17 kills, two blocks and hit .438 for USC, while Dillon Klein added 13 kills and three blocks.
Second-seeded Long Beach fought off five match points in the fourth set to extend its match before taking down top-seeded Hawaii, 20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 30-28, 15-11, in a tense Big West final that featured 44 ties and 12 lead changes.
LBSU’s Wojciech Gajek finished with 27 kills while hitting .489 hitting on his way to tournament MVP honors.
Long Beach saved one match point after another in the drama-filled fourth set. Gajek repeatedly delivered in transition, Ben Braun and Skyler Varga contributed timely blocks, and LBSU leaned on its serve pressure to disrupt Hawaii’s rhythm. At 28-28, the tension peaked. Jackson Cryst delivered back-to-back aces to secure the set and extend the match, shifting the energy in the arena.
Long Beach built a fifth-set lead behind disciplined blocking and transition efficiency, holding the Rainbow Warriors to .000 hitting in the set. Despite that, Hawaii still threatened late, but Gajek continued to side out under pressure, Cryst anchored the block, and LBSU held on for a 15-11 win and the title.