Numbers to know for NCAA Tournament play-in matches

There are some stats and trends to know about every team before filling out your college men’s volleyball bracket this year.

Check out this breakdown of the upcoming NCAA Tournament play-in matches.

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No. 3 seed Ohio State (28-2, 15-1 MIVA) vs. No. 6 seed George Mason (18-11, 10-4 EIVA)
Match vitals:
6 p.m. Tuesday, May 3 in University Park, Pennsylvania
Season series: Ohio State leads 1-0
All-time series: Ohio State leads 28-25
NCAA Tournament record: Ohio State (9-22); George Mason (2-4)
Last NCAA Tournament title: Ohio State (2011); George Mason (never)
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: Ohio State (2011); George Mason (1988)
How they got here: Ohio State (won MIVA Tournament to earn conference’s automatic bid); George Mason (won EIVA Tournament to earn conference’s automatic bid)
Historical stats to know: Ohio State is on a 12-match winning streak against George Mason dating back to 2009. In addition, a No. 3 seed has not lost a game in the play-in match since the NCAA Tournament expanded to six teams in 2014. No EIVA team besides Penn State in the almost 50-year history of the tournament has won a NCAA Tournament match, excluding consolation matches. George Mason coach Jay Hosack is one of three first-year head coaches in the NCAA Tournament. The last first-year head coach to win a NCAA Tournament championship was UC Irvine coach David Kniffin in 2013.

No. 4 seed Long Beach State (24-7, 17-5 MPSF) vs. No. 5 seed Erskine (21-6, 15-3 CC)
Match vitals:
8 p.m. Tuesday, May 3 in University Park, Pennsylvania
Season series: Have yet to play each other.
All-time series: Have yet to play each other
NCAA Tournament record: Long Beach State (12-7); Erskine (0-1)
Last NCAA Tournament title: Long Beach State (1991); Erskine (never)
Last NCAA Tournament appearance: Long Beach State (2008); Erskine (2014)
How they got here: Long Beach State (earned final at-large bid); Erskine (won the Conference Carolinas Tournament to earn conference’s automatic bid)
Historical stats to know: Long Beach is attempting to become the second at-large bid team to win the NCAA championship this decade. The 49ers in their seven previous NCAA Tournament appearances have only once failed to advance to the championship match. The majority of Erskine’s starting lineup were played in the 2014 NCAA Tournament when about half of Long Beach State’s starting lineup were high school juniors. The Flying Fleet are 1-1 all-time against MPSF teams. This is also the first time in the NCAA Tournament history that a Conference Carolinas school was seeded higher than the No. 6 seed.