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Check out all the college men’s volleyball matches to follow today and how to follow the matches live.
No. 1 seed Long Beach State (20-5, 8-2 Big West) vs. UCLA (22-4, 11-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, Live video, Long Beach State radio feed, UCLA radio feed, In-match tweets
Season season series: Tied at 1-1
All-time series: UCLA leads 66-40
Series record in NCAA Tournament: UCLA leads 2-1
NCAA Tournament championships: Long Beach State (1991, 2018, 2019); UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006)
NCAA Tournament record: Long Beach State (17-9); UCLA (55-9)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019); UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 1998, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2016, 2018, 2022)
What to know: Coach John Speraw had high praises for Long Beach State outside attacker Alex Nikolov during the prematch news conference on Wednesday. The UCLA head coach and U.S. Men’s National Team coach said Nikolov already has the skill level to play for the freshman’s home nation Bulgaria in some of the top international tournaments. Speraw and UCLA now have the challenge of trying to slow down Nikolov in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Nikolov, who was named the National Player of the Year on Wednesday, is third in the nation with a 4.60 kills per game average on a .385 attack percentage and has a nation-best 0.61 aces per game average. In addition, Nikolov had a combined 30 kills and hit .333 as the Bruins and Beach split their two regular season non-conference matches. The freshman enters the NCAA Tournament having multiple aces in five consecutive matches, but was held without an ace in both meetings against UCLA. This rematch of the 2018 NCAA Tournament finals will feature the top two offensive teams in the nation. The Beach is second in the country with a .351 attack percentage, while the Bruins lead the nation hitting .377. Setter Miles Partain guided the UCLA offense to a .437 attack percentage in a four-game victory against Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament opening round. The Bruins in the final two games committed a combined two attack errors and hit more than .600. Opposite Kevin Kobrine also led all players with a season-high 16 kills on a .519 attack percentage against Pepperdine.
No. 2 seed Ball State (23-3, 12-2 MIVA) vs. Hawai’i (25-5, 7-3 Big West)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, Live video, Radio feed, In-match tweets
Season series: Ball State leads series 2-0
All-time series: Hawai’i leads 12-5
Series record in NCAA Tournament: Ball State leads 1-0
NCAA Tournament championships: Ball State (none); Hawai’i (2002, 2021)
NCAA Tournament record: Ball State (11-29); Hawai’i (8-6)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Ball State (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002); Ball State (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2022); Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)
What to know: All the chatter about what could have been gets settled on the court tonight. Ball State and Hawai’i will meet in the NCAA Tournament semifinals – a rematch of a two-match non-conference series nearly three months ago. The Cardinals swept that series, the second time in school history the program upset a No. 1 ranked team, but the Rainbow Warriors were without multiple starters because of injuries. Ball State is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 20 years. The team earned the No. 2 overall seed and a bye to the semifinals after sweeping Purdue Fort Wayne in the MIVA Tournament finals. The Cardinals are the only school in the nation with multiple players in the top 10 for kills. Outside attacker Kaleb Jenness, the MIVA Player of the Year, is second in the nation with a 4.71 kills per game average and had a combined 39 kills on a .400 attack percentage in the two wins against Hawai’i. Opposite Angelos Mandilaris, a finalist for the Bryan Ivie Award, is seventh in the nation averaging 4.19 kills per game and had a season-high 25 kills in the series finale against Hawai’i. The former three-time ConfCarolinas Offensive Player of the Year before transferring to Ball State will be one of three Greek starters for this semifinal match. Hawai’i opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias is among the national leaders averaging 3.59 kills per game, including having 10 kills on a .500 attack percentage in a sweep against North Greenville in the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday. In addition, Hawai’i outside attacker Spryos Chakas has a 3.27 kills per game average and is in the nation’s top 15 with a 0.46 aces per game average. This match will also feature the two finalists for the Lloy Ball Award, which is presented to the nation’s top setter. Setter Jakob Thelle has guided the Hawai’i offense to a .342 attack percentage and set the single-season program record with 55 aces. Thelle was among the starters unavailable for the regular season series against Ball State. Setter Quinn Isaacson has led Ball State to the third-best attack percentage in the nation at .350 and has a nation-best 11.42 assists per game average.