The NCAA Tournament continues Thursday with the two semifinal matches. Check out what to know about these matches.
Long Beach State (20-5, 8-2 Big West) vs. UCLA (22-4, 11-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles
Season season series: Tied at 1-1
Most recent meeting: UCLA defeated Long Beach State in five games.
All-time series: UCLA leads 66-40
Series record in NCAA Tournament: UCLA leads 2-1
How they reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals: UCLA defeated Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday. Long Beach State received the No. 1 overall seed and a bye to the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
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: UCLA (55-9); Long Beach State (17-9)
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)
Long Beach State player to know: Outside attacker Alex Nikolov is third in the nation with a 4.60 kills per game average and has a nation-best 0.61 aces per game average.
UCLA player to know: Opposite Kevin Kobrine finished with a match-high 16 kills on a .519 attack percentage in a four-game victory against Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday.
Stats to know: This will be the first time UCLA and Long Beach State have played each other in the NCAA Tournament since the Beach defeated the Bruins in five games in the 2018 finals. UCLA is attempting to become the first team to lose a conference tournament match on its home court and then that same season win the NCAA Tournament championship on its home court. In addition, the last host school playing in the NCAA Tournament to not advance to the finals was Penn State in 2011. This will be the first two at-large bids have played each other in the history of the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament. An at-large bid has won the last two NCAA championships, including Long Beach State winning the title in 2019.
Ball State (23-3, 12-2 MIVA) vs. Hawai’i (25-5, 7-3 Big West)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Los Angeles
Season series: Ball State leads series 2-0
Most recent meeting: Ball State defeated Hawai’i in five games in February.
All-time series: Hawai’i leads 12-5
Series record in NCAA Tournament: Ball State leads 1-0
How they reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals: Ball State won the MIVA championship and earned the No. 2 seed and bye to the semifinals. Hawai’i swept North Greenville in the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday.
NCAA Tournament championships: Hawai’i (2002, 2021); Ball State (none)
NCAA Tournament record: Hawai’i (8-6); Ball State (11-29)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022); 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)
Hawai’i player to know: Setter Jakob Thelle, a finalist for the Lloy Ball Award, set the single-season program record with 55 aces.
Ball State player to know: Outside attacker Kaleb Jenness, a finalist for the Karch Kiraly Award, is second in the nation with a 4.71 kills per game average.
Stats to know: This is the highest NCAA Tournament seed Ball State has received in its program history. The Cardinals have never advanced beyond the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Hawai’i is attempting to become the first team to reach three consecutive NCAA Tournament finals since in UCLA in 1994-96.