Follow
The NCAA Tournament continues Thursday with both semifinal matches.
Check out what to know about these matches before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
No. 1 seed UCLA (29-2, 12-0 MPSF) vs. Long Beach State (21-4, 9-1 Big West)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. Thursday in Fairfax, Virginia
Where to watch: NCAA.com
Where to buy tickets: George Mason ticket office
How they get here: UCLA won the MPSF Tournament and earned the No. 1 overall seed along with a bye to the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Long Beach State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and defeated Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament opening round.
All-time series: UCLA leads 68-41
Last meeting in series: UCLA defeated Long Beach State in four games
NCAA Tournament appearances: 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, 2023); Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
NCAA Tournament record: UCLA (55-10); Long Beach State (19-10)
NCAA championships: UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006); Long Beach State (1991, 2018, 2019)
UCLA player accolades this season: Andrew Rowan (AVCA National Newcomer of the Year, MPSF Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF, MPSF All-Freshman Team); Ethan Champlain (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Ido David (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Merrick McHenry (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Alex Knight (Second-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF)
Long Beach State player accolades this season: Mason Briggs (First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Sotiris Siapanis (Second-Team All-American All-Big West); Simon Torwie (Second-Team All-American, All-Big West); Spencer Olivier (All-Big West); Connor Bloom (Big West All-Freshman)
No. 2 seed Hawai’i (28-2, 9-1 Big West) vs. Penn State (26-3, 10-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Fairfax, Virginia
Where to watch: NCAA.com, ESPN Radio Honolulu
Where to buy tickets: George Mason ticket office
How they reached the NCAA Tournament: Hawai’i won the Big West Tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid and received the No. 2 overall seed and bye to the NCAA Tournament semifinals. Penn State won the EIVA Tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid and then defeated Ohio State in four games in the NCAA Tournament opening round on Tuesday.
All-time series: Hawai’i leads 16-10
Season series: Penn State leads 1-0
Last meeting in series: Penn State beat Hawai’i in four games
NCAA Tournament appearances: Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023); Penn State (1981, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, 2023)
NCAA Tournament record: Hawai’i (10-6); Penn State (18-32)
NCAA championships: Hawai’i (2002, 2021, 2022); Penn State (1994, 2008)
Hawai’i player accolades this season: Jakob Thelle (Big West Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Dimitrios Mouchlias (First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Guilherme Voss (First-Team All-American, All-Big West); Spyros Chakas (Second-Team All-American, All-Big West); Chaz Galloway (All-Big West); Brett Sheward (All-Big West); Kurt Nusterer (Big West All-Freshman)
Penn State player accolades this season: Cole Bogner (EIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-American, First-Team All-EIVA); Toby Ezeonu (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-EIVA); Cal Fisher (Second-Team All-American, First-Team All-EIVA); Ryan Merk (EIVA Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-EIVA); Michal Kowal (First-Team All-EIVA); Owen Rose (First-Team All-EIVA); Brett Wildman (Second-Team All-EIVA)