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The finals match is set for the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament.
Check out the matchup and the historical tidbits to know before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
No. 1 seed Long Beach State (28-3, 8-2 Big West) vs. No. 3 seed UCLA (22-6, 10-2 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. Monday in Columbus, Ohio
National broadcast: ESPN2
Season series: Long Beach State leads 2-0
Last meeting: Long Beach State on the road swept UCLA in February.
Last meeting in NCAA Tournament: UCLA defeated Long Beach State in four games in the 2024 NCAA Tournament finals.
All-time series: UCLA leads 71-44
How they got here: Long Beach State swept the No. 8 seed Fort Valley State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and then defeated the No. 5 seed Pepperdine in four games in the semifinals. UCLA swept the No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals and then swept the No. 2 seed Hawai’i in the semifinals.
NCAA Tournament record: Long Beach State (23-12); UCLA (62-10)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025); 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, 2024, 2025)
NCAA Tournament finals appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025); 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, 2018, 2023, 2024, 2025)
NCAA Tournament titles: 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, 2023, 2024)
Previous NCAA Tournament finals meetings: 1970 (UCLA def. Long Beach State 15-7, 15-4, 15-8); 2018 (Long Beach State def. UCLA 25-19, 23-25, 20-25, 26-24, 15-12); 2024 (UCLA def. Long Beach State 25-21, 25-20, 27-19, 25-21)
Long Beach State player accolades this season: Moni Nikolov (National Player of the Year, National Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-American, Big West Player of the Year, Big West Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); Skyler Varga (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big West); DiAeris McRaven (Second-Team All-American, First-Team All-Big West); Alex Kandev (First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); Daniil Hershtynovich (All-American Honorable Mention, All-Big West Honorable Mention); Kellen Larson (All-American Honorable Mention)
UCLA player accolades this season: Cooper Robinson (First-Team All-American, MPSF Player of the Year, First-Team All-MPSF); Andrew Rowan (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Cameron Thorne (First-Team All-American, First-Team All-MPSF); Zach Rama (Second-Team All-American); Sean Kelly (All-MPSF Honorable Mention, MPSF All-Freshman Team)
Historical stats to know: This is the first time two teams have met two consecutive years in the NCAA Tournament finals since BYU and Ohio in 2016 and 2017. It also is the fourth consecutive year that the Bruins and Beach have played each other in the NCAA Tournament. The Beach rallied from a two-game deficit to beat the Bruins in the 2022 semifinals. UCLA beat Long Beach State in the 2023 semifinals and then on the Beach’s home court in the 2024 finals. UCLA coach John Hawks is attempting to become the first person since UC Irvine’s David Kniffin in 2013 to win a national championship in their first season as the team’s head coach. In addition, UCLA is attempting to become the first three-peat champion since UCLA won four consecutive national teams from 1981 to 1984. The last time UCLA as a repeat national champion to reach the finals for a third year was 1997. UCLA lost to Stanford in five games in a finals played at Ohio State. Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe is attempting to become the fifth coach in NCAA men’s volleyball history to win three national championships.