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The four quarterfinal matches are set for the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament.
Check out the matchups and the historical tidbits to know before filling out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
No. 1 seed Long Beach State (27-3, 8-2 Big West) vs. No. 8 seed Fort Valley State (18-9, 10-0 SIAC)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. Thursday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: Long Beach State leads 1-0
Last meeting: Long Beach State swept Fort Valley State in January at the Silver State Showdown.
All-time series: Long Beach State leads 1-0
How they got here: Long Beach State earned an at-large bid after losing in the Big West Tournament finals. Fort Valley State defeated Edward Waters in the SIAC Tournament finals to win the conference’s automatic bid.
NCAA Tournament record: Long Beach State (21-12); Fort Valley State (0-1)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025); Fort Valley State (2024, 2025)
NCAA Tournament titles: Long Beach State (1991, 2018, 2019); Fort Valley State (none)
Long Beach State player accolades this season: Moni Nikolov (Big West Player of the Year, Big West Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); Alex Kandev (First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); DiAeris McRaven (First-Team All-Big West); Skyler Varga (First-Team All-Big West); Daniil Hershtynovich (All-Big West Honorable Mention)
Fort Valley State player accolades this season: Isaiah Fedd (SIAC Player of the Year, First-Team All-SIAC); Oshane Farquharson (SIAC Setter of the Year, First-Team All-SIAC); Taviian Martin (First-Team All-SIAC); Jaxon Hicks (Second-Team All-SIAC)
Historical stat to know: The record for aces in an NCAA Tournament is 14 – set by Ohio State opposite Jake Hanes in 2018. Long Beach State setter Moni Nikolov has already set the NCAA single-season aces record with 94 aces.
No. 2 seed Hawai’i (26-5, 7-3 Big West) vs. No. 7 seed Penn State (14-15, 8-4 EIVA)
Match vitals: 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: Hawai’i leads 1-0
Last meeting: Hawai’i swept Penn State at the Outrigger Invitational in March.
All-time series: Hawai’i leads 18-10
How they got here: Hawai’i defeated Long Beach State in the Big West Tournament finals to win the conference’s automatic bid. Penn State won the EIVA Tournament to earn the conference’s automatic bid and then swept Daemen in the NCAA Tournament opening round.
NCAA Tournament record: Hawai’i (11-7); Penn State (18-34)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025); 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, 1017, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025)
NCAA Tournament titles: Hawai’i (2002, 2021, 2022); Penn State (1994, 2008)
Hawai’i player accolades this season: Tread Rosenthal (First-Team All-Big West); Adrien Roure (First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); Kristian Titriyski (First-Team All-Big West, Big West All-Freshman Team); Kurt Nusterer (All-Big West Honorable Mention)
Penn State player accolades this season: Gaige Gabriel (All-EIVA Honorable Mention); Will Kuhns (First-Team All-EIVA); Matthew Luoma (All-EIVA Honorable Mention); Ryan Merk (First-Team All-EIVA); Owen Rose (Second-Team All-EIVA)
Historical stat to know: This will be the seventh time Penn State and Hawai’i have played each other in the NCAA Tournament. The Rainbow Warriors are 4-2 in those NCAA Tournament matches, including winning the most recent meetings in 2016 and 2023.
No. 3 seed UCLA (20-6, 10-2 MPSF) vs. No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey (17-8, 12-2 ConfCarolinas)
Match vitals: 11 a.m. Thursday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: Did not play each other this season
Last meeting: First all-time meeting
All-time series: First all-time meeting
How they got here: UCLA earned an at-large bid after losing in the MPSF Tournament semifinals. Belmont Abbey defeated Mount Olive in the ConfCarolinas Tournament finals to earn the conference’s automatic bid.
NCAA Tournament record: UCLA (60-10); Belmont Abbey (0-2)
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, 2024, 2025); Belmont Abbey (2021, 2024, 2025)
NCAA Tournament titles: UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023, 2024); Belmont Abbey (none)
UCLA player accolades this season: Cooper Robinson (MPSF Player of the Year, First-Team All-MPSF); Andrew Rowan (First-Team All-MPSF); Cameron Thorne (First-Team All-MPSF); Sean Kelly (All-MPSF Honorable Mention, MPSF All-Freshman Team)
Belmont Abbey player accolades this season: Zach Puentes (First-Team All-ConfCarolinas); Jibriel Elhaddad (First-Team All-ConfCarolinas); Michael de la Cruz (First-Team All-ConfCarolinas); Joseph Morris (Second-Team All-ConfCarolinas)
Historical stat to know: UCLA has not lost a first-round NCAA Tournament match since a round-robin stage match against San Diego State in 1972.
No. 4 seed Loyola (25-3, 13-3 MIVA) vs. No. 5 seed Pepperdine (20-9, 7-5 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: Loyola leads 1-0
Last meeting: Loyola defeated Pepperdine in five games in January.
All-time series: Loyola leads 3-2
How they got here: Loyola swept Ohio State in the MIVA Tournament finals to win the conference’s automatic bid. Pepperdine defeated USC in the MPSF Tournament finals to win the conference’s automatic bid.
NCAA Tournament record: Loyola (5-1); Pepperdine (18-13)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Loyola (2013, 2014, 2015); Pepperdine (1976, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984 1985, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2002, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2019, 2021, 2022)
NCAA Tournament titles: Loyola (2014, 2015); Pepperdine (1978, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2005)
Loyola player accolades this season: Parker Van Buren (MIVA Player of the Year, First-Team All-MIVA); Daniel Fabikovic (First-Team All-MIVA); Ryan McElligott (First-Team All-MIVA); Nicodemus Meyer (First-Team All-MIVA)
Pepperdine player accolades this season: Ryan Barnett (First-Team All-MPSF); Cole Hartke (MPSF Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-MPSF, MPSF all-Freshman Team); Jacob Reilly (Second-Team All-MPSF); Gabe Dyer (All-MPSF Honorable Mention)
Historical stat to know: Pepperdine since winning the 1992 NCAA championship at Ball State has lost its last three NCAA Tournament matches played in the Midwest, including losing in the 2021 opening round at Ohio State.