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The semifinal 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. 5 seed Pepperdine (21-9, 7-5 MPSF)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: Long Beach State leads 1-0
Last meeting: Long Beach State defeated Pepperdine in five games in January.
Last meeting in NCAA Tournament: Long Beach State defeated Peppedine in four games in the 2019 semifinals en route to winning back-to-back national championships.
All-time series: Pepperdine leads 52-49
How they got here: Long Beach State earned an at-large bid after losing in the Big West Tournament finals and then swept the No. 8 seed Fort Valley State in the NCAA Tournament. Pepperdine won the MPSF Tournament to win the conference’s automatic bid and then defeated the No. 4 seed Loyola in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
NCAA Tournament record: Long Beach State (22-12); Pepperdine (19-13)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025); Pepperdine (1976, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984 1985, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2002, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2019, 2021, 2022)
NCAA Tournament semifinals appearances: Long Beach State (1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025); Pepperdine (1976, 1977, 1978, 1983, 1984 1985, 1986, 1992, 1998, 2002, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2019)
NCAA Tournament titles: Long Beach State (1991, 2018, 2019); Pepperdine (1978, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2005)
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)
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)
No. 2 seed Hawai’i (27-5, 7-3 Big West) vs. No. 3 seed UCLA (21-6, 10-2 MPSF)
Match vitals: 8 p.m. Saturday in Columbus, Ohio
Season series: First meeting this season
Last meeting: UCLA defeated Hawai’i in four games in the 2023 NCAA Tournament finals
Last meeting in NCAA Tournament: UCLA defeated Hawai’i in four games in the 2023 NCAA Tournament finals to win its first of two consecutive national championships.
All-time series: UCLA leads 65-31
How they got here: Hawai’i won the Big West Tournament to win the conference’s automatic bid and then defeated the No. 7 seed Penn State in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. UCLA earned an at-large bid after losing in the MPSF Tournament semifinals and then swept the No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
NCAA Tournament record: Hawai’i (12-7); UCLA (61-10)
NCAA Tournament appearances: Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 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 semifinals appearances: Hawai’i (1995, 1996, 2002, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 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 titles: Hawai’i (2002, 2021, 2022); UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023, 2024)
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)
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)