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Check out the men’s volleyball NCAA Tournament finals to follow today and how to follow the match live.
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
Follow live: Live stats, Live video (ESPN+), Instagram in-match updates, TV (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)
What to know: This NCAA Tournament finals will be listed in the record books as a rematch – Long Beach State and UCLA for the second straight year playing for a national championship. It’s anything but rematch, though, given all the changes both programs experienced in paths back to the championship match. Long Beach State has five new starters from the starting lineup in the finals last season, including having to replace multiple All-Americans. UCLA also replaced multiple All-American starters from last season and had a coaching change with John Hawks replacing Jon Speraw in the offseason. One of the biggest changes to this rematch is Long Beach State freshman setter Moni Nikolov. Nikolov has guided the Beach offense to a nation-best .399 attack percentage. In addition, the National Player of the Year has already set the NCAA single-season record with 102 aces. The Beach had multiple first-year starters with double-digit kills and hit more than .400 in the semifinals victory against Pepperdine. Freshman outside attacker Alex Kandev finished with a match-high 19 kills on a .533 attack percentage, opposite Nato Dickson also had 19 kills and hit .485. UCLA freshman setter Sean Kelly led all players 13 kills on a .435 attack percentage in the team’s semifinal sweep against Hawai’i. Kelly has double-digit kills and hit more than .400 in all three of the Bruins’ postseason matches. UCLA limited Hawai’i to a season-low attack percentage en route to returning to the finals. The Bruins are attempting to become the first program since the 1980s to win three consecutive national championships.