The UCLA men's volleyball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and was awarded the second seed in the championship. The Bruins will receive a bye into the national semifinals and will play the winner of the Ohio State / George Mason match on May 5 (8 p.m. Eastern/ 5 p.m. Pacific) at Penn State.
BYU (26-3) was the top-seed in the tournament and will play the winner of the other semifinal between Erskine (20-6) / Long Beach State (24-7). The semifinal matches will be streamed on ncaa.com. The national championship match will be played on May 7 (8 p.m. Eastern/ 5 p.m. Pacific) at Penn State and will be televised by ESPN2.
UCLA will be returning to the NCAA championships for the first time since it captured the program's 19th title with a 3-0 win at Penn State in 2006. The Bruins own a 25-6 record this season under fourth-year head coach John Speraw which includes the most wins since that 2006 season produced 26 victories. Coach Speraw (UCLA '95) won three NCAA titles as the head coach (2012, 2009, 2007) at UC Irvine. He also earned three titles as an assistant coach to Al Scates while at UCLA (1996, 1998, 2000) and two more as a player for Scates (1993, 1995).
The Bruins head into this year's tournament having won 12 of their last 15 matches. The three setbacks in that stretch have all come at the hands of top-seed BYU. Ohio State, the winner of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) title (five set win over Lewis), owns a 28-2 record this season and has won 20 consecutive matches. Its last loss came in a five-set decision to Ball State on February 6. George Mason won the Eastern Intercollege Volleyball Association (EIVA) in a four sets over St. Francis. The Patriots are 18-11 this year and will be making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1988.
UCLA played both the Buckeyes and the Patriots earlier this season. The Bruins opened the season at George Mason on January 5 and registered a 3-0 win. Two nights later, UCLA defeated OSU 3-1 in a tournament played at Penn State.