Pauley Pavilion will play host to the men's NCAA volleyball championship May 1-5.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Earns At-Large NCAA Bid
April 22, 2018 | Men's Volleyball
The UCLA men's volleyball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship, which will he hosted by the Bruins in Pauley Pavilion May 1-5. The Bruins will play their first match on Tuesday, May 1 in Pauley Pavilion against Harvard, which won the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament title, at 7:30 p.m.
The NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship kicks off on April 26 when two-time defending champion Ohio State (23-5), from the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, hosts King University (23-5), the winner of the Conference Carolinas tournament. That opening round match will be played in Columbus, Ohio at 4 p.m. PT.
On May 1, UCLA will serve as host to a pair of NCAA Opening Round matches in Pauley Pavilion. The first match, which begins at 5 p.m. PT, will feature UC Irvine (21-9) against the winner of the April 26 match between Ohio State and King. In the second match of the night, the Bruins (24-7) will play Harvard (13-13) in a contest scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. PT
The national semifinals will take place in Pauley Pavilion on May 3. Top-seeded Long Beach State (26-1) will play the winner of the UC Irvine vs. Ohio State / King contest at 5 p.m. In the second semifinal, No. 2 seed BYU (22-6) will battle the winner of the UCLA vs. Harvard match which is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. PT.
The Championship match is set for a 4 p.m. start on Saturday in Pauley Pavilion and will be televised by ESPNU. The May 3 semifinal matches will be streamed on ncaa.com.
UCLA last played in the NCAA Men's volleyball championship event in 2016 when it lost a semifinal match to Ohio State. This is the 15th time that UCLA has hosted the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship. The Bruins have captured 19 titles overall in the sport, with the last coming after a 3-0 win at Penn State in 2006.
The Bruins own a 24-7 record this season under sixth-year head coach John Speraw. Coach Speraw (UCLA '95) won three NCAA titles as the head coach (2012, 2009, 2007) while at UC Irvine. He also earned three titles as an assistant coach while at UCLA (1996, 1998, 2000) and two more as a player at UCLA (1993, 1995). UCLA compiled a record of 5-4 versus the teams in this year's field (1-0 v. King; 0-0 v. Harvard, 0-2 v. Long Beach State, 1-2 v. BYU, 1-0 v. Ohio State, 2-0 vs. UC Irvine). The Bruins head into this year's tournament after finishing second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season and losing to BYU in the championship match of the MPSF Tournament in Provo.
Top-seeded Long Beach State captured both the Big West Conference regular season and tournament titles and owns a 26-1 record. No. 2 seed BYU also earned regular season and tournament titles in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Both teams will receive byes into the national semifinals.
UC Irvine lost in the Big West Conference tournament semifinals after finishing in a tie for second in the regular season standings. UCI enters the tournament with a 21-9 record. Ohio State, the two-time defending national champ, is the winner of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) title and has a 23-5 record this season.
Two teams will be making their first trips to the NCAA Championship. Harvard, which finished tied for second in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) regular season, won the EIVA Tournament to advance. The Crimson are 13-13 this year. King, which tied for the Conference Carolinas regular season title, captured the league's tournament title and will also be playing in its first NCAA tournament.
NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship tickets for matches played in Pauley Pavilion are available at:
http://uclabruins.com/sports/2018/1/10/2018-ncaa-mens-volleyball-championships.aspx
NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship
Apr. 26 – Opening Round Match (at Columbus, Ohio)
King Univ. (Tenn.) at Ohio State – 4 p.m. PT
May 1 – Opening Round (Pauley Pavilion – stream option to be determined)
UC Irvine vs. winner of the King/Ohio State match – 5:00 p.m. PT
UCLA vs. Harvard winner – 7:30 p.m. PT
May 3 – Semifinals (Pauley Pavilion – stream on ncaa.com)
No. 1 seed Long Beach State vs. winner of UC Irvine v. King/Ohio State match – 5 p.m. PT
No. 2 seed BYU vs. winner of the UCLA v. Harvard match – 7:30 p.m. PT
May 5 – Championship (Pauley Pavilion – TV: ESPNU)
4 p.m.
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