Top-seeded Long Beach State will face unseeded UCLA for the NCAA men’s volleyball championship Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.
Both teams won their semifinals Thursday in four sets, with the 49ers defeating two-time defending national champion Ohio State and the Bruins upsetting second-seeded Brigham Young.
Only two teams in the seven-team field were seeded.
Long Beach State (27-1) moved into the No. 1 spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll Jan. 15 and has remained there ever since. UCLA (26-7) is ranked third.
This is the third meeting of the season between the two teams, with the 49ers winning both of the previous matches in four sets.
Long Beach State began the season with a school-record 24-match winning streak. The 49ers suffered their only loss April 14 at Hawaii.
Long Beach State junior setter Josh Tuaniga was selected as the AVCA national player of the year. The 49ers have two other AVCA first-team All-Americans in addition to Tuaniga, outside hitter TJ DeFalco and opposite Kyle Ensing.
Middle blocker Nick Amado was a second-team All-American selection.
Long Beach State coach Alan Knipe was selected as AVCA Division I-II men’s national coach of the year. Associate head coach Nick MacRae was selected as the AVCA Division I-II men’s national assistant coach of the year.
The match is set to begin at 4 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2.
The Bruins will make their 26th appearance in the National Championship match, and first since 2006, when they won the championship. UCLA has a 19-6 record in National Championship matches.
UCLA is seeking its 116th NCAA championship, which would tie Stanford for the overall NCAA lead.
The 49ers will be making their seventh appearance in the National Championship match, and first since 2004. Long Beach State’s only victory came in 1991 when Knipe was a middle blocker and selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.
Other members of the 1991 team plan to be at Saturday’s match, wearing matching T-shirts, displaying their love for the sport, their alma mater and the 2018 team.
“We are Beach through and through,” said Patrick `Sully’ Sullivan, an outside hitter on the 1991 team. “We want to be there to pass the torch. It’s history in the making. It’s hard to win a national championship.
“It’s been 27 years. For us to be there is a kudos to Long Beach State and what they did for us.”