Sacramento State informed the Big Sky on Wednesday that it will leave the conference after this year and the Big West announced that the school will become the 12th school in the conference.

“The Big West membership and conference staff are excited to welcome Sacramento State to The Big West,” Commissioner Dan Butterly said in a statement. “In addition to strengthening The Big West competitively and expanding our geographic footprint, Sacramento State is a staunch advocate for excellence in academics, athletics and service within their community. The new-look Big West promises to bring a new level of competition and friendly rivalry for student-athletes and fans alike.”

The Big West doesn’t sponsor football so Sacramento State’s program will be an independent in that sport.

The Hornets are trying to move up from FCS level to FBS as an independent and are awaiting a ruling next week from the NCAA Division I Council.

The FBS Oversight Committee recommended against the move earlier this week, citing the “paramount importance” of having an invitation to join an FBS conference. The NCAA had previously granted a waiver to Liberty in 2017 to move to FBS as an independent but said the circumstances have changed since then.

The Flames were an independent in football from 2018-22 before joining Conference USA.

“Although a waiver of the bona fide invitation requirement was granted in 2017, that decision was made in a different era, under a different set of facts and rules …,” the committee recommended, according to public meeting minutes. “Due to the significance of the bona fide invitation from an FBS conference requirement and the lack of compelling mitigation explaining why that requirement, one that several other FCS institutions have met in recent years, has not been met, the committee does not support relief.”

Sacramento State said the school will consider all conference options for football if the council votes against its application.

Sacramento State had been an affiliate member of the Big West in various sports in the past but now will have 16 teams competing in the Big West starting in 2026-27.

“We are thrilled to become a full member of the Big West and are grateful for the invitation,” Athletic Director Mark Orr said. “Sacramento State strives to provide our student-athletes the opportunity to be in the best position to be nationally competitive, and the Big West for decades has been a conference that has enjoyed national success in several sports. We are eager to compete for championships, enhance existing rivalries, and develop new relationships with our peer conference members.”

The Hornets will officially join The Big West on July 1, 2026, joining a lineup that includes Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Cal State Northridge, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, California Baptist and Utah Valley. UC Davis is departing to join the Mountain West in July 2026.

The Big West has no current plans to expand beyond 12 member institutions.

The Hornets have made a big investment in the men’s basketball program recently, hiring former NBA star Mike Bibby as head coach and Shaquille O’Neal as a voluntary GM for the program.

Sacramento State went 7-25 last season under interim coach Michael Czepil, who was promoted last spring after David Patrick left to take a job as associate head coach at LSU.

The Hornets had gone 28-42 in two seasons under Patrick and the program has never made an NCAA Tournament since moving up to Division I in 1991-92. The Hornets have had a winning record only twice since then, going 16-14 in 2019-20 and 21-12 in 2014-15.

A federal judge signed off on arguably the biggest change in the history of college sports Friday, clearing the way for schools to begin paying their athletes millions as soon as next month as the multibillion-dollar industry shreds the last vestiges of the amateur model that defined it for more than a century.

Nearly five years after Arizona State swimmer Grant House sued the NCAA and its five biggest conferences to lift restrictions on revenue sharing, U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the final proposal that had been hung up on roster limits, just one of many changes ahead amid concerns that thousands of walk-on athletes will lose their chance to play college sports.

The sweeping terms of the so-called House settlement include approval for each school to share up to $20.5 million with athletes over the next year and $2.7 billion that will be paid over the next decade to thousands of former players who were barred from that revenue for years. These new payments are in addition to scholarships and other benefits the athletes already receive.

One of the lead plaintiff attorneys, Steve Berman, called Friday’s news “a fantastic win for hundreds of thousands of college athletes.”

The agreement brings a seismic shift to hundreds of schools that were forced to reckon with the reality that their players are the ones producing the billions in TV and other revenue, mostly through football and basketball, that keep this machine humming.

The scope of the changes – some have already begun – is difficult to overstate. The professionalization of college athletics will be seen in the high-stakes and expensive recruitment of stars on their way to the NFL and NBA, and they will be felt by athletes whose schools have decided to pare their programs. The agreement will resonate in nearly every one of the NCAA’s 1,100 member schools boasting nearly 500,000 athletes.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said the deal “opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports.”

The road to a settlement

Wilken’s ruling comes 11 years after she dealt the first significant blow to the NCAA ideal of amateurism. Then, she ruled in favor of former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon and others seeking a way to earn money from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) – a term that is now as common in college sports as “March Madness” or “Roll Tide.”

It was just four years ago that the NCAA cleared the way for NIL money to start flowing, but the changes coming are even bigger.

Wilken granted preliminary approval to the settlement last October. That sent colleges scurrying to determine not only how they were going to afford the payments, but how to regulate an industry that also allows players to cut deals with third parties so long as they are deemed compliant by a newly formed enforcement group that will be run by auditors at Deloitte.

The agreement takes a big chunk of oversight away from the NCAA and puts it in the hands of the four biggest conferences. The ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC hold most of the power and decision-making heft, especially when it comes to the College Football Playoff, which is the most significant financial driver in the industry and is not under the NCAA umbrella like the March Madness tournaments are.

Roster limits held things up

The deal looked ready to go, but Wilken put a halt to it this spring after listening to a number of players who had lost their spots because of newly imposed roster limits being placed on teams.

The limits were part of a trade-off that allowed the schools to offer scholarships to everyone on the roster, instead of only a fraction, as has been the case for decades. Schools started cutting walk-ons in anticipation of the deal being approved.

Wilken asked for a solution and, after weeks, the parties decided to let anyone cut from a roster – now termed a “Designated Student-Athlete” – return to their old school or play for a new one without counting against the new limit.

Wilken ultimately agreed, going point-by-point through the objectors’ arguments to explain why they didn’t hold up. The main point pushed by the parties was that those roster spots were never guaranteed in the first place.

“The modifications provide Designated Student-Athletes with what they had prior to the roster limits provisions being implemented, which was the opportunity to be on a roster at the discretion of a Division I school,” Wilken wrote.

Her decision, however, took nearly a month to write, leaving the schools and conferences in limbo – unsure if the plans they had been making for months, really years, would go into play.

“It remains to be seen how this will impact the future of inter-collegiate athletics – but as we continue to evolve, Carolina remains committed to providing outstanding experiences and broad-based programming to student-athletes,” North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said.

Winners and losers

The list of winners and losers is long and, in some cases, hard to tease out.

A rough guide of winners would include football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, which will devote much of their bankroll to signing and retaining them. For instance, Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood’s NIL deal is reportedly worth between $10.5 million and $12 million.

Losers, despite Wilken’s ruling, figure to be at least some of the walk-ons and partial scholarship athletes whose spots are gone.

Also in limbo are the Olympic sports many of those athletes play and that serve as the main pipeline for a U.S. team that has won the most medals at every Olympics since the downfall of the Soviet Union.

All this is a price worth paying, according to the attorneys who crafted the settlement and argue they delivered exactly what they were asked for: an attempt to put more money in the pockets of the players whose sweat and toil keep people watching from the start of football season through March Madness and the College World Series in June.

What the settlement does not solve is the threat of further litigation.

Though this deal brings some uniformity to the rules, states still have separate laws regarding how NIL can be doled out, which could lead to legal challenges. Baker has been consistent in pushing for federal legislation that would put college sports under one rulebook and, if he has his way, provide some form of antitrust protection to prevent the new model from being disrupted again.

The conference said Wednesday it remained open to the possibility of adding a 12th member but anticipated being an 11-school league when Utah Valley and Cal Baptist officially join July 1, 2026.

The Big West doesn’t have football, and Hawaii and UC Davis are leaving to join the Mountain West Conference in 2026-27. Hawaii has been a football-only member of the Mountain West since 2012. UC Davis has been a football-only member of the Big Sky Conference.

Utah Valley is leaving the Western Athletic Conference, and the Wolverines will compete in 13 Big West-sponsored sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

“Their addition expands our geographic footprint into a vibrant and strategically significant region, while elevating the level of competition across the board,” Big West commissioner Dan Butterly said.

Utah Valley will be the largest school in the Big West with an enrollment of 47,000. Barring further realignment, Utah Valley will replace Hawaii as the only school in the conference outside California.

Long Beach State’s Alex Kandev, right, spikes the ball past UCLA’s Zach Rama (21) during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State setter Moni Nikolov leaps to serve the ball during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match against UCLA on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

UCLA’s Sean Kelly (12) tries to spike the ball through the defense of Long Beach State’s Alex Kandev (12) and Isaiah Preuitt (5) during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State players huddle up for a moment during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match against UCLA on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State’s Alex Kandev (12) plays a ball at the net as UCLA’s Andrew Rowan (7) defends during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State fans cheer during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match against UCLA on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State’s Nato Dickinson, left, spikes the ball over the net as UCLA’s Cooper Robinson (11) defends during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State’s Alex Kandev serves the ball during the NCAA men’s volleyball title match against UCLA on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State’s Skyler Varga (4) begins to celebrate after the final point in their 3-0 victory over UCLA in the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State players celebrate after sweeping UCLA to win the NCAA men’s volleyball title on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State players celebrate with the trophy after sweeping UCLA to win the NCAA men’s volleyball title on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State players cut down the net after sweeping UCLA to win the NCAA men’s volleyball title on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State’s Kellen Larson celebrates after their victory over UCLA in the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

Long Beach State players hold their national championship trophy after sweeping UCLA, 3-0, in the NCAA men’s volleyball title match on Monday night in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo courtesy of LBSU Athletics/Diego Devia)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is back atop the sport after capping a dominant season with one of its best performances.

Top-seeded LBSU defeated third-seeded UCLA, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21, on Monday night at Ohio State’s Covelli Center to win its fourth national championship and avenge a loss to the Bruins in the 2024 title match, which was played at Long Beach State.

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov, the AVCA National Player of the Year, had six kills, four aces, two blocks and 27 assists to pace Long Beach (30-3), which hit .354 and held UCLA to .192.

“Not for one second did we think we were going to lose that game,” said the 6-foot-10 Nikolov, who was named the tournament MVP. “Before the game in the locker room we told each other we were here. We were born for this (expletive) game.”

The animated Nikolov, 18, paused and apologized for his faux pas before adding: “We were built for this game. Even when we were down five (in the second set), we trusted each other because we knew we were the better team.”

Alex Kandev had a team-high 13 kills and four blocks for Long Beach while hitting .450. Nato Dickinson added seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage, Skyler Varga had five kills and Diaeris McRaven added five blocks.

Long Beach had five aces, tying the NCAA single-season record (237) in the rally-scoring era, and 9.5 blocks, leading UCLA in every statistical category.

Cooper Robinson had 10 kills and hit .381 to lead the Bruins (22-7), while Zach Rama had eight kills and five blocks.

Long Beach won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2018 and 2019 and had finished as the runner-up twice since then (2022 and 2024) – there was no 2020 tournament because of the COVID pandemic. LBSU’s only other national championship came in 1991.

UCLA was chasing its 22nd national championship and trying to become the first program to win three in a row since the Bruins won four straight under longtime coach Al Scates from 1981-84.

The first set was close early until Long Beach used a quick 3-0 surge to open an 11-7 lead. LBSU extended its lead to 20-14 following back-to-back blocks by Isaiah Preuitt and Kandev and hit .688 in the frame on its way to a 25-17 win.

UCLA seized control early in the second set behind kills from Robinson and Sean McQuiggan, eventually building its largest lead at 18-13 after an Ido David ace. Long Beach responded and took advantage of some costly UCLA errors (two attack errors from Rama and service errors from David and Rama), winning seven of the next nine points to draw even at 20-all on a pair of Nikolov aces. Long Beach scored three straight points for a 24-22 lead, then closed the set on a McRaven kill.

The third set remained close until LBSU created some separation for a 16-11 lead. UCLA mounted one final charge behind consecutive kills from Rama to get within 21-20, but Long Beach withstood the pressure. A kill from Kandev sent the match to championship point, and a Nikolov kill completed the sweep and kicked off the celebration.

LBSU, which had a 20-match winning streak earlier this season, spent the past 14 weeks ranked No. 1 on the strength of a deep roster. Long Beach did lose a pair of matches to Big West Conference rival Hawaii last month, including the Big West Tournament final, but won nine of 10 sets in the NCAAs to leave little doubt as to who the best team in the country was.

Long Beach won all three of its matches against UCLA this season, beating the Bruins twice in February (a four-set victory at home, and a sweep at Pauley Pavilion) before Monday’s title match.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament will be played at UCLA.

Third-seeded UCLA, chasing its 22nd national crown and looking to become the first program to win three straight in more than 40 years, will have to get past the team that spent the majority of the 2025 season atop the rankings. For top-seeded Long Beach, Monday’s 4 p.m. PT title match represents a chance to secure its fourth NCAA title and avenge a bitter defeat in last year’s final, when the Bruins beat LBSU in four sets on its home court.

Both teams took care of business in Saturday’s semifinals. Long Beach (29-3) shook off a first-set loss to defeat fifth-seeded Pepperdine, 20-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23. UCLA (22-6) swept second-seeded Hawaii, 25-14, 25-23, 25-23.

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov, the newly minted national player of the year, broke the NCAA single-season aces record while leading LBSU into its 11th NCAA final. Nikolov came into the match just three aces shy of tying the record of 100. The 6-foot-10 Bulgarian tied and broke the mark on a pair of back-to-back aces in the third set and finished the match with five aces, a season-high 52 assists, six kills and 10 digs while quarterbacking his team to a .482 hitting percentage.

Senior opposite hitter Nato Dickinson and freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev each had 19 kills for Long Beach, with Kandev hitting a team-best .533 to go with eight digs. Dickinson hit .485 while recording five blocks, four assists and three digs. Junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga added 11 kills on a .381 clip.

The closely contested match saw 37 ties and 14 lead changes over the four sets, with both teams hitting over .400.

The first set was tight early, but Pepperdine used a 5-1 run to open a 22-17 advantage before closing out the set, 25-20. Neither team led by more than two points in a brilliant second set. The Waves used a 4-0 run to grab an 18-16 lead, but Long Beach scored three straight points after a timeout. LBSU eventually won the set, 25-23, on a Dickinson kill.

Long Beach hit an absurd .720 in the third set, with Nikolov’s record-setting ace providing a 12-8 lead. A 3-0 LBSU run capped by a kill from Connor Bloom provided a 24-18 lead and Kandev secured the set with a kill.

Long Beach hit .552 in the decisive fourth set, but Pepperdine hit .412 as the teams staged another tight battle. After 13 ties, LBSU got a few big plays from Isaiah Preuitt for a 16-15 edge. The Big West Conference regular-season champions extended their lead to 21-18 with a 5-1 run. Pepperdine answered to get within one point at 22-21, but Dickinson gave Long Beach a set point at 24-22 and his 19th kill ended the match, 25-23.

Sophomore outside hitter Ilay Haver had 14 kills and four digs while hitting .545 for Pepperdine (21-10), which put together one of its most impressive offensive performances of the season with its .421 hitting percentage.

Junior outside hitter Ryan Barnett had 13 kills on .536 hitting and freshman outside hitter Cole Hartke had 13 kills on .333 hitting to go with four digs and two aces. Graduate setter Gabriel Dyer added 48 assists and eight digs, while junior libero Jacob Reilly led the team with nine digs, and sophomore middle blocker James Eadie had a team-best four blocks.

UCLA hit .370 while holding a short-handed Hawaii (27-6) squad to a season-worst .188 mark in its semifinal.

Freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly had a match-high 13 kills while hitting .435 to pace the Bruins, who had the advantage from the service line (six aces) and at the net (11 blocks). Junior outside hitter Zach Rama added 10 kills, junior setter Andrew Rowan had 34 assists and junior middle blocker Sean McQuiggan recorded seven blocks.

UCLA used an eight-point run to open a 10-4 lead in the first set with junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson contributing two aces and a pair of kills. The Bruins’ third ace extended their lead to 16-8. They remained in control through the end of the set while hitting .417 to Hawaii’s .048 and closed it out on a Rama kill.

UCLA used a 5-0 run to take a 13-10 lead in the second set. The Rainbow Warriors tied the score at 17-all and there were five more ties before a diving save from Adrien Roure gave Hawaii a 23-22 lead. UCLA answered to reclaim the lead and closed out the set with its seventh block.

Hawaii kept shuffling its lineup searching for the right combination, but UCLA surged to a 12-6 lead in the third set. The Warriors got within 15-13, but UCLA went ahead 20-15 on back-to-back blocks. Hawaii got within 22-21 on a kill by Louis Sakanoko, but the teams traded service errors then UCLA scored the next two points, with Rowan setting up Robinson for his ninth kill to secure the match.

Roure led the Warriors with 12 kills with two aces while hitting .333.

Long Beach won both of its regular-season matches against UCLA, though both were played early in the season. LBSU won a four-set match at home on Feb. 7 then swept the Bruns five nights later at Pauley Pavilion.

Top-seeded Long Beach (28-3) defeated No. 8 seed Fort Valley State, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16, while third-seeded UCLA (21-6) dismissed sixth-seeded Belmont Abbey, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19.

LBSU will face fifth-seeded Pepperdine (21-9), which outlasted fourth-seeded Loyola-Chicago in four sets, in a semifinal on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT. Two-time defending national champion UCLA will square off with second-seeded Hawaii (27-5), which defeated No. 7 seed Penn State in four sets, in the second semi at approximately 5 p.m.

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov paced Long Beach to a .367 hitting percentage as he dished out 31 assists. The 6-foot-10 Nikolov added eight kills, eight digs, three aces, and one block, moving three aces from tying the national single-season record.

Senior outside hitter Nato Dickinson had 12 kills, two blocks and five digs while hitting .429, and middle blocker Ben Braun had nine kills while hitting .800. Long Beach hit .450 in the second set and .476 in the third, closing the match on a 5-0 run.

Freshman libero Kellen Larson (seven digs) anchored a defense that held Fort Valley State (16-10) to a .129 hitting percentage.

UCLA hit .455 in its match and three Bruins finished in double-digit kills: Zach Rama had 13, while Cooper Robinson and Sean Kelly each finished with 11. Setter Andrew Rowan paced the offense with 37 assists.

Belmont Abbey (17-9) held leads of 8-5 and 14-12 in the third set, but a Rama service ace sparked a UCLA run. Rowan dumped the ball over the net to tie the score at 16-all, before a block by middle blocker Cameron Thorne and Robinson gave the Bruins their first lead of the set at 17-16. Rama hammered home a kill on the following point, and the Bruins eventually extended their lead to 24-19 with a triple block at the net before closing it out.

Playing in the last match of the day, Pepperdine dropped its first set against Loyola before rallying for an 18-25, 28-26, 25-13, 25-20 win to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2019.

Ryan Barnett had 17 kills and 2.5 blocks and Cole Hartke had 11 kills, five digs and three aces to pace the Waves, who sprung a pair of upsets against UCLA and USC to win the MPSF Tournament last month.

Pepperdine hit .295 and held MIVA champion Loyola (25-4) to a .218 showing. Parker Van Buren had 15 kills to pace the Ramblers, while Daniel Fabikovic had nine kills and six digs.

Pepperdine lost its only regular-season meeting with Long Beach State this year, dropping a 3-2 decision in Malibu in late January.

Big West Tournament champion Hawaii hit just .238 but defeated the Nittany Lions, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, in its match.

Freshman opposite hitter Finn Kearney led the Rainbow Warriors with 16 kills, 10 digs, four aces and three blocks, but also committed 11 attack errors and two blocking errors on a day when Hawaii played well below its recent level.

Penn State (15-16) took advantage in the second set, but the Warriors did just enough to eke out set wins in the third and fourth frames, with middle blockers Kurt Nusterer (nine kills while hitting .571) and Justin Todd (eight kills, four block assists while hitting .800) helping anchor the attack. Setter Tread Rosenthal had five kills and 38 assists.

Matthew Luoma had 17 kills on .195 hitting to lead EIVA champion Penn State, which hit just .211.

Hawaii and UCLA did not meet during the regular season.

The 2025 NCAA men’s volleyball tournament doesn’t lack for storylines.

When the quarterfinals get under way Thursday in Columbus, Ohio, third-seeded UCLA will be trying do something no program has done in more than 40 years – win three straight national titles.

Top-seeded Long Beach State, which has been the nation’s No. 1 team for the majority of the season, wants to make up for coming up short against the Bruins in last year’s final on its home court.

Fifth-seeded Pepperdine, which has more NCAA championships than any men’s volleyball program outside of Westwood, wasn’t expected to be part of the eight-team field this week but punched its ticket by upsetting UCLA and USC on its way to the MPSF Tournament title.

UCLA (20-6) will be the first team to take the court Thursday, when the Bruins and new head coach John Hawks square off with No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey (17-8) at 8 a.m. PT. UCLA is chasing its 22nd national title and is trying to become the first team to win three in a row since the Bruins won four in a row under longtime coach Al Scates from 1981-84.

Hawks, who took over when John Speraw left to become the president and CEO of USA Volleyball, was an assistant to Speraw for seven seasons spending two seasons leading Loyola-Chicago. Hawks returned to Westwood and inherited an experienced core with junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson, junior setter Andrew Rowan, junior libero Matthew Aziz and junior outside hitter Zach Rama all back.

MPSF Player of the Year Robinson, Rowan and junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne all earned first-team All-American honors this season, and Rama was a second-team pick. If the Bruins can avoid the service game errors that occasionally plague them, a three-peat certainly seems possible.

Long Beach State (27-3) faces No. 8 seed Fort Valley State (16-9) in the 2 p.m. quarterfinal. Vying for its first title since going back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, LBSU had a 20-match winning streak earlier this season and has spent the past 14 weeks ranked No. 1.

Long Beach lost nearly its entire starting lineup from 2024 but quickly found its groove with a lot of new faces. Junior opposite hitter Skyler Varga and senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven are the holdover starters, with outside hitters Alex Kandev (freshman) and Sotiris Siapanis (senior), middle blockers Ben Braun (junior) and Lazar Bouchkov (sophomore), opposite hitters Daniil Hershtynovich (sophomore) and Nato Dickinson (senior) and record-setting freshman setter Moni Nikolov making up the core of a deep roster.

Long Beach leads the nation in hitting percentage (.396) and aces per set (2.21), ranks second in blocks (2.69) and kills (13.26) and fourth in assists per set (12.17).

With what is believed to be the fastest recorded serve in NCAA history, Big West Player of the Year Nikolov has set program and conference single-season records with 94 aces this season. He is six shy of tying the national record.

Both Siapanis and Hershtynovich have missed time with injuries this season, but if they’re both healthy, Long Beach will be tough to beat. LBSU won both of its matches against UCLA this season (both in February), but there is one team in the field that has a winning record against the top seed this year.

No. 2 seed Hawaii (26-5), which faces No. 7 seed Penn State (15-15) in a 10:30 a.m. quarterfinal, won two of its three matches against rival Long Beach last month, though all of those matches were played in Honolulu, including the Big West Tournament final.

Hawaii has a younger roster that many figured was a year away from threatening to return to the top of the sport, but the Rainbow Warriors have been impressive of late. In addition to the wins against Long Beach, Hawaii went 3-0 against UC Irvine, which is likely the best team not in the field this week.

Sophomore setter Tread Rosenthal and freshman outside hitter Adrien Roure are first-team All-Americans, while freshman opposite hitter Kristian Titriyski earned second-team recognition. A healthy Titriyski makes a big difference for Hawaii, though whether the Warriors can recreate their home-court mojo on the mainland is always a question.

Five-time national champion Pepperdine (20-9) faces fourth-seeded MIVA champion Loyola-Chicago (25-3) in Thursday’s last quarterfinal (4:30 p.m.).

First-team All-American outside hitter Ryan Barnett ranks in the Top 25 nationally in four statistical categories for the Waves: aces per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and points per set. The redshirt junior recorded double-digit kills in 21 of the 22 matches he played in, including a season-high 23 in the MPSF title match against USC.

Pepperdine could have its hands full with MIVA Player of the Year Parker Van Buren, who hit .410 while leading the nation’s No. 2 hitting team (.368).

Thursday’s winners advance to Saturday’s semifinals with the title match scheduled for Monday (4 p.m. PT).

NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(All matches at Ohio State, all times PT)

Quarterfinals, Thursday

No. 3 seed UCLA (20-6) vs. No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey (17-8), 8 a.m.

No. 2 seed Hawaii (26-5) vs. No. 7 seed Penn State (15-15), 10:30 a.m.

No. 1 seed Long Beach State (27-3) vs. No. 8 seed Fort Valley State (16-9), 2 p.m.

No. 4 seed Loyola-Chicago (25-3) vs. No. 5 seed Pepperdine (20-9), 4:30 p.m.

Semifinals, Saturday

LBSU-Fort Valley winner vs. Pepperdine-Loyola winner, 2 p.m.

UCLA-Belmont Abbey winner vs. Hawaii-Penn State-Daemen winner, 5 p.m.

Championship match, Monday

Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)

Long Beach (27-3) and UCLA (20-6) stumbled in their respective conference tournaments last week, but both teams were obvious choices for the two at-large berths in the nine-team NCAA field. Long Beach, the Big West Conference regular-season champion, has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for most of the season. UCLA was the MPSF regular-season champion and has been a top-three team all season.

Long Beach, UCLA and Pepperdine will all open the nine-team tournament in quarterfinal matches on Thursday, May 8, at Ohio State’s Covelli Center. The semifinals will be played on Saturday, May 10 and the championship match is Monday, May 12 (4 p.m. PT, ESPN2).

UCLA (20-6) will face sixth-seeded Belmont Abbey (17-8), the Conference Carolinas champion, in the first quarterfinal at 8 a.m. PT. Second-seeded Hawaii (26-5), which defeated Long Beach in four sets in the Big West Tournament final on Saturday night in Honolulu, will face the winner of a May 2 play-in match between EIVA Tournament champion Penn State (14-15) and NEC Tournament champion Daeman (15-12) in a 10:30 a.m. PT quarterfinal.

Long Beach (27-3) faces eighth-seeded Fort Valley State (16-9), the SIAC champion, in the 2 p.m. PT quarterfinal. Fifth-seeded Pepperdine (20-9), which upset UCLA and USC to win the MPSF Tournament, will face fourth-seeded Loyola-Chicago (25-3), the MIVA champion, in the final quarterfinal at approximately 4:30 p.m. PT.

Should Long Beach advance, it will meet the winner of the Pepperdine-Loyola match in a 2 p.m. PT semifinal on May 10. UCLA would likely face Hawaii in a 5 p.m. PT semifinal.

Long Beach, which won its sixth Big West regular-season title in the past seven seasons, is in the NCAA tournament for the 15th time in program history and the eighth time in the last nine seasons. The three-time national champs (1991, 2018, 2019) lost in the national title match in 2022 and 2024 and reached the semifinals in 2023.

UCLA, which defeated Long Beach in four sets in the 2024 final at LBSU’s Walter Pyramid, is chasing its 22nd national title.

Pepperdine has won five national titles (1978, 1985, 1986, 1992 and 2005), the second-most behind UCLA.

Hawaii, which won its 2021 national title the last time the event was in Columbus, Ohio, also won the 2022 title when the tournament was played at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. The Rainbow Warriors played in four straight title matches from 2019-23 (there was no tournament in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

NCAA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

(All times PT)

Play-In match, Friday, May 2

Daemen vs. Penn State, 4 p.m.

Quarterfinals (at Ohio State), Thursday, May 8

No. 3 seed UCLA (20-6) vs. No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey (17-8), 8 a.m.

No. 2 seed Hawaii (26-5) vs. No. 7 seed Penn State (14-15)/Daemen (15-12), 10:30 a.m.

No. 1 seed Long Beach State (27-3) vs. No. 8 seed Fort Valley State (16-9), 2 p.m.

No. 4 seed Loyola-Chicago (25-3) vs. No. 5 seed Pepperdine (20-9), 4:30 p.m.

Semifinals (at Ohio State), Saturday, May 10

LBSU-Fort Valley winner vs. Pepperdine-Loyola winner, 2 p.m.

UCLA-Belmont Abbey winner vs. Hawaii-Penn State-Daemen winner, 5 p.m.

Championship match (at Ohio State), Monday, May 12

Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)

The Bruins will face 16th-seeded Chattanooga (26-5) on Friday at 8 a.m. PT when the single-elimination tournament begins in Gulf Shores, Alabama. USC (26-10) will face Atlantic Sun champion North Florida (25-10) on Friday at 7 a.m.

Loyola Marymount (35-6) is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 14 Florida Atlantic (21-14) at 6 a.m., while Long Beach State (27-11) is seeded ninth and will open against No. 8 seed Florida State (25-12) at 9 a.m.

Other first-round matches include: No. 2 TCU (28-5) vs. No. 15 Georgia State (22-16) at 10 a.m., No. 7 Texas (27-9) vs. No. 10 Cal (27-9) at 11 a.m., No. 3 Stanford (31-8) vs. No. 14 Boise State (23-11) at noon and No. 6 Cal Poly (29-7) vs. No. 11 LSU (24-12) at 1 p.m.

The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Saturday, with the championship match scheduled for Sunday at 7:30 a.m.

The Bruins won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2018 and 2019 and have been the runner-up three times, with two third-place finishes. UCLA has lost to USC in the final in three of the past four years.

USC won its first national title in 2015 (AVCA), then won the first two NCAA titles in 2016 and 2017 before its run of four straight.

No school other than USC or UCLA has won the title in the NCAA era, with Florida State a three-time runner-up.

Eight of the 16 teams in this year’s field received automatic berths by winning their conference championships.

The tournament will be played in single-elimination duals with 10 athletes split into five pairs from each team. The dual meet match is formatted in five best-of-three sets, pairs matches, with each pairs match being worth one point.

ESPN2 will provide live coverage on Friday and Saturday, with the championship dual on Sunday to air on ESPN.

Second-seeded Hawaii got the better of top-seeded LBSU on Saturday night, handing the nation’s top-ranked team a 25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22 defeat before a lively near-capacity crowd at the Stan Sheriff Center. With the victory, the Rainbow Warriors (26-5) earned the conference’s automatic berth in next month’s NCAA Tournament, though the rivals are likely to be the top two seeds when the bracket is revealed on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT (ncaa.com).

If Long Beach and Hawaii do meet for a fourth time this season, it would presumably be May 12 in Columbus, Ohio, with the national championship at stake. MPSF regular-season champion UCLA (20-6), which lost to Pepperdine in the MPSF Tournament semifinals on Friday night, is likely to be the No. 3 seed in the NCAA field, with MIVA champion Loyola-Chicago and MPSF tourney champ Pepperdine likely seeded fourth and fifth, respectively.

The NCAA quarterfinals are Thursday, May 8, with the semifinals scheduled for Saturday, May 10.

Long Beach led Hawaii in nearly every statistical category on Saturday. LBSU held the advantage in kills (58-51), assists (56-47), aces (8-5), and blocks (8-7). The two teams were evenly matched with 24 digs apiece, while the Rainbow Warriors finished with a .411 hitting percentage to LBSU’s .342 clip.

Finn Kearney paced Hawaii with 14 kills, while Adrien Roure had 11 kills while hitting .579 to go with nine digs and was named the tournament MVP. Louis Sakanoko added eight kills and four aces (all in the decisive fourth set), as Hawaii won the Big West Tournament title for the third time in the past four years. Tread Rosenthal had five kills and 42 assists, while middle blockers Kurt Nusterer and Justin Todd hit a combined .667 with 13 kills.

Nato Dickinson led Long Beach (27-3) with a career-high 21 kills while hitting .485, and Alex Kandev has 12 kills and five blocks. Moni Nikolov had seven kills, four aces and 47 assists.

The Warriors hit a blistering .540 through the first two sets with 32 kills against five errors in 50 attempts. Long Beach surged away early in the third set and again took an early lead in the fourth, but the Warriors caught and passed them to close it out.

In the MPSF Tournament …

Pepperdine 3, USC 1: Fourth-seeded Pepperdine won the tournament title for a seventh time with a 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21 victory over second-seeded USC on Saturday night at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, securing an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament field.

After trading blows through the first three sets, Pepperdine (20-9) pulled away late in the fourth, capped by a block from Cole Hartke and William Whidden with a USC attack error to follow for the title.

Ryan Barnett paced the Waves with 23 kills while hitting .333 and was named the tournament MVP, while teammates Jacob Reilly and Cole Hartke were named to the all-tournament team.

Ilay Haver had 11 kills and 18 digs, while Hartke had eight kills, four blocks and three aces. Reilly added 12 digs, and setter Gabriel Dyer had 44 assists and two aces.

All-tournament selection Dillon Klein had 16 kills, five blocks, eight digs and a pair of aces to pace USC (21-7). Parker Tomkinson had six kills, seven blocks and hit .545, also earning all-tournament honors. Jack Deuchar added eight kills, while Christian Connell had five kills and two blocks off the bench. Setter Caleb Blanchette had 42 assists.

The Trojans out-hit the Waves .231 to .193 and had more blocks (15.5-8.5), but Pepperdine won the service game with eight aces to USC’s two.