The
Pyramid to host NCAA Final Four
By Oscar Montealegre
On-line Forty-Niner
 Long
Beach State’s The Pyramid will host the
NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship on May
1 and May 3 that will consist of a four-team
field competition.
The NCAA invites the top four teams in the
nation to participate in the men’s volleyball
championship. The teams selected were Brigham
Young University, which has the No.1 seed,
Pepperdine University as the No.2 seed,
Lewis University has the No.3 seed and Penn
State is in having attained the No.4 seed.
Long Beach State ended the season ranked
eighth in the nation. The 49ers lost their
games to both Brigham Young University and
Pepperdine. However, they were able to defeat
fourth seed Penn State in three straight
sets on March 15.
The teams in the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship
have glorious histories. Brigham Young University
has won the national title two times, first
in 1999 and then again in 2001, Pepperdine
has four national championships under its
belt, while Penn State’s Nittany Lions won
the national title in 1994.
The four teams combined have a total of
31 national tournament appearances, including
seven national championships dating back
to 1970.
Brigham Young University ended their season
22-6 and secured the No.1 seed after winning
the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.
Pepperdine on the other hand gained entrance
to the national tournament by receiving
an at-large berth. Pepperdine’s record is
24-5 and the Waves won the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation regular season title.
Lewis University ended the season with an
impressive 27-5 mark and enter the tournament
with momentum by recently winning the Intercollegiate
Volleyball Association title. Penn State
comes in as the No.4 seed after defeating
George Mason University in the Eastern Intercollegiate
Volleyball Association final.
“You’re in for a very good final four. This
may be the most balanced national tournament
that I have ever participated been in,”
Penn State Coach Mark Pavlik said.
The game between Penn State versus BYU will
match two coaches that once coached together.
BYU coach Tom Peterson was the former head
coach at Penn State. In 1994 Peterson led
them to a national championship by upsetting
UCLA.
“The last time Tom and I coached against
each other was a game we remember very well.
Tom’s guys are going to be ready to play.
I am just looking forward to get on the
court with him again,” Pavlik said.
According to Peterson, he admits that his
team and Penn State’s team share lots of
things in common, especially on offense.
“We are the No.1 seed and we should play
like it. And on the subject to coach against
a good friend, well, it is always great
to play against your friends,” BYU’s Peterson
said. “It is going to be a great game.”
Tonight Pepperdine and Lewis will play in
the first semifinal at 6:00 p.m. BYU and
Penn State will play their semifinal match
immediately after the first contest at 8:00
p.m.
The championship game will be played Saturday
at 4:30 p.m. ESPN 2 will televise the championship
game live and the semi-final games will
be aired Friday due to tape delay.
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