BYU volleyball to host MPSF Championship

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PROVO, Utah – After defeating No. 8 seed UC Irvine in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday, No. 1 seed BYU men's volleyball will host the remaining two rounds of the championship at the Smith Fieldhouse. 

Match Info

No. 2 seed UCLA will face off against No. 3 seed Long Beach State in the first semifinals match of the week on Thursday, April 21, at 5 p.m. MDT. The match will be streamed live on BYUtv.org. 

No. 1 seed BYU will then compete against No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the completion of the first match. The BYU/UC Santa Barbara match will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio. 

The two winning teams from Thursday's matches will then compete in the MPSF Tournament Finals Saturday, April 23, at 7 p.m. MDT. Should BYU advance to the championship match, it will be broadcast live on BYUtv and BYU Radio, otherwise it will stream on BYUtv.org.

UCLA

  • UCLA (24-5, 17-5 MPSF) narrowly leads the series history with the Cougars 31-30 but is just 11-20 when playing in Provo.
  • BYU swept the season series a few weeks ago in Los Angeles for the first time in program history. The Cougars also won both matches at the Smith Fieldhouse last season.
  • The Bruins have rebounded since the BYU losses, having won their last three matches to advance to the MPSF semifinals.

Long Beach State

  • The Cougars hold a 30-22 overall edge in the series history against Long Beach State (24-6, 17-5 MPSF) and are 17-7 when playing the 49ers at home. 
  • The two teams split the regular-season series in Long Beach at the beginning of the year. BYU won the first match in four before Long Beach State won in three the next night.
  • Following a loss to Stanford, the 49ers have won their last three matches and finished the regular season in a three-way tie with UCLA and Stanford for second place in the conference standings.

UC Santa Barbara

  • BYU leads the series history against UC Santa Barbara 38-21 and are 23-8 against the Gauchos when playing at home.
  • The Cougars won both regular-season matches against UC Santa Barbara this year at home - both in sweeps.
  • The Gauchos have won their past six-straight matches, including upsetting Stanford in the last two matches to advance to the semifinals.