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Long Beach becomes the volleyball capital of the world as the NCAA Championships are held Saturday at the Walter Pyramid, with Long Beach State (27-2) competing for the trophy held by all American teams as UCLA (25-0) 5 losses). I'm chasing this year too. The sold-out game, scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN, is a big deal for the growing sport, with eight teams participating in the expanded NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Veach and the Bruins won a thrilling five-set final four on Thursday, and both teams (and their coaches) appeared to be over the hump in Friday's press conference.
“Both teams were pushed and had to dig deep to win and survive five games,” LBSU coach Alan Kneipp said. “That's exactly how the tournament should be…I'm incredibly happy for the players who had the grit they showed to give themselves a chance to play till the end tomorrow.”
Kneipp said he hasn't yet decided what to do with this year's Beach Changemakers, Clark Godbold and Nathan Harlan. Godbold was dominant in the Big West Tournament, earning tournament MVP honors. However, Harlan played well this year when Godbold was sidelined with an injury, and was the catalyst for a comeback in the Final Four.
There's a lot of history between the two programs, which have been played over 100 times. UCLA coach John Spero said he had no idea how many times he faced Kneipp, as both coaches have been at their respective schools for more than 20 years. Most recently, UCLA defeated Beach in the Final Four last year, and Beach defeated UCLA in the Final Four the year before. The two teams also competed for the national title in 2018. The Beach will be seeking its fourth national title and first since 2019 on Saturday.
Both teams have powerful serves, a variety of hitting options, and the ability to string together big blocks.
LBSU libero Mason Briggs was outstanding Thursday and will need to be the same Saturday to get the win. He said it was important for the team to quickly refocus after Thursday night's game.
“A lot of us have been here before, but for me, it's just making sure we stay here and get back to the reality that we have a game tomorrow,” he said. “The work is not done yet, there is still work to be done. As a team we can still improve.”
We'll bring you live updates and complete coverage from the Pyramids on Saturday.
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