April 27, 2008

Weekly Release in PDF Format

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The third-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team was selected as the at-large team for the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball Championships, which will be held May 1 and 3 at the Bren Event Center on the campus of UC Irvine. The 49ers (23-6) are the No. 3 seed and will take on No. 2 seed Pepperdine (16-10) on Thursday evening.

The 49ers won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) regular season title with an 18-4 mark and were the No. 1 seed at the MPSF Tournament, but fell in the conference tournament semifinals to eventual champion Pepperdine. The Waves rebounded from an 0-2 deficit to beat Brigham Young 3-2 on Saturday night in the Walter Pyramid to earn the league's automatic bid.

The other semifinal on Thursday night will pit No. 1 seed Penn State (28-1) against No. 4 seed Ohio State (20-7). Penn State won the EIVA Championship on Saturday with a 30-24, 33-31, 30-23 victory over George Mason in State College, Pa. Ohio State won the MIVA title with a convincing 30-19, 30-24, 30-21 win over Ball State in Columbus, Ohio.

The NCAA Championship appearance will be the seventh for Long Beach State. The 49ers were last in the tournament in 2004, when they defeated Penn State in the semifinals before dropping a heart-breaking five-game match to BYU in Honolulu, Hawai'i in the finals. The 49ers have appeared in the NCAA Championships in 1970, 1973, 1990, 1991, 1999 and 2004. Long Beach won the 1991 NCAA title with a 15-11, 15-6, 8-15, 15-8 win over USC. In each of those previous six seasons the 49ers have advanced to the NCAA title match.

NCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday, April 30
10 am-4 pm, Team Practices (Open to the public at the Bren Events Center)

Thursday, May 1
6 pm: Penn State vs. Ohio State (Televised live on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN 360)
8 pm: Long Beach State vs. Pepperdine (Televised live on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN 360)

Saturday, May 3
12-3 pm: Fan Fest (Parking Lot 6A outside the Bren Events Center)
4 pm: Championship Match (Televised live on ESPN2 and ESPN 360)

TICKET INFORMATION
Bren Events Ticket Office: 949-824-5000 (Box office hours, 10 am to 5 pm)
Long Beach State Ticket Office: 562-985-4949 (Box office hours, 10 am to 6 pm)

All-Session Adult Pass: $25.00
All-Session Youth/Student Pass: $18.00
Adult Single Session Pass: $15.00
Youth/Student Single Session Pass: $10.00

*Further information on the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships can be found at ucirvinesports.cstv.com.