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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - UCLA received the top seed in the NCAA men's volleyball tournament Sunday while Long Beach State received one of two at-large berths in the seven-team tournament.
The Bruins (29-2) assured themselves of a berth in the tournament with a three-set victory over host Stanford on Saturday in the final of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, extending their winning streak to 10 matches.
The Beach (20-4) received their berth despite a three-set loss to UC Irvine on Friday in a Big West Conference Tournament semifinal. Long Beach State will face Grand Canyon (20-7), which received the other at-large berth, in an opening-round match May 2, with the winner advancing to play UCLA in a semifinal May 4.
The Beach was a three-set winner over the Lopes in 2019 in their only previous meeting. The Bruins are 3-0 against Grand Canyon and 2-0 against Long Beach State this season.
The entire tournament will be played at EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. It will begin next Sunday with an opening-round match between Ohio State (22-9), the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament champion, and King (16-15), the Conference Carolinas tournament champion.
The championship match will be played May 6.
The tournament consists of the tournament champions from the five Division I conferences for men's volleyball and two at-large teams.
UCLA has won a record 19 NCAA men's volleyball championships, the most recent in 2006. The Beach has won three, most recently in 2019.