LONG BEACH, California — Ultimately, No. 1 will play No. 2.
However what rocky, obstacle-strewn paths UCLA and Lengthy Seashore State took to outlive and advance to get to Saturday’s title match of the NCAA’s Nationwide Collegiate Males’s Volleyball Championship.
Prime-seeded UCLA, the defending nationwide champion, opened play Thursday at Lengthy Seashore State’s Pyramid with a 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 18-25,15-12 victory over fourth-seeded UC Irvine.
The Bruins gained with out realizing that the latter half of that match was performed in lockdown, nobody in and nobody out, because the worldwide wave of pro-Palestinian/Gaza protests made it to the campus in full drive.
After which second-seeded Lengthy Seashore State needed to pull off an unbelievable 24-26, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10 reverse sweep in opposition to never-say-die Grand Canyon in a match that had no scarcity of trash speaking and chirping between the groups.
Ten units. A mixed practically six hours of on-the-edge-of-your-seat, high-flying, big-time-play males’s faculty volleyball that was ESPN spotlight prepared — if solely the Worldwide Chief have been displaying both match — that might solely be seen on NCAA.com.
“Wow,” Lengthy Seashore State coach Alan Knipe stated.
“I believe each the matches lived as much as what all people hoped that the 4 finest groups within the nation would ship.”
After which some.
However wait: There’s extra. Saturday’s match ought to be all that and extra. The two p.m. Pacific ultimate will likely be proven on ESPN with Paul Sunderland and Kevin Barnett on the mics.
Lengthy Seashore State beat UCLA in 4 on February 9 within the Pyramid as Sotiris Siapanis had 18 kills within the 25-22, 21-25, 25-27, 19-25 victory.
The subsequent day, at UCLA, the Bruins gained 29-27, 27-29, 25-19, 25-20 at hand then 10-0 Lengthy Seashore State its first loss. 5 UCLA gamers had eight or extra kills, 16 by Grant Sloane, who will seemingly not play Saturday.
UCLA again into the title match
UCLA (25-5) needed to rally in a giant approach in opposition to the Massive West’s UC Irvine (20-11) in a match that noticed each groups lose key gamers. UCLA’s Sloane, a 6-foot-8 exterior who’s fourth on the staff in kills, was clearly distraught when he went down with an ankle damage in warmups.
“We had a fast chat and stated let’s do it for Grant,” stated UCLA senior Merrick McHenry, the MPSF participant of the yr.
UCI, main 11-7 within the first set, then misplaced 6-2 exterior Akhil Tangutur to an obvious leg damage. The junior, who had two kills in 4 errorless assaults on the time, didn’t return however his staff didn’t miss a beat and went on to win the primary set.
There was a protracted solution to go, after all.
“That was an unimaginable volleyball match,” UCLA’s John Speraw stated. “I believe you noticed so many vital swings. I believe you noticed a terrific volleyball staff in UC Irvine. They performed nice volleyball. I’m actually sorry that Akhil acquired harm. He’s taking part in nice. To their credit score, they lose Akhil they usually simply maintain coming. All people else on that staff stepped up and performed nice.”
UCLA hit .404; UCI .303. The Bruins, who had an 11-7 blocks benefit, had 4 aces and 24 serving errors. UCI had six aces — 5 within the fourth set — and 27 errors.
The stats that mattered most, finally, have been within the fifth set, when UCLA hit .444 with 9 kills and one error in 18 assaults. That included three kills in 5 errorless swings for Ethan Champlin and two kills in 4 errorless assaults for Ido David.
Champlin led UCLA with 19 kills — 5 every within the first and third units — hitting an total .469, and had 4 assists, an ace, a block and 13 digs. Cooper Robinson had 11 kills, hit .304, and had three assists, an ace however seven errors, 4 blocks and three digs.
McHenry had 10 kills — a number of on quicks from the center that have been nothing wanting spectacular — with two errors in 14 assaults to hit .571 and had a dig and 6 blocks. David had 9 kills, an ace however seven errors, 4 blocks and 7 digs. Setter Andrew Rowan had a kill in two errorless tries, 41 assists, an ace, three blocks and three digs.
“I’m actually pleased with our guys for going via that emotional up and down — which we haven’t skilled but this yr — and to return again from being just a little bit down within the fifth to tying it and making some performs in the long run,” Speraw stated.
“You couldn’t have scripted it higher. I believe it’s going to make us higher as a staff and I’m simply thrilled for the fellows.”
Hilir Henno, the Frenchman who on Wednesday was named the AVCA nationwide participant of the yr, was his traditional spectacular offensive self. He had 22 kills, hit .311, and added three assists, 9 digs and 4 blocks, three solo. However he had one ace and eight of his staff’s serving errors.
Nolan Flexen had 13 kills, an help, no aces and 4 errors, a block and 6 digs.
Of Henno, Flexen stated, “That is the best participant I’ve ever performed with.”
Maxim Grigoriev had 11 kills with one error in 16 assaults, two aces, two blocks and two digs. Setter Brett Sheward had three kills in as many tries, 43 assists, a block and 6 digs.
“I’m pleased with the fellows and the best way we performed,” UCI coach David Kniffin stated. “We acquired thrown a curve ball early when Akhil went down. I believed we responded properly to that. I checked in with him and he was prepared to do the press convention right here, however truthfully, there have been simply too many stairs.”
UCLA, which beat Hawai’i in 4 for the title a yr in the past, is within the championship match for the twenty eighth time. Speraw goes for his fifth title. He additionally gained because the coach at UCI in 2007 and 2009 and 2012, the yr earlier than he took over for Al Scates at his alma mater. Speraw, additionally the USC Olympic coach, who will take Sunday and Monday off earlier than attending to work with that squad on Tuesday, gained two NCAA titles as an assistant to Scates and two as a participant (1993, ’95).
Lengthy Seashore battles again
Lengthy Seashore (27-2) gained its nineteenth in a row in The Pyramid, the place the gang of three,786 acquired raucous because the staff started its comeback.
“The house court docket benefit was actual,” GCU setter Nicholas Slight admitted.
“Big credit score to Grand Canyon,” Knipe stated. “They’re a handful. There are such a lot of athletes on that staff they usually do some issues to actually stress you. And it created just a little little bit of a intestine test for us, clearly, as a result of we discovered ourselves on the finish of two units statistically doing rather well in a whole lot of areas higher than our opponent however we discovered ourselves down 0-2.”
Certainly, the primary two units needed to be maddeningly irritating for his staff. The Seashore trailed 24-20 within the first earlier than tying it, however GCU gained on back-to-back kills by Cameron Thorne.
Within the second set, Lengthy Seashore was down once more, this time 21-17, earlier than once more forging right into a 24-24 tie. Lengthy Seashore had set level at 25-24 earlier than GCU gained the set 28-26 on a kill by Gianni Camden and Camden’s and Rico Wardlow’s block of Clarke Godbold.
“We had a giant hill to climb,” Knipe stated. “However this staff is fairly particular they usually realized that there was a play right here and there in these units that it may have gone both approach they usually wanted to let that go, they wanted to flush that and to get to the following set.
“And so they have been nice. They have been so dialed in and the power was nice.”
His son, senior setter Aidan Knipe, recalled how Lengthy Seashore additionally trailed UCLA 2-0 within the 2022 nationwide semifinals earlier than not solely rallying for a reverse-sweep victory. Lengthy Seashore then was swept by Hawai’i within the title match.
“This staff has been via this earlier than,” the youthful Knipe stated. “There actually wasn’t a lot stated, it was simply guys carrying themselves with confidence and realizing what we would have liked to do … It was extra about discovering our stride and our confidence.”
Skyler Varga led Lengthy Seashore with a career-high 20 kills, hitting .293 with two assists, an ace, 5 blocks and eight digs. Siapanis completed with 16 kills, 4 within the fifth set after staying on the court docket after the fourth set to take a handful of observe swings. He had two assists, an ace, two blocks and 4 digs.
DiAeris McRaven had 9 kills and hit .583 to go along with two blocks. Nathan Harlan had eight kills with one error, three assists, an ace, six digs and two solo blocks. Simon Torwie had 5 kills with one error in 12 assaults, a dig and 9 blocks, one solo. He additionally had three aces and gave GCU suits on serve obtain all match lengthy. Aidan Knipe, who will get to play yet another match for his father, had two kills, 52 assists, three blocks and 7 digs. Mason Briggs had 10 digs and two assists and even a kill in his solely strive, which got here off a dig.
Lengthy Seashore hit .326 and had seven aces and 21 errors. GCU hit .267 and had two aces — each by Jackson Hickman — and 16 errors.
Camden Gianni led the Lopes with 17 kills, hitting .300, and had an ace, 4 digs and 5 blocks, one solo. Jarrett Anderson had 16 kills, hit .344, and had two assists, no aces however seven errors, a block and 9 digs. Hickman had 11 kills, 5 assists, these two aces, 4 blocks and three digs. Thorne had 11 kills, hit .389, and had six blocks and a dig. Cooper Herndon had 14 digs and an help, and Slight had two kills, 50 assists, a block and eight digs.
GCU ended one of the best season in program historical past (26-5) after a marketing campaign that included two losses to UCLA and one every to UCI and Hawai’i. The Lopes have been undersized however extraordinarily fast and gritty.
“We had the possibilities to shut that out early,” stated GCU coach Matt Werle, whose staff trailed 18-16 within the third set. ” … It’s disappointing however we are able to go away with our heads held excessive.”
Lengthy Seashore State gained the 2018 and 2019 nationwide titles and was ranked No. 1 when the season was canceled in 2020.
