2018 NCAA men's volleyball tournament
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 26–May 5, 2018 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Long Beach State (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | UCLA |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Attendance | 14,211 (2,369 per match) |
| Most Outstanding Player | Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State |
The 2018 NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Tournament was the 49th annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I and Division II men's collegiate indoor volleyball. The single-elimination tournament began on April 26 with a play-in match, with the remainder of the tournament hosted by UCLA from May 1–5 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. Long Beach State became the Champions for the second time in school history with a 5-set victory over UCLA.[1]
Qualification[edit]
With the addition of the Big West Conference, which began sponsoring men's volleyball in the 2018 season, to the ranks of automatic qualifying conferences, the tournament expanded from six teams to seven.[2][3]
Since the 2015 season, the first after the completion of the transition of the last Division III institution competing at the National Collegiate level, Rutgers–Newark, to Division III volleyball, only NCAA men's volleyball programs from Division I and Division II have been eligible for this tournament. Five automatic bids are given to the five conference postseason tournament winners. The two remaining teams are given at-large bids by the NCAA men's volleyball tournament Committee.
Bids[edit]
| School | Conference | Record | Berth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach State | Big West | 26–1 | Tournament |
| King | Conference Carolinas | 23–5 | Tournament |
| Harvard | EIVA | 13–13 | Tournament |
| Ohio State | MIVA | 23–5 | Tournament |
| BYU | MPSF | 22–6 | Tournament |
| UC Irvine | Big West | 21–9 | At-Large |
| UCLA | MPSF | 24–7 | At-Large |
Tournament bracket[edit]
- The seven teams were seeded according to the same methods used to seed the teams in previous tournaments. As in recent tournaments, the top two seeds will receive byes into the semifinals.[4]
- The bottom two seeds contested a "play-in" match on April 26 at the 6 seed's home court.[3]
- Two quarterfinal matches were held at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA on May 1. (#4 vs. play-in winner; #3 vs. #5 seed)
- The semifinals were held at Pauley Pavilion on May 3. (#1 vs. #4–play-in winner; #2 vs. #3–#5 winner)
- The 2018 NCAA Championship match was held at Pauley Pavilion on May 5.
Schedule and results[edit]
| Time[5] | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Broadcasters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Round – Thursday, April 26 | ||||
| 7:00 pm | No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 7 King | 3-0 (25–13, 25–23, 25–18) |
1,023 | Charlie Danis & Hanna Williford (BTN+) |
| Quarterfinals – Tuesday, May 1 | ||||
| 8:00 pm | No. 4 UC Irvine vs. No. 6 Ohio State | 2–3 (19–25, 25–22, 23–25, 25–22, 14–16) |
1,691 | Darren Preston & Denny Cline (P12+ UCLA) |
| 11:05 pm | No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 5 Harvard | 3–1 (23–25, 25–21, 25–11, 25–21) | ||
| Semifinals – Thursday, May 3 | ||||
| 8:00 pm | No. 1 Long Beach State vs. No. 6 Ohio State | 3–1 (25–22, 25–23, 25–27, 32–30) |
4,249 | Lincoln Rose (NCAA.com) |
| 10:30 pm | No. 2 BYU vs. No. 3 UCLA | 1–3 (22–25, 26–24, 27–29, 19–25) | ||
| Championship – Saturday, May 5 | ||||
| 7:00 pm | No. 1 Long Beach State vs. No. 3 UCLA | 3–2 (25–19, 23–25, 20–25, 26–24, 15–12) |
7,248 | Paul Sunderland and Kevin Barnett (ESPN2) |
| Game times are ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||
| 1st Round Thursday, April 26, 2018 St. John Arena; Columbus, OH BTN+ | Quarterfinals Tuesday, May 1, 2018 Pauley Pavilion; Los Angeles, CA P12+ UCLA | Semifinals Thursday, May 3, 2018 Pauley Pavilion; Los Angeles, CA NCAA.com | Championship Saturday, May 5, 2018 Pauley Pavilion; Los Angeles, CA ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Long Beach State | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ohio State | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UC Irvine | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ohio State | 3 | 6 | Ohio State | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | King | 0 | 1 | Long Beach State | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | UCLA | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | BYU | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UCLA | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UCLA | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Harvard | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
All-Tournament Team[edit]
- T.J DeFalco – Long Beach State
- Kyle Ensing – Long Beach State
- Daenan Gyimah – UCLA
- Jake Hanes – Ohio State
- Micah Ma'a – UCLA
- Nicolas Szerszen – Ohio State
- Josh Tuaniga – Long Beach State (Most Outstanding Player)
See also[edit]
- NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships (Divisions I & II, Division III)
- NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships (Division I, Division II, Division III)
References[edit]
- ^ No. 3 UCLA Falls Just Short in National Title Match, UCLABruins.com, May 5, 2018
- ^ Johnson, Derek (October 11, 2017). "A Few Key Changes Coming to the 2018 NCAA men's volleyball tournament". VolleyMob. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ a b "Pavlik Releases 2018 MVB Schedule" (Press release). Penn State Nittany Lions. October 10, 2017. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee announces championship selections, NCAA.com, April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018
- ^ 2018 NCAA men's volleyball tournament Bracket, Turner Sports, April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018