The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
It came as no surprise to volleyball fans who’ve been paying attention this year, but the Long Beach State men’s volleyball earned the No. 1 seed into the 2025 NCAA Tournament, which will be held May 8-12 in Columbus on the campus of Ohio State. The Beach have been ranked No. 1 for the last 13 weeks and led in the RPI for the entire season.
The Beach finished the season at 27-3 overall and as the Big West regular season champions, but the night before the bracket was released lost their third match of the season. The Beach were defeated by Hawaii in the Big West Tournament championship, once again held in Hawaii.
While that loss gives Hawaii a 2-1 record over the Beach (with all three matches played on the islands), Hawaii earned the two-seed with a 26-5 record that included some bad losses. The Rainbow Warriors fell to Stanford, USC, and were swept by CSUN–none of those teams made the NCAA Tournament.
With Long Beach State earning the one seed as well as one of the two at-larges, there was some hope among Big West fans that UC Irvine would grab the other after falling to Hawaii in the Big West semifinals. But UCLA’s MPSF Tournament loss to Pepperdine dashed the Anteaters’ chances, as the Bruins earned the three seed with the other at-large spot.
The Beach will open the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, May 8 at 2pm Long Beach time against No. 8 Fort Valley State. With a win, the Beach would face the winner of Pepperdine (who they defeated in five sets this season) and Loyola Chicago on Saturday at 2pm Long Beach time.
With a win there, the Beach would play in the national championship match Monday, May 12 at 4pm on ESPN 2. All of the other matches in the tournament will be broadcast digitally on ESPN+.
This is the eight NCAA Tournament appearance in the last nine seasons for the Beach, and 15th in program history. The Beach are seeking their fourth NCAA title as a program this year.
