Lawless Republic
Fansided

BYU Volleyball: Cougars earn the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament

By Shaun Gordon

ATHENS - AUGUST 21: Shadow image of celebration by the USA team during their men's indoor Volleyball preliminary match against Australia on August 21, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Peace and Friendship Stadium part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
ATHENS - AUGUST 21: Shadow image of celebration by the USA team during their men's indoor Volleyball preliminary match against Australia on August 21, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games at the Peace and Friendship Stadium part of the Faliro Coastal Zone Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

BYU Men’s Volleyball is heading to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season, earning the No. 2 overall seed and a bye to the semifinals.

The Cougars got the conference title, now they’ll try to add a national title.

After BYU’s 3-1 win over UCLA in the MPSF Tournament final, the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Committee awarded the Cougars the No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

BYU is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, but the conference title catapulted them over both No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 UC Irvine.

Getting that second overall seed is big, as it gives the Cougars a bye into the semifinals of the tournament. They’ll get almost two weeks off before their next match on May 3rd, and four of the seven teams in the tournament will already be eliminated by the time BYU plays.

BYU will play the winner of UCLA and Harvard, who will square off in UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on May 1st.

A Bruin win over the Crimson would set up a rematch of the MPSF final. This time, though, the Cougars wouldn’t have home-court advantage, since UCLA hosts all but one game of the tournament.

On the other side of the bracket, Ohio State will host King (TN) on April 26, with the winner taking on UC Irvine on May 1st at UCLA. That winner earns the right to try to topple Long Beach State, the No. 1 team in the nation.

BYU is no stranger to the NCAA Tournament. They’ve reached it eight times since 1999, and reached the championship match seven of those times. If the Cougars win their semifinal match, they’ll play in their third straight title tilt.

The last two years haven’t ended on the right note for the Cougars, and it’s the last chance for BYU’s four seniors, including Brenden Sander, Price Jarman, and Leo Durkin, to overcome that final hurdle and claim their first national championship.

They’ve just got to win two more games to reach that ultimate goal.

Home/BYU Cougars