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BYU Volleball: NCAA Semifinals set – BYU and UCLA face off again

By Shaun Gordon

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: A general view of the centre court net prior to the VISA FIVB Beach Volleyball International at Horse Guards Parade on August 12, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 12: A general view of the centre court net prior to the VISA FIVB Beach Volleyball International at Horse Guards Parade on August 12, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Heavey/Getty Images) /
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BYU  Volleyball faces a familiar foe in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. They’ll play their third match in the last month against UCLA.

The semifinals are set for the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament.

UCLA handled Harvard in four sets to advance to face No. 2 seed BYU in one semifinal match. On the other side, two-time defending champion Ohio State upset UC Irvine in a five set thriller to set up a match with No. 1 Long Beach State.

The tournament is held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion, giving the Bruins home-court advantage in their win against the Crimson. They’ll carry that advantage into their matchup against the Cougars as well.

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Both semifinals take place on Thursday, March 3rd. The Buckeyes and 49ers square off first at 6 pm MDT, followed by the Bruins and Cougars at 8:30 pm MDT.

This is the third matchup between BYU and UCLA in the last month. On April 7th the two teams met in Los Angeles, with the Bruins sweeping the Cougars 3-0.  BYU returned the favor in the MPSF Tournament finals, taking down UCLA 3-1 in front of a home crowd in the Smith Fieldhouse.

The road to the national title is plenty tough for the Cougars. If they overcome the Bruins’ home-court advantage and win, they’ll play on Saturday, March 5 for the championship. That match starts at 5:00 pm MDT.

In that one, the Cougars would face off against either the consensus top team in the nation, or play the team that’s taken down BYU in the last two title matches.

Long Beach State is 26-1 on the season, and they’ve looked dominant in nearly every match they’ve played. After years as conference foes, the Cougars and 49ers haven’t played each other so far this year.

If Ohio State knocks off Long Beach State and BYU wins, we’ll see the third straight title game between the Cougars and Buckeyes. Ohio State took those two, but they’ve taken a small step back this year. They’re 25-5 on the season and lost a home match to BYU earlier this year in five sets.

Fans can stream Thursday’s semifinal matches on ncaa.com.

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