The NCAA Division I men's volleyball semifinals are set for Saturday at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus, with Ball State facing UC Irvine at 3:30 p.m. PT and Hawaii meeting Long Beach State at 6:30 p.m. PT. Both matches will stream on +, and the championship final is scheduled for Monday at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
USA Volleyball said the field is well represented by athletes and coaches with national team ties, a sign of how closely the NCAA game is connected to the country's development pipeline. Ball State's roster includes Patrick Rogers, who played with both the senior U.S. Men's National Team and the U23 National Team in 2025, won MVP honors at the 2025 NORCECA Men's Final Six and helped lead the U.S. Men to gold, then helped the U23 team finish second at the 2025 NORCECA Men's U23 Pan Am Cup.
Ball State also lists Marty Canavan, Cayaban, Jason Harris, Ryan Louis, Patterson, Tyler Windt and Zurawski among its NTDP Training Series athletes, while head coach Mike Iandolo and assistant coach Brian Hogg have both coached in the NTDP Training Series. Hawaii has six players with U.S. age-group national team experience, including Trevell Jordan, Kainoa Wade and Justin Todd, who competed with the Men's Senior National Team at the 2025 NORCECA Final Six, and Thatcher Fahlbusch, Jordan, Kearney, Victor Lowe, Payne, Rosenthal, Todd and Wade all have NTDP Training Series experience. Assistant coach Donan Cruz has worked with the Men's U21 National Team, the Men's Collegiate National Team and several Training Series, and associate head coach Kupono Fey has also worked Training Series events.
Long Beach State has seven athletes who have competed for the U.S. on age-group national teams, with Ben Braun, Kellen Larson and Isaiah Preuitt also appearing with the senior Men's National Team in NORCECA events. Cryst, Doty, Hillis, Jordan, Larson, Jake Pazanti, Ryan Peluso and Preuitt are NTDP Training Series athletes, head coach Nick MacRae remains involved with the NTDP program as a coach at several Training Series, and assistants Amir Lugo-Rodriguez and McKay Smith have both worked Training Series events. Lugo-Rodriguez also supports the Girls U17 National Team, while statistical coordinator Jon Parry previously supported the Men's U19 National Team.
UC Irvine reached the semifinals by upsetting No. 1 UCLA and carries two players with age-group national team experience. Aitken, Tim Ennis, Cameron Kosty and Micah Tumas are NTDP Training Series athletes, and head coach David Kniffin has supported NTDP at Training Series events. With four teams so heavily linked to USA Volleyball's pipeline, the ncaa men's volleyball championship 2026 is less a one-weekend snapshot than a look at how the next level is being built.
