The field for the 12-team NCAA men’s volleyball tournament was announced Sunday, and UCLA was handed the No. 1 seed as it begins another run at a championship on its home floor. The Bruins, who are 29-1, will play every remaining match at Pauley Pavilion and are scheduled to host the NCAA semifinals and final May 9-11.
UCLA will meet the winner of UC Irvine and Penn State in a regional final Saturday at 5 p.m. UC Irvine enters as an at-large team at 18-8, while Penn State is the EIVA champion at 22-7. The Bruins are the top seed after winning the 2023 and 2024 national championships, then falling to Long Beach State in the 2025 final.
That loss now hangs over the bracket. Since 2012, every national champion has won two straight, and UCLA is trying to rejoin that pattern while also pushing toward a 22nd NCAA title. Long Beach State, which dethroned UCLA in last year’s final in Columbus, Ohio, was seeded third after a 24-4 season and a five-set win over Hawaii in the Big West Tournament final.
Long Beach State will meet the winner of Loyola Chicago and Saint Francis on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Pyramid. Loyola Chicago is in as an at-large team at 20-8, and Saint Francis arrives as the NEC champion at 18-11. The Beach has won four national titles, in 1991, 2018, 2019 and 2025, and its bracket path gives it another chance to defend the crown it took from UCLA.
Hawaii earned the No. 2 seed with a 27-5 record and will meet the winner of USC and Belmont Abbey on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT in Honolulu. USC is an at-large entry at 19-7, and Belmont Abbey is the Conference Carolinas champion at 20-5. Ball State is the No. 4 seed and the MIVA champion at 24-4, and it will face the winner of Pepperdine and Fort Valley State on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT in Muncie, Ind. Pepperdine is 23-6, and Fort Valley State is the SIAC champion at 16-12.
The bracket gives the top four seeds home-court advantage in the early rounds and sets up a familiar question for the sport’s power programs: whether UCLA can turn another dominant season into a title, or whether Long Beach State can stop the Bruins from reclaiming the top. What is clear now is that the road to the trophy runs through four sites, and the margin for error disappears immediately.