The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2025-26 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.
The final weekend of the men’s volleyball season is upon us, with Long Beach State gearing up for its ninth Final Four appearance in the last 10 years. The No. 2-ranked Beach will face rival No. 3 Hawai’i in the semifinals on Saturday at 6:30 pm at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA.
All-time, Long Beach State is 26-22 against Hawai’i and 1-1 when playing the Rainbow Warriors at a neutral site. The only other time the pair have faced off at Pauley Pavilion was in the 2022 national championship, where Hawai’i won in a sweep.
The matchup will be the fourth this season between Long Beach State and Hawai’i after the pair faced off in the Big West Championship a week ago, where the Beach emerged victorious. The Rainbow Warriors won the first two matchups in the pair’s Big West opening series at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid in mid-March.
The two teams were both hosts of regional finals this past weekend, where No. 3-seeded Long Beach State took down Loyola Chicago in three straight sets to punch its ticket to the Final Four. Hawai’i defeated USC at the Stan Sheriff Center in four sets in what became the most attended match in NCAA Tournament history with just under 10,000 fans.
On the other side of the bracket, Ball State will face UC Irvine in the earlier semifinal matchup Saturday at 3:30 pm at Pauley Pavilion. Ball State advanced to the Final Four with a five-set win over Pepperdine, while the Anteaters pulled off a thrilling upset over top-ranked UCLA to eliminate the Bruins in their home arena.
The winners of Long Beach State/Hawai’i and Ball State/UC Irvine will face off in the NCAA National Championship on Monday at Pauley Pavilion at 4 pm.
