No. 3 BYU men's volleyball to face Barton in NCAA Tournament first round


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PROVO — After an earlier-than-expected exit from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, the draw for the NCAA Tournament remained up-to-par for the third-ranked BYU men’s volleyball team.

The Cougars (24-4) received an at-large bid and the No. 3 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament, which will be played at top-ranked and defending national champion Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

BYU will face Conference Carolinas champion Barton (23-5) Tuesday, 4 p.m. MDT as the Bulldogs make their tourney debut. The winner will advance to face MPSF champ and second-ranked Long Beach State Thursday, 4 p.m.

“These guys wanna play,” BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said after his team’s 3-0 loss to Hawaii in the MPSF semifinals. “This team has been through so many obstacles, ups and downs, than any other team that I’ve coached in my entire career. They’ve stayed pretty focused and they know that.”

Ohio State will face the winner of Penn State and at-large bid Hawaii Thursday, 6 p.m. MDT. The national championship is scheduled for Saturday, 5 p.m. MDT on ESPNU. The semifinals will be streamed live on NCAA.com.

BYU Cougars senior outside hitter Jake Langlois (10) serves the ball during the BYU Men's Volleyball game against Princeton. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)
BYU Cougars senior outside hitter Jake Langlois (10) serves the ball during the BYU Men's Volleyball game against Princeton. (Photo: Nicole Boliaux, Deseret News)

If the Cougars advance to the national championship against the favored Buckeyes, it will be the second-straight national championship facing those two teams. BYU lost to Ohio State in straight sets last year in the Cougars' first national final since 2013. The team has won three national championships, with the last coming in 2004.

BYU has never played an opponent from Conference Carolinas, which added men’s volleyball in 2011-12 and triggered expansion of the NCAA Tournament from four to six teams.

The tournament is likely to undergo another round of changes next season, when Long Beach State and several other teams from the MPSF will form the Big West Conference. Grand Canyon and Concordia-Irvine will join BYU, Southern California, UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine and Cal Baptist in the new eight-team league.

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