Ball State, Hawaii Reach May 9 Semifinals at Pauley Pavilion — Ncaa Men's Volleyball Championship 2026
The ncaa men's volleyball championship 2026 semifinals were set for Saturday, May 9, 2026, at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. Ball State, UC Irvine, Hawaii and Long Beach State filled the final four, with the title match scheduled for May 11 at 4 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Ball State And UC Irvine
Ball State, the No. 4 seed, drew UC Irvine in the first semifinal at 3:30 p.m. PT on May 9. That match was set for +, and it came after UC Irvine knocked out No. 1 UCLA to reach the national semifinals.
Mike Iandolo’s team entered the weekend with several links to USA Volleyball’s NTDP program. Marty Canavan, Cayaban, Jason Harris, Ryan Louis, Patterson, Tyler Windt and Zurawski were listed as NTDP Training Series athletes on the Ball State roster, while Iandolo and assistant coach Brian Hogg had both coached with the Training Series.
Hawaii And Long Beach State
Hawaii, seeded No. 2, met No. 3 Long Beach State in the second semifinal at 6:30 p.m. PT on May 9. That matchup was also scheduled for +, giving both semifinal winners the same route into Monday’s final.
Hawaii carried six athletes with age-group national team experience, and three of them — Trevell Jordan, Kainoa Wade and Justin Todd — had competed with the Men’s Senior National Team at the 2025 NORCECA Final Six. Thatcher Fahlbusch, Jordan, Kearney, Victor Lowe, Payne, Rosenthal, Todd and Wade were all NTDP Training Series athletes, and assistant coach Donan Cruz had worked with the Men’s U21 National Team, the Men’s Collegiate National Team and several Training Series events. Associate head coach Kupono Fey had also worked Training Series events.
Long Beach State brought seven athletes with U.S. age-group national team experience into the semifinal round. Ben Braun, Kellen Larson and Isaiah Preuitt had also competed with the senior Men’s National Team in NORCECA events, while Cryst, Doty, Hillis, Jordan, Larson, Jake Pazanti, Ryan Peluso and Preuitt were NTDP Training Series athletes on the roster. Head coach Nick MacRae had stayed involved with the NTDP program as a coach at several Training Series, and assistants Amir Lugo-Rodriguez and McKay Smith had both worked Training Series events.
The bracket left one clear route from Pauley Pavilion to the final: win on May 9 and come back two days later for the championship on ESPN2. For readers following the tournament, the key details were fixed early — two semifinals, four teams, one site, and a title match set for Monday afternoon.
