Men's Sports, Men's Volleyball, Sports

49ers to chase NCAA goal at MPSF tournament

All but one of the Long Beach State men’s volleyball team’s starting line-up are seniors. This Saturday’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament quarterfinal match against No. 2 Pepperdine could result in their last collegiate showdown or a chance to continue their quest for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The 49ers (18-9, 15-9 MPSF) have shown to be a worthy competitor in the nation’s best conference as they earned an eight-match winning streak this season, defeating then No. 1 Brigham Young and two-time defending national champions UC Irvine.

After dropping five matches in the last month, there was a slight possibility that the 49ers would not even make the MPSF tournament. With their last two regular season matches against Cal State Northridge being the determinant, the 49ers came out and swept the Matadors both nights to lock in a spot.

When asked whether it would have made a difference if his team played a higher-ranked team last weekend instead of CSUN, head coach Alan Knipe said it wouldn’t have mattered.

“I think our guys are incredibly prepared to play anybody at this point,” Knipe said. “Overall I think they’re smart enough to understand that everyone in conference had their ups and their downs, and the only thing that matters is to just worry about what we can control.”

This is the 49ers’ fourth straight year in the MPSF Tournament and 19th overall. They have made five appearances in the championship match but will be looking for their first ever MPSF Tournament title.

Pepperdine (18-6, 18-6 MPSF) won its last four contests and earned a shared MPSF regular season title. The Waves are led by Josh Taylor with 4.12 kills per set and Matt West, who has led his team with a .300 hitting percentage and 11.10 assists per set.

The Waves will take home court advantage as the 49ers will face them in Malibu on Saturday at 7 p.m.

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