May 3, 2009

Irvine, Calif. -- UC Irvine has been named the No. 1 seed for the 2009 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship May 7 and 9 at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah and will face No. 4 Ohio State in the second semifinal at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time Thursday.

The No. 1 ranked Anteaters (25-5) earned the At-Large selection and will battle the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association automatic qualifier, Ohio State (17-10). Penn State, the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association qualifier, is seeded second and will face No. 3 USC, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament champion, in the first semifinal at 6:00 p.m. PDT.

The UC Irvine match will be broadcast live on Thursday on ESPNU. The national championship match will be broadcast live on Saturday, May 9 at 4 p.m. PDT on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com simulcast.

It is the third time in four years that UC Irvine will be participating in the NCAA Championship, winning the title in 2007.