Long Beach Will Play for the Title

Long Beach State has yet to defeat Brigham Young in men’s volleyball this season, but now the 49ers have a chance to do it with a national title on the line.

The teams will play for the fourth time tonight in the NCAA championship match at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.

Long Beach (28-6) will be trying for its second national championship and first since 1991. The 49ers erased early leads by Penn State in each game Thursday night as Scott Touzinsky had 13 kills and Duncan Budinger added 11 on a .667 hitting percentage in a 30-26, 30-26, 30-26 victory.

BYU (28-4) advanced with an easy 30-21, 30-28, 30-21 victory over defending champion Lewis University of suburban Chicago. Fernando Pessoa and Jonathan Alleman had 12 kills and Joe Hillman added 11 to help the Cougars avenge a thrilling five-game loss to Lewis in last year’s title game.

Setter Carlos Moreno, named national player of the year by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn., had 46 assists and ran an offense that hit for a .382 percentage.

BYU, which has won 27 of its last 28 matches, defeated Long Beach in two five-game matches on consecutive nights at the Pyramid in January and dealt the 49ers a four-game loss in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation final last week.