Men’s Volleyball: UCI earns No. 2 seed

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team was awarded the No. 2 seed in the six-team NCAA Championship and received a bye into the semifinal on Thursday at Stanford University’s Maples Pavilion.

The No. 2-ranked Anteaters (28-4), who won the regular-season and tournament titles in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, will vie for their fifth NCAA title in nine seasons and make their sixth NCAA Championship appearance. UCI won titles in 2013, 2012, 2009 and 2007. It lost in the semifinals in 2006.

No. 3-seeded Loyola of Chicago (25-2), the defending NCAA champion, will battle No. 6-seeded Pfeiffer (19-2) in a play-in match Tuesday for the right to meet UCI at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

Loyola includes senior Cody Caldwell, a former Newport Harbor High standout who was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship last year.

Lewis (25-3), ranked No. 1 in the final regular-season poll, is the No. 1 seed. It will face the winner of another Tuesday play-in match between No. 4-seeded Hawaii (21-6) and No. 5-seeded Penn State (20-9).

The championship match, broadcast live on ESPNU, is Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

— From staff reports