INDIANAPOLIS, IND., April 27, 2003 - The NCAA Men's Volleyball Committee announced Sunday, the four-team field that will compete for the 2003 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship, May 1 and 3 at The Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.

Pepperdine will face Lewis on Thursday, May 1 at 6:00 p.m Pacific Time, followed by BYU versus Penn State at 8:00 p.m. PT. The winners of each match will square off on Saturday, May 3 at 4:30 p.m. PT.

All session tickets for both Thursday and Saturday are $25 for adults and $20 for youth (age 17 and younger) and students. Single session tickets, if available, will go on sale on Thursday, May 1 at 10:00 a.m. and are $15 for adults and $12 for youth and students. Fans wishing to follow the Nittany Lions to California may contact the Long Beach State ticket office at (562) 985-4949 or visit www.longbeachstate.com for tickets.

Penn State (26-5) earned the No. 4 seed after defeating George Mason in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) finals on Saturday night. The Nittany Lions won the National Title in 1994, behind current BYU coach Tom Peterson. It is the 18th NCAA tournament appearance for the Nittany Lions, including the last five seasons.

Senior Carlos Guerra (Tamaulipus, Mexico), the EIVA Player of the Year, leads the Nittany Lions with 4.49 kills per game while five other Nittany Lions average more than two kills per game. As a team, Penn State is averaging 16.22 kills per game while hitting at a .363 clip.

Freshman setter Dan O'Dell (Rochester, N.Y.), the EIVA Newcomer of the Year, directs the Nittany Lion offense with 13.72 assists per game while junior libero Ricky Mattei (San Juan, Puerto Rico) leads the squad with 2.51 digs per game.

Junior Keith Kowal (Reading, Pa.), who set a new Penn State single-season blocking record, leads the team with 1.48 blocks per game while junior Norm Keil (St. James, N.Y.) averages 1.04 blocks per game.

Brigham Young University was selected as the No. 1 seed after winning its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) championship match over Pepperdine, 3-2, on Saturday night. The Cougars are 22-6, and won NCAA Titles in 1999 and 2001. Long Beach State was the host site for BYU's title in 2001.

Pepperdine was selected as the No. 2 seed for the championship. The four-time national champion Waves won the MPSF regular season and enter the tournament with a 24-5 mark. Pepperdine was last year's national runner-up to Hawaii.

Lewis University (Romeoville, IL) advanced as the No. 3 seed, after defeating Loyola-Chicago in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) finals on Saturday evening. The Flyers (27-5) made the NCAA Tournament in 1996 and 1998.

BYU, Pepperdine, Lewis, and Penn State have combined for 31 tournament appearances, including seven national championships since 1970.

Practices and press conferences begin on Wednesday, April 30 at The Pyramid in the Ukleja Room. Practices are open to the public on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. ESPN 2 will televise the championship live at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. The semifinal contests will be shown on EPSN2 on a tape-delay basis, with the first semifinal match shown on Friday, May 2 at 11:00 a.m. ET and the second following at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Please visit www.GoPSUsports for updated news and statistics on the Penn State men's volleyball team.