LOS ANGELES — Looking at the four remaining teams entering Thursday's men's National Collegiate volleyball championship, one seemed a bit out of place.
Perhaps it was the red in the jerseys or the small contingent of fans which didn't come close to matching the crowds Hawai'i, Long Beach State or UCLA brought.
Perhaps it was the fact Ball State was the lone Midwest team or the fact it hadn't competed in the NCAA Tournament in 20 years while the other three had either played in (UCLA, 2018; Hawai'i, 2019) or won (Hawai'i, 2021; Long Beach State, 2018, 2019) a national championship in the last three tournaments.