COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL : Long Beach Plays USC; UCLA Meets Northridge at Pauley

The 19th annual UCLA Classic men’s volleyball tournament begins at Pauley Pavilion tonight when sixth-ranked Long Beach State (16-7) plays No. 11 USC (9-9) at 5 p.m., followed by top-ranked UCLA (20-1) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match against No. 9 Cal State Northridge (15-7) at 7.

UCLA leads the federation’s Mountain Division with a 14-0 record, and Northridge is in third place at 11-5, behind UC Santa Barbara (13-7), which is 11-4 in the division.

The Bruins have been nearly flawless this season, their only loss having been to No. 7 Ball State (18-8) in the Hall of Fame Classic at Springfield, Mass., last month. Paul Nihipali, a 6-foot-7 sophomore opposite hitter, leads UCLA, averaging 5.5 kills a game, along with Jeff Nygaard, a member of the U.S. national team who is averaging 1.8 blocks a game.

The Bruins have won 29 consecutive home matches, dating to 1993, when they won the most recent of their 14 NCAA titles. They also have won 37 consecutive conference matches, dating to 1993.

The third-place match will be played Saturday at 4:30 p.m., with the final at 7:30.