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State College, Pa. • BYU's No. 1-ranked men's volleyball team has its share of characters — players with dynamic, outgoing personalities who aren't afraid to do a little celebrating on the court after each and every point.
Star middle blocker Michael Hatch, the only senior who plays regularly for coach Shawn Olmstead, does not fall into that category.
"Hatch is a funny guy," Olmstead says. "He is a great kid and just an outstanding teammate, but he is just kind of calm and cool and just does his job, and does it really well. But there are other guys who are a little more feisty, have a little more energy."
But nobody on the roster has more experience, especially in the NCAA Division I-II Tournament, which begins on Thursday for the top-seeded Cougars (26-3) when they meet the winner of Tuesday night's Long Beach State-Erskine College play-in match.
Hatch, a 6-foot-8 finance major who graduated last December and walked in commencement ceremonies two weeks ago with his wife, Sammy, a humanities major, has started almost every match of his four-year career. He was a redshirt freshman on the 2013 team that lost 3-0 to UC Irvine in the championship match, and a sophomore on the 2014 team that fell 3-2 to Stanford in the semifinals in Chicago.
"It means a lot to finish out my career in the NCAA Tournament," Hatch said. "Getting a chance to play in the tournament my first two years was awesome, but unfortunately we weren't able to win it all. To have that opportunity again is a real blessing, and hopefully we will be able to capitalize on it this time."
Hatch was recruited out of Agoura Hills, Calif., as a preferred walk-on in 2011, but wasn't on the official roster. After a church mission to New York City, he not only made the team in 2013 but was named to the All-MPSF Freshman Team. He was awarded a partial scholarship — volleyball players don't get full rides because 4.5 scholarships are divvied up among the entire team — as a sophomore in 2014 and has been a mainstay ever since.
"I think if we just play the same way we've been playing throughout the regular season, and if we serve and pass well and just maintain our energy, we will be fine," he said.
Hatch has a job lined up with the investment banking firm Raymond James Financial in Florida, but the company that also employs former BYU quarterback Christian Stewart has agreed to defer his employment while he pursues a professional volleyball career in Europe.
Road tested
The Cougars were actually better on the road this season than at home, losing just once away from Smith Fieldhouse, to Long Beach State. They lost two home matches, on Jan. 15 against Stanford and March 19 against Pepperdine.
"It was kind of a weird season in that sense," Olmstead said. "That's not normal."
From one Happy Valley to another
The Cougars were scheduled to fly out of Provo and directly into State College, Pa., on Tuesday via a chartered flight.
They will practice at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University at 8:30 a.m. MDT on Wednesday and participate in an NCAA-mandated news conference at 10:10 a.m.
Coincidentally, BYU and PSU are both located in places informally known as "Happy Valley."
Briefly
BYU opposite hitter Ben Patch has been the selected as the winner of the 2016 Bryan Ivie Award, which is named after the former USC All-American and U.S. Olympian and is presented by the website Offtheblockblog.com. Patch is averaging 4.31 kills per game and had 12 matches with at least 15 kills. … Hatch was one of six Cougars honored by the MPSF last month, but many in the program felt like he deserved better than an honorable mention citation. He's the fourth-leading blocker in school history, with 474.
Twitter: @drewjay —
NCAA Men's Division I-II Volleyball Tournament
P At Rec Hall, Penn State University, State College, Pa.
Tuesday's play-in matches
• No. 4 Long Beach State 3, No. 5 Erskine 0
• No. 3 Ohio State 3, No. 6 George Mason 1
Thursday's semifinals
• No. 1 BYU (26-3) vs. LBSU (25-7), 4 p.m. MDT
• No. 2 UCLA (25-6) vs. Ohio State (29-2), 6 p.m. MDT
May 7 championship
• Semifinal winners, 6 p.m MDT, ESPN2