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Provo • There was a tiny bit of concern last Thursday night — after BYU's No. 3-ranked men's volleyball team was upset by Hawaii in the MPSF tournament semifinals — that the Cougars would be left out of the NCAA Tournament after entering last week with the No. 1 RPI in the country.

But those fears were dismissed Sunday morning, when the Cougars received an at-large bid to the six-team NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships and got the No. 3 seed over fourth-seeded Hawaii.

BYU (24-4) will meet No. 6 seed Barton College (23-5) of Wilson, N.C., on May 2 at Ohio State's St. John Arena in a play-in match. The Barton Bulldogs won Conference Carolinas for the first time to get that league's automatic berth to the Big Dance and features eight international players.

The winner of the BYU-Barton match, which will begin at 4 p.m. MDT, will face No. 2 seed Long Beach State (27-3) in the semifinals on May 4. The 49ers defeated No. 4 seed Hawaii 3-1 Saturday night to claim their first MPSF championship.

BYU and LBSU tied for the MPSF regular-season crown, but the 49ers got the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament and the right to host because they won more sets against BYU when the rivals split matches in Provo.

Host Ohio State, which defeated BYU 3-0 in the national championship match last year at Penn State's Rec Hall, got the No. 1 seed and awaits the winner of the Hawaii-Penn State play-in match. The Buckeyes went 30-2 and won both the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) regular-season and tournament titles.

BYU, which has won three national titles, has never faced a team from Conference Carolinas, let alone Barton College, whose men's volleyball program is in its sixth year of existence. The Bulldogs are coaches by Jeff Lennox, who also directs the school's women's volleyball program.

Barton has won nine straight matches, including a 3-0 win over Mount Olive in the conference tournament championship match.

The Bulldogs are led by brothers Angelos and Vasilis Mandilaris of Chalkida, Greece.

The championship match on May 6 will begin at 5 p.m. MDT and will be televised by ESPNU.

Tickets can be purchased at the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —

NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships

P At St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio

May 2 play-in matches

• No. 3 BYU (24-4) vs. No. 6 Barton College (23-5), 4 p.m. MDT

• No. 4 Hawaii (26-5) vs. No. 5 Penn State (21-10), 6 p.m. MDT

May 4 semifinal matches

• BYU-Barton winner vs. No. 2 Long Beach State (27-3), 4 p.m. MDT

• Hawaii-Penn State winner vs. No. 1 Ohio State (30-2), 6 p.m. MDT

May 6 championship match

• Semifinal winners, 5 p.m. MDT (ESPNU)