NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTEBOOK:

PROVO, Utah — Just by making the four-team NCAA Championship, UC Irvine, Penn State, USC and Ohio State have reached great heights this season. But it’s the 4,551-foot elevation that occupied the minds of coaches before things got going Thursday at Smith Fieldhouse at BYU. UCI Coach John Speraw said the Anteaters may be most prepared to play with the altered flight of the ball, particularly on serves.

“This team has played there more than any other team except BYU,” Speraw said of the old building in which BYU plays its home matches. “That’s an advantage. But, I’m telling you, [the altitude] is still a challenge. It is hard to play volleyball there. You can’t underestimate it. And it’s interesting to see the strategies other coaches apply to try to make it happen.”

UCI not only played two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches against BYU this season, the Anteaters also played a handful of matches during a trip to BYU during the fall. Additionally, UCI was eliminated in the MPSF Tournament last season at BYU.

“It’s serving more than anything, but it’s also serve reception,” Speraw said of the effects of the thinner air. “It’s a little bit different as a passer, because the ball floats up onto you a little bit.”

In terms of a specific serving strategy, Speraw said there are basically two camps.

“Some teams think, ‘OK, we’re going to try to keep our serves in, so we’re going to ease off the throttle a little bit,’ ” Speraw said. “Then, BYU starts to beat you and you say ‘Forget it; we’re going to hit it hard. And you hit it hard and maybe you get a win. We still didn’t serve well the second night [of back-to-back matches this season]. It just forces teams that play there to change the way they play the game.”

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

USC Coach Bill Ferguson stands out among his peers by wearing a coat and tie, sometimes even a suit, on the sideline during matches.

Most coaches prefer Hawaiian shirts or polo/golf shirts.

The topic of Ferguson’s attire was broached to Speraw before Thursday’s matches, and the question arose as to when the last coach worked the sideline in a suit.

Speraw said lengendary UCLA Coach Al Scates, for whom Speraw played and coached with as an assistant, before taking over the UCI program seven seasons ago, used to break out a suit at the NCAA Championship.

Superstition, in fact, dictated that Scates wore the same suit in winning championship matches.

“I remember, I think it was 1993, Al wore the same suit he had on when UCLA won its last NCAA title, which I think was 1989,” Speraw said. “He had lost some hair since 1989, and he was slicking it straight back [in 1993]. But when he showed up for the 1993 Final Four matches, he had gone back to using a part on the side. And he didn’t really have much hair to part.”

BACK BAY BOYS

UC Irvine is not the only local representation at the Final Four.

Penn State’s roster included Brad McCoy, a 6-foot-2 sophomore outside hitter from Corona del Mar High. And the USC roster includes Newport Harbor High product Tucker Peleuses, a 6-5 freshman opposite for the Trojans.

TERMINAL VELOCITY

With BYU being perched at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, the town brings to mind a frontier environment.

So, perhaps, it is fitting that the reporters from the UCI student newspaper took less time to drive from Irvine to BYU than the time it took the Daily Pilot reporter to arrive by air.

The New University scribes took 11 hours to make the drive, while flight cancellations and delays extended the total travel time by air to 12 hours on Wednesday.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.