Conference tournament semifinal matches to follow tonight

Check out all the postseason matches today involving NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams and how to follow them live.

EIVA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS

No. 1 seed Penn State (19-10, 11-3 EIVA) vs. No. 4 seed Princeton (12-13, 8-6 EIVA)
Match vitals:
7:30 p.m. in University, Park, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Season series: Penn State leads 2-0
Last EIVA Tournament title: Penn State (2015); Princeton (1998)
What to know: Princeton will get its chance again to upsett No. 13 Penn State after coming agonizingly close weeks ago. This semifinal match will be the first meeting between the two teams since Penn State rallied from a 13-9 deficit in the fifth game and fought off multiple match-points to beat Princeton in overtime. Both regular season matches between the Tigers and Nittany Lions went to a decisive fifth game. Penn State All-EIVA opposite Calvin Mende had a combined 46 kills in the two matches, including a season-high 29 kills on a .659 attack percentage against Princeton in February. Mende also had 24 kills while hitting .543 in a sweep versus George Mason on Saturday to help Penn State clinch the EIVA regular season championship. The freshman finished the regular season in the conference’s top six with both a 3.28 kills per game average and a .305 attack percentage. Both of Princeton’s starting middle attackers earned First-Team All-EIVA honors. George Huhmann, the 2017 EIVA Newcomer of the Year, had a conference-best .386 attack percentage along with being in the EIVA’s top five with a 1.04 blocks per game average. The Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Freshmen All-American Team selection also had a season-high 12 blocks in the most recent meeting versus Penn State on March 31. Junior Oboh as a middle attacker was in the conference’s top 25 with a 1.77 kills per game average and had a .429 attack percentage. Oboh also had six kills on a .500 attack percentage in a sweep against rival Harvard last week to clinch a postseason berth. Princeton is making its first postseason appearance since 2015. This also will be the first postseason match for Penn State since losing the conference tournament semifinals last year — the program’s first loss in the EIVA Tournament since 1998.

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No. 2 seed St. Francis (15-13, 10-4 EIVA) vs. No. 3 seed Sacred Heart (15-10, 8-6 EIVA)
Match vitals:
5 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Season series: St. Francis leads 2-0
Last EIVA Tournament title: St. Francis (never); Sacred Heart (never)
What to know: Sacred Heart will attempt to find a way to contain St. Francis opposite Jeff Hogan as the two teams meet to open the EIVA Tournament. Hogan had a combined 35 kills on a .353 attack percentage in two regular season victories against Sacred Heart. The First-Team All-EIVA selection finished the regular season third in the conference with a 3.51 kills per game average, including having a match-high 23 kills in a sweep versus George Mason last week to help St. Francis clinch a postseason berth. Hogan is one of two Red Flash players among the conference leaders for kills. Outside attacker Michael Fisher, an Off the Block/Springak, Inc. Freshmen All-American Team selection, leads St. Francis and is second in the EIVA averaging 3.52 kills per game. In addition, All-EIVA setter Daniel Ford has guided the St. Francis offense to more than a .300 attack percentage in two of the team’s last five EIVA matches. Sacred Heart finished the regular season with a conference-best 2.42 blocks per game average. All-EIVA middle attacker Taylor Bloomquist led the conference with a 1.20 blocks per game average and was second in the EIVA hitting .346. He also had a team-high seven blocks along with 10 kills on a .500 attack percentage in a four-game loss to St. Francis in February. Along with its front-row defense, libero Joshua Ayzenberg is second in the nation averaging 2.98 digs per game and earlier today was named a finalist for the Erik Shoji Award. This is the first postseason appearance for Sacred Heart since the EIVA changed to a four-team conference tournament format in 2012. St. Francis is attempting to return to the EIVA Tournament for the second consecutive year and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in its program history.

MPSF TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS

No. 1 seed Long Beach State (25-3, 16-2 MPSF) vs. No. 4 seed UC Irvine (19-6, 13-5 MPSF)
Match vitals:
7:30 p.m. in Long Beach, California
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, Online video (pay-per-view), In-match tweets
Season series: Long Beach State leads 2-0
Last MPSF Tournament title: Long Beach State (never); UC Irvine (2015)

No. 2 seed BYU (24-3, 16-2 MPSF) vs. No. 3 seed Hawai’i (25-4, 14-4 MPSF)
Match vitals:
5 p.m. in Long Beach California
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, Online video (pay-per-view), In-match tweets
Season series: BYU leads 2-0
Last MPSF Tournament title: BYU (2016); Hawai’i (never)

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