Follow
Check out all the college men’s volleyball matches to follow today and how to follow the matches live.
Big West Tournament Final
No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara (14-4, 7-3 Big West) vs. No. 4 seed UC San Diego (5-12, 3-7 Big West)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Manoa, Hawai’i
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: UC San Diego is coming off their biggest in program history. Not only have the Tritons have won their first postseason matches as a Division I/II program, they defeated No. 1 and previously undefeated Hawai’i on Friday night. The Tritons needed three match points to secure a come-from-behind five game victory over Hawai’i, using 15 assists from backup setter Andrew Boyle in the last game and a half. UC San Diego outblocked Hawai’i, 13.5 to 8.5, and put up a season-best 10 aces in the win. The Tritons forced reigning back-to-back-to-back Big West Player of the Week Rado Parapunov into a career-high 13 attack errors on Friday. The Gauchos have only one conference tournament championship in the last 28 years (2011). UC Santa Barbara secured their spot in the title match with a four game victory over No. 3 seed Long Beach State. After the Gauchos were outhit the Beach . 500 to .100 in the first game, UC Santa Barbara bounced back to outhit Long Beach State .361 to .209 in the final three games. Hawai’i native Ryan Wilcox paced the Gauchos with 16 kills and three aces on Friday evening. UC Santa Barbara won all four matches versus UC San Diego this year, with three of those coming in Robertson Gym.
EIVA Tournament Final
No. 1 seed Penn State (20-3, 16-2 EIVA) vs. No. 3 George Mason (15-6, 11-5 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: Penn State is also but assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but George Mason knows they must win if they want to play in May. Penn State is looking for their 32nd EIVA Tournament championship all time, while George Mason is looking for their fifth all-time. This the 15th time these two teams have met for the EIVA Tournament, with the Nittany Lions winning 11 of those matches. Both teams swept their semifinal opponents on Thursday evening. 2021 Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year setter Cole Bogner guided the Penn State offense to an efficient .390 attack, while Patriots were led by opposite Hayden Wagner’s 14 kills in their win. The teams played four times during the regular season, with the Nittany Lions winning three of the four. Penn State won both matches in Happy Valley, while the Patriots won the fourth match in five games. George Mason leads the conference with 12.33 kills per game and 9.96 digs per game, while Penn State leads the conference with a .328 attack percentage and 2.08 aces per game.
MIVA Tournament Final
No. 1 seed Lewis (19-2, 12-2 MIVA) vs. No. 2 seed Loyola (15-5, 9-5 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Romeoville, Illinois
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: While this may not compare to MIVAgeddon, this match pairs the top two teams in the MIVA. Lewis is one of the hottest teams in the nation having won their last 11 matches. In fact, they have only dropped two games during that span, a five-game win over Loyola in Chicago in the final match of the regular season. While Lewis has won the last six matches in the all-time series, Loyola leads the all-time series 35-28. Lewis is looking for their sixth MIVA Tournament title and their second consecutive title. Loyola has won the MIVA Tournament three times, but none since they won it and the national championship in 2015. While Lewis outside attacker was named 2021 MIVA Player of the Year, Loyola outside attacker Cole Schlothauer might be the most valuable player in the conference. Schlothauer was injured in three of the five matches the Ramblers lost this season. Just like Penn State and BYU, Lewis seems to be poised to be lock for the NCAA Tournament, while Loyola will need to secure MIVA autobid to dance in May. Lewis leads the conference with 1.44 aces per game and a .339 attack percentage. The one area where Loyola has the advantage in digging where they Ramblers hold a 9.83 to 9.05 digs per game advantage. Loyola secure a spot in the title match with a reverse sweep of No. 3 seed McKendree last weekend, while Lewis secured their spot defeating No. 4 Ball State in straight sets.
MPSF Tournament Final
No. 1 seed BYU (18-3, 17-3 MPSF) vs. No. 3 seed Pepperdine (13-5, 11-5 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Provo, Utah
Follow live: Live video (Flo Sports), Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: BYU is all but assured a spot in the NCAA Tournament, regardless of the result of this match, while Pepperdine would do themselves a huge favor in terms of securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning this match. BYU secured a first-round bye in the MPSF Tournament by virtue of winning the regular season championship and then defeated No. 4 seed Grand Canyon on Friday night in straight sets. In the victory, the Cougars outhit the Lopes, .390 to .188, and were paced by Gabi Garcia Fernandez’s 12 kills and four aces. Pepperdine opened the tournament with a four game victory over No. 6 seed Stanford on Thursday, followed with a sweep of short-handed No. 2 seed UCLA on Friday night. The Waves were outhit, out-blocked, and out-dug by the Bruins, but prevailed in a match that featured two deuce sets in part due to limiting their service errors. Pepperdine had four aces versus eight service errors, while UCLA had one ace versus 17 service errors. BYU has won all four matches in the season series that was evenly split between Provo and Malibu. A win for BYU would give them their eighth MPSF Tournament title all time, while a Pepperdine win would give the Waves their sixth.
NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship Final
Carthage (22-0) vs. Benedictine (16-3)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Salem, Virginia
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
What to know: This is Carthage’s second appearance in the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship Final, having lost to Springfield in straight sets in 2012. Not only is this Benedictine’s first-ever title match appearance, this is the seventh-year program’s first ever NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Championship appearance. To say that the Eagles have had to presevere is an understatement for the Eagles. Head coach Christian Staple was signed less than a week before their first scheduled matches, and then they were placed on pause due to COVID-19 for two weeks to start the season. What makes this matchup even more interesting is that both head coaches are former MIVA assistants. Carthage coach JW Kieckhefer is a former Purdue Fort Wayne assistant, while Staple is a former McKendree assistant. These two teams played once during the regular season, with the Firebirds winning in a sweep in Kenosha back on March 24. All time, Carthage leads the series, 6-2. Carthage ranks in the top six nationally in kills per game, assists per game, blocks per game, digs per game and attack percentage.
NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship Final
No. 1 seed Grand View (25-0) vs. No. 2 Benedictine-Mesa (18-0)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
What to know: Benedictine is a perfect 8-0 in NAIA Men’s Volleyball National Championship matches all-time, having won the title in 2019. Grand View won the title in 2018, defeating Benedictine-Mesa in four games, when the sport was Invitational Sport. The teams have split the four previous matches in their all-time series, with the Vikings winning their most recent match at a neutral site. This is a battle of the top two teams in NAIA in terms of attack percentage. These teams also sport the two most efficient attackers with Benedictine-Mesa’s Bobby Henige attacking at a .582 clip, and Danny Wong of Grand View coming in at .556. Grand View outside attack Felix Chapman leads NAIA with 5.3 kills per game and 6.8 kills per game in the tournament.