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The season’s biggest weekend for non-conference matches gets even bigger tonight.
No. 10 Stanford will play host to No. 2 Loyola at the AVCA Showcase in a rematch of last season’s NCAA championship match that will be nationally televised on the PAC-12 Network. In addition, No. 4 UC Santa Barbara and No. 9 Lewis will attempt to remain undefeated as both teams play nationally ranked teams tonight.
Check out the top college men’s volleyball matches from around the nation to follow tonight.
No. 2 Loyola (1-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. No. 10 Stanford (1-1, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Palo Alto, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 2 Loyola and No. 10 Stanford will meet again, but this time with the Ramblers on the road and as the defending NCAA champions. Loyola ended last season on its home court beating Stanford in four games to win its first national championship in program history. The Ramblers return a majority of starters from that championship team and opened its season at the AVCA Showcase with a four-game victory against No. 6 BYU on Friday. Preseason All-American outside attacker Cody Caldwell had a match-high 19 kills. In addition, Caldwell in the NCAA championship match last season led all players with 20 kills and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Stanford without three starters because of graduation from last year’s team lost to No. 9 Lewis in three games in its AVCA Showcase opener Friday. Despite the loss, All-American setter James Shaw returned to the court for the first time this season after spending the off-season recovering from an injury. Shaw finished the match 14 assists and two blocks before being pulled for back-up setter Kyle Dagostino.
No. 6 BYU (0-1, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 9 Lewis (2-0, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 4:30 p.m. in Palo Alto, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
What to know: It’s the second week of the season, but this match at the AVCA Showcase could have significant ramifications for Selection Saturday at the end of the season. No. 9 Lewis if it beats No. 6 BYU will be end its season-opening three-match West Coast road trip undefeated. A third victory against the MPSF would give Lewis an early-season advantage in the selection committee criteria category of non-conference record and would bolster the Flyers in the RPI rankings, a category added the selection committee criteria this year. This will also be the final match this season that Lewis will play against the MPSF. Lewis out-hit Stanford .393 to .258 in its road non-conference victory Friday. In addition, Preseason All-American outside attacker Greg Petty and opposite Eric Fitterer both finished with a match-high 15 kills. BYU did not have a player finish with more than seven kills in its season-opening four-game loss to Loyola on Friday. However, BYU freshman middle attacker Price Jarman in his college debut had a team-high five blocks.
No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (3-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 15 IPFW (1-1, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 6:30 p.m. in Santa Barbara, California
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 4 UC Santa Barbara will have a chance to finish its annual home tournament undefeated for the first time in more than a decade. UC Santa Barbara will play No. 15 IPFW in the finale of the Asics Invitational after winning sweeping both its non-conference tournament matches Friday. Both Limestone and Princeton finished with less than .100 attack percentage and did not reach 20 points any game against UC Santa Barbara. Middle attacker Jake Staahl also led the Gauchos with a combined 13 blocks in the two matches. IPFW enters its tournament finale after beating No. 13 Cal State Northridge in five games and losing to No. 5 UCLA in four games on Friday. All-conference opposite Andrew Sellan in the season-opening victory against the Matadors had a team-high 13 kills and three aces.
No. 12 Long Beach State (2-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. St. Francis (0-3, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 11 p.m. in Santa Barbara, California
Follow live: In-match tweets
Ball State (1-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Barton (0-0, 0-0 CC)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Wilson, North Carolina
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Grand Canyon (0-1, 0-0 MIVA) vs. UC San Diego (0-1, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
No. 13 Cal State Northridge (1-1, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Princeton (0-2, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 1:30 p.m. in Santa Barbara, California
Follow live: In-match tweets
No. 5 UCLA (2-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Limestone (0-2, 0-0 CC)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Santa Barbara, California
Follow live: In-match tweets
Lindenwood (0-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Grand View (1-0)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in St. Charles, Missouri
Follow live: Live stats
Cal Baptist (1-1, 0-0 MPSF) vs. UC Merced (0-0)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Merced, California
Follow live: In-match tweets