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The team match-ups don’t get much better than this during the regular season.
No. 5 BYU will play host to No. 13 Ball State in a showdown between two of the top blocking teams in the nation. In addition, No. 3 UC Irvine will look to continue its recent offensive dominance as it plays No. 9 UCLA.
Check out the nation’s top college men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
No. 4 BYU (11-3, 10-2 MPSF) vs. No. 13 Ball State (9-5, 4-3 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Provo, Utah
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What to know: Two of the top blocking teams in the nation will play each other as No. 4 BYU opens a two-match home non-conference series against No. 13 Ball State. The Cougars lead the MPSF and are third in the nation with a 3.12 blocks per game average, while the Cardinals are second in the nation with a 3.18 blocks per game average. In addition, Ball State freshman middle attacker Matt Walsh has a nation-best 1.75 blocks per game average. Walsh also had a match-high eight blocks in an upset sweep against No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday. BYU middle attacker Michael Hatch, a finalist for the 2014 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Blocker of the Year, is fourth in the nation and leads the MPSF averaging 1.35 blocks per game. Hatch led all players with nine blocks in a sweep against No. 10 Long Beach State last week. This will be the first meeting between BYU and Ball State since 2005.
No. 3 UC Irvine (14-3, 9-2 MPSF) vs. No. 9 UCLA (8-5, 4-5 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Irvine, California
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What to know: No. 9 UCLA will attempt to upset its second top-five nationally ranked team this week, but will have to stop the most prolific offenses in the MPSF to achieve the feat. No. 3 UC Irvine enters this home match on a five-match winning streak and leads the conference with a .352 attack percentage. Outside attacker Tamhir Hershko is second in the MPSF with a 3.85 kills per game average. He also has a combined 70 kills in the last four matches for the Anteaters. UCLA upset its cross-town rival then-No. 3 USC in four games on Sunday for its first victory against a top-five nationally ranked team this season. In addition, outside attacker Jake Arnitz was named the Off the Block Co-National Freshman of the Week after having a match-high 16 kills in the victory against the Trojans. A win for Anteaters against the Bruins would also move the UC Irvine into a tie for first place in the MPSF with BYU.
No. 6 Hawai’i (11-3, 8-2 MPSF) vs. No. 10 Long Beach State (8-6, 5-6 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Long Beach, California
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What to know: If No. 6 Hawai’i is going to make a run a top-four seed in the MPSF and earn its first postseason home match in five years, it will likely need to win these type of road matches it will play this weekend. Hawai’i is tied for third place in the MPSF as it opens a two-match road against No. 10 Long Beach State. The Rainbow Warriors are off to one of their best road records in recent years at 3-1. However, only one of those victories was against a nationally ranked team. Opposite Brook Sedore and outside attacker Sinisa Zarkovic are also both in the conference’s top five averaging more than a 3.60 kills per game average. In addition, Sedore had a match-high 24 kills in a victory against No. 15 Cal State Northridge on Sunday to extend the Rainbow Warriors’ winning streak to five matches. Long Beach State lost two road matches to BYU last weekend and has three of its last four conference matches. This will be the 77th all-time meeting between Long Beach State and Hawai’i with series tied at 38-38.
Belmont Abbey (4-5, 2-3 CC) vs. Lees-McRae (1-8, 0-6 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Banner Elk, North Carolina
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Mount Olive (6-6, 6-4 CC) vs. North Greenville (6-8, 1-5 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Tigerville, South Carolina
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Barton (5-9, 4-6 CC) vs. Emmanuel (1-7, 1-7 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Georgia
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Penn State (4-9, 2-0 EIVA) vs. Sacred Heart (4-6, 1-2)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fairfield, Connecticut
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Harvard (7-4, 2-1 EIVA) vs. St. Francis (2-12, 1-1 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Cambridge, Massachusetts
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No. 14 Princeton (6-4, 3-0 EIVA) vs. George Mason (3-8, 0-2 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Princeton, New Jersey
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No. 5 Pepperdine (12-2, 8-2 MPSF) vs. Stanford (5-10, 3-8 MPSF)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Palo Alto, California
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Ohio State (11-3, 5-1 MIVA) vs. Grand Canyon (7-6, 2-4 MIVA)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona
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No. 2 Lewis (12-1, 3-0 MIVA) vs. Lindenwood (4-4, 2-3 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Romeoville, Illinois
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Cal Baptist vs. UC Merced
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Riverside, California
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No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (10-5, 6-5 MPSF) vs. UC San Diego
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in San Diego
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