Top 5 college men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight

It’s all about the rematch tonight in college men’s volleyball.

No. 8 BYU and No. 7 UC Irvine will play each other for the first time since their meeting in the 2013 NCAA finals. In addition, No. 1 Stanford will travel to play No. 6 UCLA in a rematch of the two teams’ season-opener earlier this month

Check out the top five college men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.

1. No. 1 Stanford (3-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 6 UCLA (3-1, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 3 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, In-match tweets
What to know: Two weeks after playing their season opener against each other at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational, Stanford and UCLA will now meet again, but this time in their conference opener. Stanford in that non-conference tournament match had a season-high .500 attack percentage to defeat UCLA in four games. However, both teams enter the MPSF season after a successful weekend in non-conference play last weekend. Stanford had a season-high 14 aces in a four-game victory against then-No. 8 Lewis on Saturday. The Cardinal also climbed to the No. 1 ranking in the latest AVCA coaches poll — the team’s first time atop the national poll in almost two years. UCLA went undefeated at the Outrigger Invitational last weekend to win the non-conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season. In addition, outside attacker Robart Page had a tournament-best 51 combined kills in the Bruins’ three matches to be named the Outrigger Invitational Most Outstanding Player and the AVCA National Player of the Week.

2. No. 7 UC Irvine (2-3, 0-2 MPSF) vs. No. 8 BYU (2-2, 2-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Irvine, Calif.
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: If the BYU players needed any more motivation for its rematch of 2013 NCAA finals against UC Irvine, they will only need to look up to the Bren Center rafters. The UC Irvine athletics department announced earlier this week that it will unveil the school’s 2013 NCAA championship banner on Thursday — less than 24 hours before its home match against BYU. UC Irvine enters on a two-match losing streak, including a five-game loss to USC on Tuesday. BYU, following a 0-2 start to the season, won its two conference home matches last weekend, including a four-game victory against then-No. 1 Long Beach State. In addition, AVCA All-American outside attacker Taylor Sander had a match-high 24 kills in the victory against the 49ers.

3. No. 5 Long Beach State (3-1, 2-1 MPSF) vs. Hawai’i (2-2, 0-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Honolulu
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, In-match tweets
What to know: Long Beach State and Hawai’i will conclude their two-match conference series after the 49ers swept the Rainbow Warriors in the opener on Thursday. All-American outside attacker Taylor Crabb returning to his home state led Long Beach State with 12 kills and two aces. In addition, Crabb added five blocks as Long Beach State in the victory out-blocked Hawai’i 12.5 to 8.5. Hawai’i outside attacker Brook Sedore had a match-high 16 kills against Long Beach State. However, Sedore was one of three Hawai’i play to have more than one kill in the series opener.

4. Penn State (1-2, 0-0 EIVA) vs. IPFW (2-0, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in University Park, Pa.
Follow live: Gametracker, In-match tweets
What to know: For a team that has not won on the road at Penn State in almost 15 years, IPFW has plenty of reasons to feel confident heading into its non-conference match against the Nittany Lions. The Mastodons have their highest ranking in the AVCA coaches poll in five years after defeating then-No. 15 Cal Baptist and Sacred Heart to open their season. In addition, all-conference outside attacker Eddie Rivera had a match-high 13 kills in the victory against Sacred Heart on Friday and was named the MIVA Offensive Player of the Week. Penn State swept Ohio State in its final match at the Outrigger Invitational to finish the tournament 1-2. Outside attacker Nick Goodell in the victory had a match-high 13 kills and was selected to the All-Tournament Team. This will also be the first meeting between IPFW and Penn State since the Mastodons upset the Nittany Lions in five games last season in Fort Wayne, Ind.

5. No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (1-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Pacific (1-2, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: No one from UC Santa Barbara needs a reminder about the importance of having a strong start to the conference season. UC Santa Barbara opens its conference season against Pacific and returns a majority of starters from last year’s team that lost six of its first seven 2013 MPSF matches. Despite those early season struggles, the Gauchos recovered in time to earn a postseason berth. Pacific enters conference play after losing non-conference matches to Lewis and Grand Canyon last week. In addition, libero Javier Caceres in the loss to Lewis set the school record at Pacific for career digs.