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The wait won’t be long for the first marquee non-conference match of the upcoming season.
BYU, Stanford, Lewis and Loyola after all reaching the NCAA Tournament last season have agreed to play in a non-conference event at Stanford during the opening weekend of the 2015 regular season.
The two-day tournament, which was unveiled as BYU announced Monday night its regular season schedule, will feature a rematch of the 2014 national championship match on the opening night as the defending NCAA champions Loyola will play Stanford. The Ramblers ended last season beating the Cardinal in four games on their home court to win their first national title in program history.
BYU and Lewis will also play each other Jan. 9 on the first day of the non-conference event.
BYU last season won its second consecutive MPSF championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament semifinals before losing to Stanford in five games. In addition, Lewis became the second non-West Coast team to receive an at-large bid in the 45-year history of the NCAA Tournament.
Along with these opening night matches, BYU will play Loyola and Stanford will play host to Lewis on the final day of the event.
This is second consecutive year that BYU has played both Loyola and Lewis in non-conference play. The Cougars opened last season with road losses to the Ramblers and Flyers and finished the regular season with a losing record away from Smith Fieldhouse.
Lewis is also playing a road match against Stanford for the second consecutive year. The Cardinal in their only meeting last season had a season-high 14 aces in a four-game victory against the Flyers.
Stanford in addition to playing host to this season-opening non-conference event will be the host site for the six-team 2015 NCAA Tournament in May.