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One month into the season and the matches only continue to get more critical each week.
No. 2 USC and No. 6 Hawai’i playing in the final of their two-match series highlights the slate of matches tonight. In addition, both Cal State Northridge and George Mason will attempt to pull off upsets against top-10 nationally ranked teams.
Check out the top college men’s volleyball matches from around the nation to follow tonight.
No. 2 USC (7-1, 6-1 MPSF) vs. No. 6 Hawai’i (7-2, 4-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Honolulu
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, Radio feed, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 6 Hawai’i two days after rallying from a two-game deficit to beat No. 2 USC will now attempt to complete the series sweep. All-American middle attacker Taylor Averill in the comeback victory Wednesday had a career-high 17 kills on a .640 attack percentage. The senior also led all players with seven blocks, including a match-winning solo block in the fifth game overtime. The Rainbow Warriors through their first five conference matches are undefeated when Averill has at least 10 kills and winless when the senior fails to reach double-digit kills. Averill was one of three Rainbow Warriors to have double-digit kills against the Trojans. Preseason All-American opposite Brook Sedore had a team-high 22 kills, while outside attacker Kupono Key added 10 kills. Hawai’i also played without outside attacker Sinisa Zarkovic, who missed the match because of an injury. Zarkovic entered the week among the conference’s leaders with a 3.79 kills per game average. USC following its first loss of the season will need to beat Hawai’i in the series finale to remain in sole possession of first place in the MPSF. In addition, USC All-American setter Micah Christenson had a season-high 63 assists in the loss to Hawai’i. The 2014 Lloy Ball Award winner leads the nation having at least 50 assists in three matches this season.
No. 9 UCLA (5-4, 1-4 MPSF) vs. Cal State Northridge (5-5, 3-3 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Northridge, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
What to know: No one needs to remind No. 9 UCLA and coach John Speraw what happened the last time they faced Cal State Northridge outside attacker Sam Holt. UCLA and Cal State Northridge will meet for the first time since Holt had a career-high 37 kills in an upset victory against the Bruins last season. Holt started the week in the top 10 of the MPSF with a 3.44 kills per game average. He also had a match-high 22 kills in a four-game upset win against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday. UCLA lost on the road to No. 11 Long Beach State on Wednesday to drop to 10th place in the MPSF. In addition, the Bruins at 1-4 are off to their worst start in conference play since 2007. However, UCLA is leading the conference with a 2.11 aces per game average and middle attacker Mitch Stahl is among the MPSF leaders with 14 aces.
No. 10 IPFW (8-2, 3-0 MIVA) vs. George Mason (1-5, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 10 IPFW won’t have a lot of time to celebrate one of its most dramatic victories in recent years against its biggest rival. IPFW will play host to George Mason one day following it overcoming a two-game road deficit to beat Ball State. With this victory, IPFW is on a seven-match winning streak and is undefeated against teams outside of the top five in the national coaches poll. This non-conference match-up between IPFW and George Mason will also feature two of the top international freshman players in the nation. IPFW outside attacker and Austrian native Alex Harthaller led all players with a season-high 26 kills in the victory against Ball State on Thursday. Harthaller was also named of the Off the Block National Freshman of the Week on Monday after helping lead IPFW to two conference victories last week. In addition, George Mason setter and Puerto Rican native Brian Negron has more than 40 assists in two matches against nationally ranked teams so far this season.
No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (6-5, 2-5 MPSF) vs. No. 11 Long Beach State (7-3, 4-3 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Long Beach, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
What to know: It’s still early in the season, but for a team picked to finish second in the MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll, No. 8 UC Santa Barbara desperately needs a victory. UC Santa Barbara will travel to No. 11 Long Beach State while in ninth place in the MPSF and having lost three of its four matches. In addition, the Gauchos are winless on the road so far this season, including a four-game loss to unranked Cal State Northridge on Wednesday. Despite the recent losses, outside attacker Kevin Donohue entered the week leading the conference with a 3.84 kills per game average and added 11 kills in the loss to the Matadors. Long Beach State enters this home match after beating No. 9 UCLA on Thursday for its first victory against a top-10 nationally ranked team this season. Middle attacker Taylor Gregory had a team-high four blocks in the victory against the Bruins. The junior is also in the top 10 of the MPSF with 1.17 blocks per game average.
Princeton (2-4, 0-0 EIVA) vs. NJIT (4-2, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Newark, New Jersey
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 15 Harvard (4-3, 0-0 EIVA) vs. Sacred Heart (1-4, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fairfield, Connecticut
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
Penn State (2-6, 1-0 EIVA) vs. Erskine (7-1, 4-0 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in University Park, Pa.
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 12 Ohio State (6-2, 2-0 MIVA) vs. Quincy (5-4, 0-2 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
Mount Olive (3-3, 3-1 CC) vs. Lees-McRae (1-4, 0-3 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Banner Elk, North Carolina
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
Barton (2-6, 2-3 CC)vs. King (3-2, 2-1 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Bristol, Tennessee
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Limestone (5-6, 5-1 CC) vs. Charleston (2-6)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Gaffney, South Carolina
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Belmont Abbey (2-5, 1-3 CC) vs. Alderson Broaddus (2-2)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Belmont, North Carolinas
Follow live: Online video, In-match tweets
No. 3 Lewis (8-1, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Grand Canyon (5-2, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
No. 7 BYU (6-2, 5-1 MPSF) vs. Cal Baptist (3-7, 1-6 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Provo, Utah
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
UC San Diego (1-7, 0-6 MPSF) vs. Concordia-Irvine (4-2)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in San Diego
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
No. 4 Pepperdine (9-1, 5-1 MPSF) vs. No. 14 Stanford (3-6, 2-4 MPS)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Malibu, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Just an FYI – You can watch most home BYU MPSF men’s vb matches on the BYU channel. Of course your cable company has to provide that channel but it is part of my ATT Uverse package. Their announcers are good and knowledgable (but a little biased too!).