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Rivalries will be renewed with several critical late regular season matches.
No. 15 IPFW will play host to its in-state rival Ball State in the final regular season home match for Hall of Fame coach Arnie Ball. In addition, No. 8 USC and No. 14 Stanford will play each other in a match that has significant postseason seeding implications.
Check out the nation’s top college men’s volleyball matches to follow tonight.
No. 15 IPFW (16-9, 6-6 MIVA) vs. Ball State (12-13, 5-8 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: For one final time in his 34-year Hall of Fame career, coach Arnie Ball will lead No. 15 IPFW in a regular season match against its in-state rival Ball State. Ball, the only coach in IPFW’s program history and ranked among the top 10 winningest coaches in NCAA volleyball men’s volleyball, will retire at the end of this season. Along with this regular season home finale against its biggest rival, IPFW before the match will have a court dedication to rename its home court after Ball. The Mastodons enter this match in fourth place in the MIVA standings and need a victory to remain in position to earn a home match for the MIVA Tournament quarterfinals. However, IPFW will be without all-conference opposite Andrew Sellan who is sidelined with an injury. Sellan led IPFW and remains third in the MIVA with a 3.84 kills per game average. Freshman outside attacker Alex Harthaller is fourth in the nation among freshmen with a 2.89 kills per game average. He also had a season-high 26 kills in a five-game victory against Ball State in February. Ball State is on a four-match losing streak and is winless so far this season in conference road matches. In addition, freshman middle attacker Matt Walsh is third in the nation with a 1.46 blocks per game average.
No. 8 USC (14-8, 12-7 MPSF) vs. No. 14 Stanford (10-13, 7-10 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. in Palo Alto, California
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 14 Stanford will attempt to pull off an upset and remain in contention for the final spot in the MPSF Tournament as it plays host to No. 8 USC. With five matches remaining, the Cardinal is in eighth place and holds the final berth to the eight-team MPSF Tournament. A loss, though, would move Stanford back into a tie with No. 12 UCLA for eighth place. Stanford without injured All-American setter James Shaw defeated Cal Baptist in four games on Thursday. In addition, new starting setter Kyle Dagostino in the victory had 40 assists and helped the Cardinal out-hit the Lancers .312 to .198. USC All-American setter Micah Christenson is among the nation’s leaders with a 10.46 assists per game average. The 2014 Lloy Ball Award winner is also among the MPSF leaders with 34 aces. The Trojans enter this road match in fourth place in the MPSF and have won three of their last four matches.
Limestone (9-14, 7-7 MPSF) vs. Lees-McRae (3-15, 2-12 MPSF)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Banner Elk, North Carolina
Follow live: Live stats, Online video
Barton (11-16, 9-8 CC) vs. Charleston (4-22)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Wilson, North Carolina
Follow live: Online video, In-match tweets
Harvard (11-8, 5-2 EIVA) vs. NJIT (1-6, 8-10 EIVA)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Follow live: Live stats
Coker (8-16) vs. Charleston (4-22)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Wilson, North Carolina
Follow live: In-match tweets
Princeton (9-9, 5-3 EIVA) vs. Sacred Heart (11-9, 2-5 EIVA)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Fairfield, Connecticut
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
Barton (11-16, 9-8 CC) vs. Coker (8-16)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Wilson, North Carolina
Follow live: Online video, In-match tweets
No. 7 Penn State (12-9, 6-0 EIVA) vs. George Mason (9-10, 4-3 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Virginia
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed, In-match tweets
No. 11 Ohio State (18-6, 8-3 MIVA) vs. Quincy (13-10, 5-7 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Quincy, Illinois
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 10 Long Beach State (13-12, 9-11 MPSF) vs. UC San Diego (2-22, 0-18 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in San Diego
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
No. 3 Pepperdine (20-4, 15-4 MPSF) vs. Cal Baptist (6-19, 2-17 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Malibu, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets