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Check out all the matches today involving NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams and how to follow those matches live.
No. 5 UCLA (1-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 6 Ohio State (1-0, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: Both No. 5 UCLA and No. 6 Ohio State will attempt to remain undefeated on their season-opening East Coast road trips as they begin the 2016 Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. UCLA finished with a .538 attack percentage in its road sweep against No. 14 George Mason on Tuesday. Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Preseason All-American outside attacker JT Hatch had a team-high 11 kills, while 2015 Freshmen All-American outside attacker Jake Arnitz added eight kills. Freshman setter Micah Ma’a in his first college start also guided the Bruins offense to a .933 attack percentage and zero errors in the second game against the Patriots. Ohio State in its season opener swept Princeton on Tuesday. Preseason All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen led all players with 14 kills. The sophomore also had two of the Buckeyes’ eight aces in the non-conference victory. This will fourth time in the last five seasons that UCLA and Ohio State have played each other in non-conference play. UCLA leads the all-time series 17-1 with Ohio State’s lone win occurring in 2006.
No. 10 Penn State (0-0, 0-0 EIVA) vs. No. 12 USC (0-0, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7:30 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets
What to know: For two teams that ended last season ranked in the top 10, the overhaul to their starting lineups entering this season opener could hardly be more evident. No. 10 Penn State and No. 12 USC both are replacing graduated All-Americans who won some of college men’s volleyball’s top national awards in 2015. Penn State will be without All-American graduate Aaron Russell who won the 2015 Karch Kiraly Award, while USC will look to replace All-American graduate Micah Christenson, a two-time winner of the Lloy Ball Award. Among the returning starters for the Nittany Lions includes all-conference outside attacker Chris Nugent. Nugent earned all-conference honors last season and was among the team leaders with a 2.40 kills per game average. Penn State coach Mark Pavlik also said in an interview with Off the Block that outside attacker Jalen Penrose has continued to make significant improvement throughout the off-season. Penrose as a freshman in 2015 started seven matches and had a career-high four aces along with nine kills in a non-conference win against then-No. 8 Long Beach State. USC has yet to announce if junior Michael Mullahey, Lewis transfer Gert Lisha or sophomore Jack Yoder will be the team’s new starting setter. In addition, Mullahey could miss this weekend’s matches with a knee injury.
No. 8 Lewis (1-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Harvard (0-0, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Honolulu
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 7 Hawai’i (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. King (0-0, 0-0 CC)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Honolulu
Follow live: Live stats, Radio feed