Conference tournament semifinal matches to follow tonight

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Check out all the postseason matches today involving NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams and how to follow them live.

No. 1 seed Ohio State (26-2, 15-1 MIVA) vs. McKendree (11-13, 5-11 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
Season series: Ohio State leads 2-0
Last MIVA Tournament title: Ohio State (2011); McKendree (never)
What to know: McKendree’s reward for pulling off one of the biggest MIVA Tournament upsets is getting to play the MIVA regular season champions No. 2/2 Ohio State. McKendree in its program’s first postseason appearance upset No. 11 Ball State in the conference tournament quarterfinals on Saturday. This was the second time that a No. 6 seed or lower won won a quarterfinal match in the recent history of the MIVA Tournament. Middle attacker Wyatt Patterson leads the Bearcats and is fourth in the conference with a .457 attack percentage. He also had a six kills and zero attack errors while adding a match-high six blocks in the sweep versus Ball State. Ohio State is on a nation-best 18-match winning streak, including two road victories against McKendree earlier this month. The Buckeyes even if they lose this match are projected to be a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to the latest Off the Block bracketology. In addition, Ohio State outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen was recently named the 2016 MIVA Player of the Year and a finalist for the 2016 Karch Kiraly Award for the nation’s top outside attacker. Szerszen is in the nation’s top 10 with both a 4.27 kills per game average and a .402 attack percentage. The sophomore also had a combined 28 kills and hit more than .325 in the two four-game victories versus McKendree during the regular season.

No. 2 seed Loyola (20-7, 12-4 MIVA) vs. No. 3 seed Lewis (18-12, 10-6 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Chicago
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets, TV (Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus)
Season series: Loyola leads 2-0
Last MIVA Tournament title: Loyola (2015); Lewis (2012)
What to know: The MIVAgeddon rivalry will once again be renewed in the postseason. No. 10/9 Loyola will play host to its in-state rival No. 12 Lewis in the MIVA Tournament semifinals one year after the Ramblers defeated the Flyers in a fifth-game overtime of the NCAA Tournament finals. The two-time defending NCAA champions Loyola enters the conference tournament semifinals having won six of its last seven matches, including defeating Quincy in four games in the quarterfinals. All-conference middle attacker Jeff Jendryk, a finalist for the Ryan Millar Award for the nation’s top middle attacker, has double-digit kills and at least a .400 attack percentage in six consecutive matches. The sophomore has a combined 25 kills while hitting .467 in the Ramblers’ two regular season victories against the Flyers. Opposite Ben Plaisted also led all players with 21 kills and had a season-high 11 digs in the last meeting between the two teams in March. Along Jendryk and Plaisted, all-conference setter Peter Hutz leads the nation with an 11.40 assists per game average and finished fourth in voting for the Lloy Ball Award. Lewis is second in the MIVA and among the national leaders with a 2.47 blocks per game average. In addition, all-conference middle attackers Bobby Walsh and Jacob Schmiegelt are both in the nation’s top 20 averaging more than a block per game. Opposite Mitch Perniar also is among the conference leaders with a 3.05 kills per game average and earned both the 2016 MIVA Freshman Player of the Year and Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Freshmen All-American Team honors. Loyola, though, held Perniar to one kill and a negative-attack percentage in its five-game victory against Lewis in March.