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Check out all the matches today involving NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball teams and how to follow them live.
No. 1/1 Ohio State (8-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. No. 4/4 Long Beach State (7-1, 3-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio
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What to know: It will be no easy task for No. 4/4 Long Beach State to try to end the nation’s longest winning streak — or even just contain the offense of No. 1/1 Ohio State. Long Beach State will conclude its Midwest road trip against the defending national champions Ohio State in a match-up between two teams that reached the NCAA Tournament semifinals last season. The Buckeyes are on a nation-best 31-match winning streak dating back to last season and have not lost a game since the opening week of the season when it beat No. 2/2 UCLA in four games. In addition, Ohio State has more than a .300 attack percentage in each of its last seven matches, including hitting a season-high .413 in a sweep against Barton on Friday. All-American opposite Miles Johnson has a MIVA-best 4.16 kills per game average and has more than a .400 attack percentage in four of the last five matches. Johnson also had a season-high five aces in a sweep against No.14 Penn State on Tuesday. Along with Johnson, All-American outside attacker Nicolas Szerszen is second in the conference with a 4.08 kills per game average. The 2016 AVCA National Player of the Year has double-digit kills in all but one match this season and a combined 14 aces in the team’s last five matches. In addition, Szerszen had a match-high 26 kills on a .435 attack percentage in a five-game road victory versus the 49ers last season. Long Beach State rallied from a one-game deficit to beat St. Francis on Friday in Columbus, Ohio, to extend its winning streak to four matches. Libero Andrew Sato in the non-conference win finished with a career-high 23 digs. All-American outside attacker TJ DeFalco also led the 49ers with 21 kills while hitting more than .300. DeFalco is among the national leaders with a 3.68 kills per game average, including having more than 20 kills in two of the team’s last three matches. The 49ers entered this weekend second in the nation with a .362 attack percentage, while Ohio State is fourth in the nation hitting .339. Long Beach State already has two wins against top-five nationally ranked teams this season and hit .534 in a sweep versus No. 5/5 Hawai’i last week.
No. 3/3 BYU (6-2, 2-1 MPSF) vs. No. 7/7 UC Irvine (7-2, 4-2 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Provo, Utah
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What to know: A day after No. 7/7 UC Irvine pulled off the rare feat of beating No. 3/3 BYU at Smith Fieldhouse, it will now attempt to sweep the two-match series on the Cougars’ home court. The Anteaters in the series opener defeated the Cougars in five games to end their eight-match home winning streak dating back to last season. UC Irvine two years ago also ended a 36-match home winning streak for BYU as the Anteaters swept a two-match series. All-American outside opposite Tamir Hershko led all players with both 19 kills and three aces in the series-opening win Friday. In addition, setter and opposite Michael Saeta had three aces against the Cougars. This was eighth time this season Saeta had multiple aces in a matches, and he is tied for the nation’s lead with a 0.80 aces per game average. BYU outside attacker Jake Langlois in the team’s first MPSF loss of the season finished with a team-high 17 kills on a .353 attack percentage. Langlois was one of three Cougars with double-digit kills against the Anteaters. While the series opener was a conference match, the finale will be considered a non-conference match. The MPSF reduced its conference schedule from 22 to 18 matches creating an imbalanced schedule and teams no longer playing two regular season conference matches against every MPSF school.
North Greenville (1-6, 1-1 ConfCarolinas) vs. Emmanuel (1-4, 0-1 ConfCarolinas)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Georgia
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Limestone (2-1, 2-0 ConfCarolinas) vs. Erskine (0-4, 0-1 ConfCarolinas)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Due West, South Carolina
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No. 9/10 Pepperdine (3-2, 1-1 MPSF) vs. USC (2-6, 1-4 MPSF)
Match vitals: 2 p.m. in Malibu, California
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Barton (3-2, 2-1 ConfCarolinas) vs. St. Francis (3-5, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio
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No. 14 Penn State (4-4, 0-0 EIVA) vs. Coker (3-0)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
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McKendree (4-6, 1-0 MIVA) vs. Alderson Broaddus (0-4)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Philippi, West Virginia
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NJIT (3-3, 0-0 EIVA) vs. Fort Wayne (2-8, 0-0 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Indiana
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Quincy (2-3, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Lindenwood (0-6, 0-3 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Quincy, Illinois
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UC San Diego (1-5, 0-4 MPSF) vs. Hope International (4-3)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in La Jolla, California
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