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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. 3/3 BYU (4-1, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 14 CSUN (6-1, 1-1 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Northridge, California
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What to know: No. 14 CSUN will attempt to put an end to a five-year streak as it opens a two-match home series against No. 3/3 BYU. The Matadors enter their conference home opener having lost their last 11 matches versus the Cougars dating back to 2012. Outside attacker Dimitar Kalchev leads CSUN and is in the nation’s top 15 with a 3.92 kills per game average. The finalist for the 2016 Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Server of the Year also already has 20 aces in the team’s first seven matches of the season, including a season-high four aces in a sweep against USC on Saturday. CSUN in that road victory finished with a .557 attack percentage — the third time this season the team hit more than .500. In addition, the Matadors are second in the nation and have a MPSF-best with a .444 attack percentage. The defending MPSF champions BYU begin conference play already with a road victory against a nationally ranked team. All-American opposite Ben Patch had a match-high 17 kills on a .556 attack percentage in BYU’s season-opening win versus No. 8/7 Lewis. Patch also is leading the nation averaging 5.58 kills per game — one of two players with more than a 5.00 kills per game average. Defensively, middle attacker Price Jarman has a team-high 14 blocks and is among the MPSF leaders with a 0.93 blocks per game average. In addition, Jarman had a combined 12 blocks in the Cougars’ two sweeps against the Matadors last season.
No. 9/8 Loyola (3-2, 0-0 MIVA) vs. No. 15 Penn State (2-2, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in University Park, Pennsylvania
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What to know: It’s another non-conference match against a nationally ranked team for No. 9/8 Loyola, but this time it’s on the road. Loyola’s road-opener will be its fourth match versus a nationally ranked opponent as it travels to No. 15 Penn State. Freshman setter Ian Cowen has guided the Ramblers offense to more than a .300 attack percentage in their last four matches, including a season-best.407 attack percentage in a sweep versus Harvard on Saturday. In addition, All-American middle attacker Jeff Jendryk had a season-high 12 kills while hitting .524 in a five-game loss to No. 7/9 Pepperdine on Friday. Jendryk defensively is third in the MIVA with a both 18 blocks and a 1.00 blocks per game average. Penn State enters its home-opener after splitting a two-match Midwest road trip last week with a loss to No. 13 Ball State and a sweep against Fort Wayne. All-EIVA outside attacker Chris Nugent had a combined 30 kills in the two matches and has double-digit kills in every match so far this season. He also is in the nation’s top 10 averaging 4.13 kills per game. The Ramblers, though, won both their matches against the Nittany Lions last season and held Nugent to a negative attack percentage in one of the matches.
Fort Wayne (0-6, 0-0 MIVA) vs. Harvard (0-2, 0-0 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
Concordia-Irvine (4-5) vs. New Paltz (1-1)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Irvine, California
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, In-match tweets