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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. 5/5 Lewis (15-3, 9-2 MIVA) vs. No. 7/7 UCLA (11-7, 8-6 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, Online video, Radio feed, In-match tweets
What to know: This is more than a midseason non-conference match — in many ways it has the feel of a defacto NCAA Tournament play-in match. No. 5/5 Lewis will travel to No. 7/7 UCLA with both teams currently projected to be in contention for a possible NCAA Tournament at-large bid, according to the latest Off the Block bracketology. Among the criteria categories used to determine the NCAA Tournament field includes head-to-head record, non-conference record and record versus other teams under NCAA Tournament consideration. Despite both teams being in consideration, Lewis is currently in better position for one of the two possible at-large bid. With a loss tonight, UCLA will suffer its eighth regular season loss. No team with eight or more regular season losses has earned an at-large bid since the NCAA Tournament expanded to six teams. Both UCLA and Lewis enter this match with two of the top offenses in the nation. The Bruins are fifth in the nation with a .331 attack percentage, while Lewis is second in the MIVA and seventh in the nation hitting .317. The Flyers also had more than a .300 attack percentage in five matches during their current seven-match winning streak. In addition, Preseason All-American opposite Mitch Perinar is fifth in the MIVA with a 3.36 kills per game average, including at least 15 kills in the team’s last two matches versus nationally ranked teams. All-American outside attacker Jake Arnitz leads UCLA averaging 3.16 kills per game. Arnitz also has double-digit kills and a .400 attack percentage in both matches he started since returning from a month-long injury. This will be the Bruins first match coming off of their bye week. UCLA in its final two matches before the bye switched from a 6-2 to a 5-1 offense and inserted opposite Christian Hessenauer into the starting lineup. Hessenauer finished with a match-high 15 kills in a sweep against UC San Diego on Feb. 25 to end the Bruins’ three-match losing streak. Along with the offense in this match, Lewis is fifth in the nation with a 2.53 blocks per game average. Middle attacker Jacob Schmiegelt is in the nation’s top 15 averaging 1.07 blocks per game and has at least four blocks in every match during the team’s winning streak. This also will be the opening match of a three-match West Coast road trip for the Flyers.
No. 6/6 UC Irvine (12-6, 9-5 MPSF) vs. St. Francis (8-11, 4-4 EIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Loretto, Pennsylvania
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 11 CSUN (11-7, 5-7 MPSF) vs. No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (8-10, 4-9 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
OFF THE BLOCK DIVISION III NATIONAL MATCH OF THE DAY
No. 4 Stevens Tech (17-2) vs. No. 11 Hunter (15-3)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in New York
Follow live: Live stats, Online video