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Check out all the college men’s volleyball matches to follow today and how to follow the matches live.
No. 2 UCLA (0-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. Daemen (0-0)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Amherst, New York
Follow live: Live stats, Live video, In-match tweets
What to know: The fans for Daemen have been ready and are awaiting what will be the Wildcats’ biggest home match in their program history. The second-year team sold out its home arena nearly two weeks ago for its season opener against No. 2 UCLA. Daemen, which will continue to compete as an independent in 2020, concluded its inaugural season at 6-17 and reached the IVA Tournament semifinals. Among the starters returning for the Wildcats includes opposite Jahari Winkfield who had a team-high 2.81 kills per game average last season and earned Off the Block All-Independent Team honors. Outside attacker Zach Schneider, a high school All-American, also joins the Wildcats after decommitting from Long Beach State during the offseason. This home match will be the first time the Wildcats have played a nationally ranked team. All-American middle attacker Daenan Gyimah highlights the Bruin starters returning from a team last year that reached the MPSF Tournament semifinals. Gyimah was fifth in the nation with a .435 attack percentage and had double-digit kills in 15 matches en route to winning the 2019 Ryan Millar Award as the nation’s top middle attacker. The Bruins arrive to upstate New York following three exhibition matches against Canadian schools earlier this week at the Can Am Holiday Volleyball Showcase in Toronto.
No. 10 Princeton (0-1, 0-0 EIVA) vs. No. 12 USC (0-0, 0-0 MPSF)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Los Angeles
Follow live: Live stats, Live video, In-match tweets
What to know: The Tigers will have a chance to set another program milestone — something that has become customary for a team that spent all of 2019 breaking school records. Princeton will attempt to earn its second all-time road victory against a nationally ranked team from the West Coast as it travels to No. 12 USC. The defending EIVA champions opened its season with a three-game road loss to No. 8 UC Irvine on Sunday. With both teams coming off of an abbreviated training schedule because of the holidays, the Princeton offense was held to a .163 attack percentage. Opposite and middle attacker George Huhmann, the 2019 EIVA Player of the Year and member of the U.S. Men’s National Team, had a match-high three aces to go along with six kills. Princeton enters 2020 after reaching the NCAA Tournament last season for the first time in 21 years and winning its first NCAA Tournament match in program history. USC earned the final at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament — its first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years. Four starters for that team graduated, though, and the Trojans in 2020 will have a roster that features one senior and 15 underclassmen. Setter Chris Hall returns for his junior season after ending 2019 in the nation’s top 10 with a 10.88 assists per game average. The Trojans also return starting middle attackers Kyle Gear and Sam Lewis who both had more than a .350 attack percentage last season. However, Lewis is recovering from a collapsed lung that he suffered in the fall.
No. 11 Loyola (0-0, 0-0 MIVA) vs. King (0-0, 0-0 ConfCarolinas)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Chicago
Follow live: Live stats, Live video (ESPN3), In-match tweets
What to know: There is no overlooking King — even when it is a day before a home match against No. 3 BYU. No. 11 Loyola heading into that non-conference showdown with BYU will first open the season against one of the preseason favorites to win the ConfCarolinas. King has won three consecutive ConfCarolinas regular season championships and was picked to finish in second place in the ConfCarolinas preseason poll. The Tornado return all three of its starting pin-hitters, including all-conference outside attacker Sean Kohlhase. Kohlhase concluded last season in the top five of the ConfCarolinas averaging both 3.35 kills per game and 0.37 aces per game. Loyola is replacing four starters from last year’s team that reached the MIVA Tournament finals. Preseason All-American setter Garrett Zolg was second in the nation last season with a 10.86 assists per game average and guided the offense to the nation’s 10th-best attack percentage at .306. The Ramblers also finished with a .462 attack percentage in a road sweep against the Tornado last season. King is 0-14 all-time against nationally ranked team and has won one set in those matches, which was against Loyola in 2018.
Exhibition matches
No. 13 CSUN (0-0, 0-0 Big West) vs. Guelph (0-0)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Northridge, California
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets