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Check out all the college men’s volleyball matches to follow today and how to follow the matches live.
No. 2/2 BYU (11-2, 11-2) vs. No. 4/5 Pepperdine (8-4, 8-4 MPSF)
Match vitals: 1 p.m. in Malibu, California
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: No. 2/2 BYU and No. 4/5 Pepperdine will conclude their two-match series after the Cougars won the series oepner on Friday. Pepperdine unveiled yet another starting lineup in the opener with usual outside attacker Noah Dyer playing libero and Alex Gettinger getting the start at outside attacker. Early on, this change looked promising as the Waves took the first game 25-20. The Waves had two aces versus three service errors in the first game, but only two aces versus 14 service errors in the final three games. Conversely, the Cougars had eight of their 10 aces in the final two games. Both teams hit more than .300 for the match, with BYU having the edge, .343 to .308. The Cougars out-blocked the Waves, 8.5 to 6. BYU outside attacker attacker Davide Gardini led all players with 18 kills on a .556 attack percentage, while senior middle attacker Austin Wilmot paced the Waves with 16 kills on a .520 attack percentage. With the win, BYU evens the all-time series at 36-36, and it was the first MPSF loss for Pepperdine at home since 2018. BYU has now won all three matches versus Pepperdine this year, and takes a full two match lead over second place UCLA in the MPSF standings.
No. 3/3 UC Santa Barbara (4-3, 0-2 Big West) vs. No. 10/9 Long Beach State (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Santa Barbara, California
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
What to know: The reigning NCAA champions will finally make their 2021 debut. No. 10/9 Long Beach State weeks after being permitted to start practicing because of the coronavirus pandemic will play No. 3/3 UC Santa Barbara in its season opener. The Beach’s regular season only consists of Big West play and will be limited to 10 matches — the second fewest number of matches for any NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball team this season. Long Beach State returns a majority of starters from last year’s team that finished at No. 4 in the national rankings. It also adds freshman Simon Torwie to its roster. Torwie is a member of the German Men’s Junior National Team and had a 2.57 kills per game average at the 2020 CEV U20 European Championship. UC Santa Barbara opened its season on a four-match winning streak but suffered three losses to No. 1/1 Hawai’i last week. The Gauchos continue to lead the nation in multiple offensive categories. Setter Casey McGarry has a nation-best 11.25 assists per game average and has guided the offense to the seventh-best attack percentage in the nation at .313. Middle attacker Keenan Sanders also leads the nation with a .594 attack percentage, including having a combined 22 kills while hitting .513 in the series against Hawai’i.
No. 7/8 Grand Canyon (3-5, 3-5) vs. Stanford (1-7, 1-7)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Stanford, California
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 9/10 Penn State (13-2, 10-1 EIVA) vs. No. 11 NJIT (11-4, 11-2 EIVA)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Newark, New Jersey
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 12 UC Irvine (1-5, 1-1 Big West) vs. CSUN (0-0, 0-0 Big West)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Irvine, California
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-match tweets
No. 15 Ball State (9-4, 6-3 MIVA) vs. Quincy (4-8, 1-8 MIVA)
Match vitals: 7 p.m. in Quincy, Illinois
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Ohio State (6-7, 5-4 MIVA) vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (3-6, 3-6 MIVA)
Match vitals: 3 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Follow live: Live video, Live stats, In-Match tweets
Belmont Abbey (9-5, 5-3 ConfCarolinas) vs. Emmanuel (6-10, 4-6 ConfCarolinas)
Match vitals: 3 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Georgia
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Charleston (4-9, 4-9 EIVA) vs. Saint Francis (4-14, 3-8 EIVA)
Match vitals: 4 p.m. in Charleston, West Virginia
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Barton (7-7, 5-5 ConfCarolinas) vs. Queens (11-9)
Match vitals: 6 p.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Exhibition Matches
Daemen (6-0) vs. Nazareth (2-1)
Match vitals: 1:30 p.m. in Rochester, New York
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Alderson Broaddus (2-4) vs. Kentucky State (0-0)
Match vitals: 5 p.m. in Philippi, West Virginia
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
NCAA Division III National Match of the Day
No. 3 Carthage (12-0) vs. No. 13 North Central (8-2)
Match vitals: 1 p.m. Saturday in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Carthage player to watch: Setter Gene McNulty is second in the nation with a 10.88 assists per game average and has guided the offense to the nation’s second-best attack percentage at .367.
North Central player to watch: Middle attacker Jeremy Cardenas is in the nation’s top 15 with a .404 attack percentage and leads North Central averaging 0.87 blocks per game.
Quick breakdown: No. 3 Carthage will put its undefeated record to the test as it plays host to No. 11 North Central. This will be the second time the two conference foes have met this season. All-American outside attacker Matt Slivinski finished with a match-high 18 kills while hitting .400 in a three-game victory versus North Central in February.
NAIA National Match of the Day
No. 10 Lourdes (10-1) vs. No. 15 Goshen (13-7)
Match vitals: 3 p.m. Saturday in Goshen, Indiana
Follow live: Live video, Live stats
Lourdes player to watch: Outside attacker Jeff Lam leads the NAIA with a 0.86 aces per game average and is fourth in the NAIA averaging 4.57 kills per game.
Goshen player to watch: Outside attacker Alexander Rabadzhiev is in the top 10 of the NAIA with both 237 kills and 36 aces.
Quick breakdown: Lourdes will attempt to maintain its share of first place in the WHAC and extend its winning streak to seven matches as it travels to No. 15 Goshen. Lam has double-digit kills in all but one match this season, including a match-high 14 kills in a sweep against Goshen in February. Rabadzhiev also enters having at least 20 kills and a .300 attack percentage in three of the last four matches.