This past Labor Day weekend was stuffed to the absolute brim with top-20 matchups. Frankly, I’m still recovering from watching nearly eight straight hours of volleyball on Sunday, and I barely left my chair.

While this upcoming week doesn’t offer quite as many top matchups, there are still several exciting matches taking place. Here are the matches I most recommend volleyball fans tune into this week.

Thursday, September 4th

#10 Texas A&M vs. #21 Utah

It will be the first loss of the season for one of these teams, so we can expect both to come out swinging. Texas A&M has played extremely well when they’ve had their entire starting lineup on the court, but in what might have been an act of hubris, they rested star hitter Logan Lednicky along with Kyndal Stowers against Central Arkansas only to find themselves looking down the barrel of a two-sets-to-one deficit. Upon entering the match, Lednicky and Stowers helped right the ship and secure a five-set victory, but the Aggies’ performance against an unranked squad without two key players should be a wakeup call to this otherwise highly promising team.

They certainly won’t be resting those players against Utah, whose lower ranking does not mean this will be an easy fight for A&M. The Utes already have a ranked win against Dayton, and subsequently swept their next two opponents. Outside hitter Kamryn Gibadlo is currently sitting on a humble 5.3 kills per set so far, while middle blocker Emrie Moea’i has contributed an impressive 3.5 kills per set of her own. The Aggies will need strong serving to get this team out of system to slow down their powerful offense.

When and where: 8pm EST on ESPN2

Friday, September 5th

#4 Kentucky vs. #5 Penn State

Both teams are coming off of a loss, but the implications of those losses are different for each program. It was more or less expected that Kentucky would fall to top-ranked Nebraska, but the fact that they were able to take the first two sets and force Nebraska to come back via reverse sweep demonstrated this team’s strength. Meanwhile, Penn State’s ranking has already fallen from #2 to #5, and that was before they fell to 24th-ranked TCU in five sets after failing to complete the reverse sweep. While both teams will doubtlessly be hungry for a win, it’s the reigning national champions who have much more to prove.

Beyond that, this match will be interesting because Kentucky and Penn State are teams whose key weaknesses are the inverse of the other’s. Kentucky’s offense is largely dependent on its two stellar outsides, Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye, but the Wildcats struggle to find right-side production and, even when running things through the outsides, the setting is inconsistent and can limit production. Meanwhile, Penn State’s offensive production is all up to its excellent and imposing opposite, Kennedy Martin. And despite Izzy Starck’s athleticism and precise setting, the Nittany Lions have struggled to get much out of their outside hitting duo of Emmi Sellman and Caroline Jurevicius. 

When and where: 8pm EST on FOX

Saturday, September 6th

#19 UCLA vs #24 TCU

This will actually be the second of two meetings between these teams, with the first taking place the night before. This being the case, both teams will likely have had time to regroup and strategize based on the first match’s outcome, which may make this second match even more interesting.

As of the time of writing this, UCLA has played only once, and that five-set win against Long Beach State left me with more questions than answers about what this new squad full of big-name transfers can do. The Bruins looked out of sorts in terms of floor defense and blocking, and it seems like the question of who the starting setter will be is yet to be resolved.

Meanwhile, TCU is coming off of their big upset of Penn State—a victory that would be far more encouraging if not for the mid-match injury to captain Jalyn Gibson, whose anguished cries and need to be helped off the court did not bode well for her chances of returning to the court soon (or potentially even this season). Still, it’s a positive sign that TCU, rattled by the injury as they were, secured the win over Penn State. UCLA may be more organized by the time this weekend rolls around, so these two matches could really go either way.

When and where: 7:30pm on ESPN+

Sunday, September 7th

#2 Texas vs. #6 Stanford

When these two teams met last, Stanford beat Texas handily via a three-set sweep. This year, I don’t think things will look so simple for the Cardinal, whose new lineup seems to be very much in the “still figuring it out” phase. Star hitter Elia Rubin has been in and out of the lineup due to what appears to be a small day-to-day injury, but when she isn’t on the court, things don’t go well for her team—the Cardinal dropped a set to Long Beach State before she entered that match. Rubin’s leadership and all-around game is much needed for this Stanford team to be successful, especially against a rejuvenated Texas lineup that will likely be hungry to keep its win streak alive.

The Longhorns have seen early success thanks to their stellar back-court, led by Emma Halter. With her, Ramsey Gary, and Torrey Stafford all taking on passing responsibilities, Texas looks like a brand new team. As expected, Stafford has been a huge asset to this squad, both in terms of her offense and defense, while freshman outside/opposite Cari Spears looks to be the second coming of Madisen Skinner with how effective her backrow attacking is. Stanford’s block and floor defense are going to have a lot of work to do to try and shut down Spears and Stafford.

When and where: 1pm EST on ESPN