Six teams, three rounds, one national championship.

The NCAA Division I-II men's volleyball tournament kicks off Tuesday, May 2​, ​at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with two opening-round play-in matches. In both of Tuesday's matches, it's West Coast versus East Coast and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation against the rest.

Find out what to expect in each of the two matches.

BYU vs. Barton | 6 PM ET

An at-large bid gave BYU a second chance at the national championship after it lost to Hawaii in the semifinals of the MPSF conference tournament, and the Cougars likely have no intention of squandering that opportunity.

Senior outside hitter Jake Langlois leads the Cougars with 329 kills on the season, while setter Leo Durkin quarterbacks and Erik Sikes patrols the back court.

And don't forget about super server Brenden Sander, who is also a deadly threat from the pins and the back row. On the right side, it's hard to know whether it will be Ben Patch or Tim Dobbert earning the starting nod, but either way, expect many sets to go behind the setter.

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The Cougars' play-in opponents will be the Barton Bulldogs, champions of the Conference Carolinas. Six-foot-five sophomore Vasilis Mandilaris and 6-6 freshman Angelos Mandilaris--brothers from Chalkida, Greece--lead the Bulldogs' offense with 305 and 276 kills, respectively, on the season.

Italian senior Federico Pagliara runs the Barton offense, which averages a percentage of .329, third highest in the nation behind Ohio State and Long Beach State.

Since securing an automatic bid for the conference champion in 2014, no Conference Carolinas team has ever won a match in the NCAA tournament, so Barton certainly faces an up-hill battle versus the seasoned BYU Cougars, who have been to the NCAA postseason for the past four years.

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Hawaii vs. Penn State | 8 PM PT

Hawaii had something to prove at the MPSF semifinals, and the team certainly made a statement with a 3-0 sweep of BYU to advance to the conference championship match. Despite a 3-1 loss to Long Beach State in the final, the Rainbow Warriors earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament field and are fired up for their chance to snag the national title.

Middle blocker Hendrick Mol went down with an ankle injury partway through the MPSF championship match, and his recovery will be important to Hawaii's performance in the national tournament. If he isn't able to recover, Dalton Solbrig will likely earn the starting nod, and Hawaii will need a career performance out of the sophomore middle blocker to advance to the finals.

Standouts for Hawaii in the MPSF tournament included outside hitter Kupono Fey, setter Jennings Franciskovic, and libero Larry "Tui" Tuileta.

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Hawaii's first-round opponent, Penn State​, won its 30th EIVA championship last week, sweeping Saint Francis in the final. Senior Chris Nugent leads the Nittany Lions with 313 kills, with redshirt junior Aidan Albrecht clocking in as the second-highest offensive contributor with 246 kills on the season. Redshirt freshman Luke Braswell serves as the starting setter, and 6-7 redshirt junior middle blocker Kevin Gear will have his hands full at the net versus Hawaii's big and fast offense.

The postseason matchup between the Rainbow Warriors and the Nittany Lions is a familiar one. Hawaii and Penn State met in the 2015 play-in match and in the semifinals in 2002, 1996, and 1995--Hawaii's four most recent appearances in the NCAA postseason. Penn State won the 2015 and 1995 meetings, with Hawaii emerging victorious in 2002 and 1996.

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