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LOS ANGELES — After a third straight win on the court at Pauley Pavilion and second over a seeded foe, UC Irvine has advanced to the 2026 National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championship. On Saturday night, the Anteaters defeated MIVA champion and No. 4 seed Ball State 3-1, secured the win with a strong attacking performance, hitting .362 as a team to guarantee The Big West a fifth Championship crown since sport sponsorship in 2018, and a third all-Big West finale.
UC Irvine improves to 21-8 on the year and advances to take on the victor between No. 2 seed Hawai’i and third-seeded Long Beach State on Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2. This marks UCI’s fifth-all time national championship match and its first since 2013, head coach David Kniffin’s first year at the helm. Remarkably, The Anteaters have played for the title on four occasions, and have won in each appearance (2007, ’09, ’12, ’13).
“I think it’s really cool any time you can have this, and I think the conference as a whole is excited for this,” Kniffin noted to the press after the match reflecting on the first year of an expanded 12-team bracket. “We are very aware that if there wasn’t tournament expansion then we wouldn’t have been in a conversation for that first round. We wouldn’t have had a chance to be here. Overall, it is just a really cool moment for me.”
UC Irvine took control of the opening period with a strong defensive performance, capitalizing on Ball State's attack errors and blocks to secure a 25-19 victory. Key contributions came from AVCA Big West Freshman of the Year Andrej Jokanovic and Trevor Clark, who combined for impactful blocks, while Cameron Kosty facilitated the offense with multiple assists. The final point of the first set was secured by a combo block from Clark and Will D'Arcy on Wil Basilio, concluding the period 25-19 in favor of the Anteaters. UCI outhit Ball State .324 compared to .114 and put down five blocks to set the tone from the outset.
The second set, while close throughout, belonged to Ball State. The Cardinals were powered by the arm of MIVA Player of the Year Patrick Rogers, who consistently answered the call with critical kills registering nine strikes on .583 hitting in the frame to help knot the team score.
UC Irvine edged out the Cardinals in a tightly contested third period with a 27-25 victory, showcasing resilience and capitalizing on key errors from Ball State. Jokanovic’s back row attack for the point gave the Anteaters a 21-19 advantage late in the set and a big solo stuff for the freshman from Cannes, France, made it 23-21. Ball State battled back to tie the set at 23 apiece and the Cardinals even edged to a lead at 25-24 with Rogers on the service line. However, Kosty’s well-placed pass for the strike for Jokanovic secured the final point and the 27-25 set win to give UCI the pivotal 2-1 lead in the match.
“Honestly it was huge for us when we were trying to play our hearts out, and especially when we were down a point,” Clark reflected on the third-set momentum swing. “You know every point matters, and we are going to celebrate like every point matters. I think that energy switch for us as we celebrate for every point does a huge thing for us, and it motivates us to keep going. We just want to keep going and get one more and eventually win the match.”
The decisive fourth set finished the match with the 25-19 win, as Andreas Brinck turned on the offensive firepower for six kills in the set. A late 5-2 run helped finish out the night and quell any potential comeback efforts for Ball State, making UCI one of the last two teams alive on the season left to play for the national championship.
“These are the types of games for what we’ve practiced for,” Jokanovic reflected. “Since the beginning of the year we have had one main focus, and that was to get in this particular National Championship. Now that we’re in, it means everything for me. We all just love each other, just being able to do it all together means the world to me.”
UCI’s Clark led the team with a remarkable hitting percentage of .722 with 14 kills, contributing 14 kills and just one error on 18 swings to go along with six total blocks. Jokanovic tallied a team-high 18 kills with Brinck (13) and D’Arcy (12) tallying double figures in the match. Kosty orchestrated the offensive efforts effectively with 53 assists with Micah Goss and Shane Aitken each scooping up 10 digs.
Rogers led Ball State with 20 kills on .304 hitting as the Cardinals close the year with a record of 26-5 after reaching the national semifinals for just the third time in program history.