2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team

The 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team was the varsity intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of California, Irvine. The Anteaters, led by head coach David Kniffin, played their home games in the Bren Events Center located on campus in Irvine, California. UC Irvine has been a member of the Big West Conference since the 2017–18 season, when the league began sponsoring the sport. The Anteaters begun the season ranked sixth in the nation. This year was also the first year that twelve teams had a chance to play in the NCAA men's volleyball tournament, as the NCAA expanded the tournament to accommodate the sport's growth.

Due to the expansion of the tournament, UC Irvine was granted an at-large bid to the UCLA regional, and played Penn State in the regional round, where they won 3–2. Thus, UC Irvine went on to play UCLA in the regional finals, where they upset the No. 1 seed 3–2. This marked their first win against UCLA since 2017. UC Irvine played Ball State in the semifinals for a chance to play for their fifth national championship, winning 3–1. The Anteaters took on Hawai'i in the NCAA finals, a team the squad has not beaten since 2024. They also lost this match, falling 1–3. This is the first time in program history the Anteaters have lost in a national championship game.

Previous season

Last season, UC Irvine finished with a 21–7 record, going 6–4 in the Big West, and finished third in the conference. They did not receive an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA men's volleyball tournament while being ranked fourth in the nation at the time. The Anteaters fell to eventual 2025 Big West tournament champions, Hawai'i, 1–3. UC Irvine finished the season ranked fifth in the nation following the tournament's conclusion.

Preseason Source:

Both the preseason All-Big West team, and the Big West Coaches' Poll were released on December 29, 2025. UC Irvine did not have any players make the preseason team.

Big West Coaches' Poll 1 24 (4) 2 22 (2) 3 17T-4 9

Roster Source: 1Shane AitkenL6'0"R-So.San Clemente, Calif.2Micah TumasS6'7"R-Fr.West Palm Beach, FL3Aidan RiggS6'6"R-So.Honolulu, HI4Andon KiriakouOPP6'2"Jr.Toronto, Canada5William D'ArcyOPP6'10"Sr.Brisbane, Queensland, Australia6Tim EnnisOH6'4"So.Scotch Plains, NJ7Micah GossMB6'6"So.Santa Barbara, Calif.8Lukas WinnMB6'6"So.Castro, Valley, Calif.9Andrej JokanovicOH6'7"Fr.Cannes, France10Nicolas RestrepoMB6'9"R-So.Camarillo, Calif.11Kobe BrownMB6'9"R-So.Petaluma, Calif.12Trevor ClarkOH/OPP6'10"Jr.Lake Elsinore, Calif.13Beck WeberMB6'8"R-Jr.Long Beach, Calif.15Cameron KostyS/OPP6'5"R-Fr.Hayward, Calif.16Aidan CuppettOH6'3"So.Los Altos, Calif19Alec ApelianMB6'7"So.Irvine, Calif.23Andreas Brinck—6'10"Fr.Vaerloesse, Denmark27Aidan SchultenS5'8"R-Jr.Seal Beach, Calif.

Coaches Head CoachDavid Kniffin14thAssistant CoachMichael Brinkley3rd

Schedule Source:

Legend Anteaters win Anteaters loss Postponement*Non-Conference Game

{| class="toccolours" width=95% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" |- ! colspan=2 style="" | 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Men's Volleyball Game Log (21–9) |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Regular season (17–7) |- valign="top" | January (9–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC UC Santa Barbara Invitational January 8 ESPN+ vs. Harvard* No. 6 The ThunderdomeSanta Barbara, California 3–0 (25–17, 25–16, 25–13) 150 1–0 — January 9 ESPN+ vs. Kentucky State* No. 6 The Thunderdome 3–0 (25–9, 25–7, 25–5) 50 2–0 — January 10 ESPN+ vs. Maryville* No. 6 The Thunderdome 3–0 (25–16, 25–18, 25–21) 55 3–0 — January 14 — No. 18 Princeton* No. 7 Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 3–0 (25–17, 25–19, 25–10) 1,594 4–0 — January 16 B1G+ T-No. 3 Pepperdine* No. 7 Firestone FieldhouseMalibu, California 3–1 (25–23, 26–24, 22–25, 25–20) 906 5–0 — January 23 B1G+/BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 5 Smith Fieldhouse Provo, Utah 3–2 (16–25, 21–25, 26–24, 25–23, 15–13) 4,255 6–0 — January 24 B1G+/BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 5 Smith Fieldhouse 3–2 (25–17, 26–24, 23–25, 23–25, 15–10) 4,301 7–0 — January 30 — No. 16 Stanford* No. 5 Bren Events Center 3–1 (27–25, 23–25, 25–20, 25–13) 1,798 8–0 — January 31 — No. 16 Stanford* No. 5 Bren Events Center 3–2 (25–19, 22–25, 25–20, 19–25, 15–8) 1,742 9–0 —

February (3–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC February 4 B1G+ at Vanguard* No. 5 Freed Center Costa Mesa, California 3–1 (25–23, 24–26, 25–13, 25–16) 123 10–0 — February 6 B1G+ at Concordia Irvine* No. 5 CU Arena Irvine, California 3–1 (25–22, 23–25, 25–22, 26–24) 227 11–0 — February 11 — No. 4 USC* No. 5 Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 2–3 (26–24, 25–22, 16–25, 19–25, 16–18) 2,120 11–1 — February 13 B1G+ at No. 4 USC* No. 5 Galen CenterLos Angeles, California 3–1 (25–20, 25–23, 23–25, 25–23) 1,063 12–1 — February 27 — No. 1 UCLA* No. 4 Bren Events Center 2–3 (22–25, 25–20, 30–28, 22–25, 11–15) 4,133 12–2 —

March (3–1) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC March 11 ESPN+ No. 11 UC Santa Barbara No. 4 Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 3–1 (25–20, 25–22, 21–25, 26–24) 1,380 13–2 1–0 March 13 ESPN+ at No. 11 UC Santa Barbara No. 4 The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California 2–3 (25–16, 23–25, 25–18, 17–25, 15–17) 0 13–3 1–1 March 27 ESPN+ No. 13 UC San Diego No. 5 Bren Events Center 3–0 (25–20, 26–24, 29–27) 1,016 14–3 2–1 March 28 ESPN+ at No. 13 UC San Diego No. 5 Lion Tree ArenaLa Jolla, California 3–2 (25–23, 19–25, 23–25, 25–15, 15–13) 924 15–3 3–1

April (2–4) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC April 3 ESPN+ No. 2 Hawai'i No. 5 Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 2–3 (22–25, 25–19, 25–23, 23–25, 16–18) 2,397 15–4 3–2 April 4 ESPN+ No. 2 Hawai'i No. 5 Bren Events Center 0–3 (22–25, 22–25, 22–25) 3,067 15–5 3–3 April 9 ESPN+ No. 18 CSUN No. 6 Bren Events Center 3–1 (25–17, 23–25, 27–25, 25–19) 1,132 16–5 4–3 April 11 ESPN+ at No. 18 CSUN No. 6 The MatadomeNorthridge, California 3–0 (25–23, 25–18, 25–18) 417 17–5 5–3 April 17 ESPN+ at No. 3 Long Beach State No. 5 Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California 2–3 (17–25, 21–25, 26–24, 25–21, 9–15) 2,816 17–6 5–4 April 18 ESPN+ No. 3 Long Beach State No. 5 Bren Events Center 1–3 (19–25, 13–25, 25–20, 23–25) 2,887 17–7 5–5 |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Postseason (4–2)

(1–1) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Record Postseason Record April 23 SSN/ESPN+ vs. No. 18 CSUN (6)Quarterfinals No. 5 (3) Bren Events Center Irvine, California 3–1 (25–20, 20–25, 25–16, 25–23) 2,964 18–7 1–0 April 24 SSN/ESPN+ vs. No. 3 Long Beach State (2)Semifinals No. 5 (3) Bren Events Center 0–3 (27–29, 16–25, 18–25) 3,444 18–8 1–1

{| class="wikitable collapsible" style="margin:auto; width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:95%" ! colspan=14 style="padding-left:4em;" | (3–1) |- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Date ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | TV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Opponent ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Rank ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Stadium ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Score ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Sets ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Attendance ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Record ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | NCAA Tournament Record |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | May 1 || ESPN+ || No. 15 Penn State(9)Regional Round || No. 6(8) || Pauley PavilionLos Angeles, CA || 3–2 || (25–18, 27–29, 19–25, 25–17, 15–13) || 610 || 19–8 || 1–0 |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | May 2 || ESPN+ || No. 1 UCLA(1)Regional Final || No. 6(8) || Pauley Pavilion || 3–2 || (25–23, 19–25, 25–23, 19–25, 16–14) || 1,673 || 20–8 || 2–0 |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | May 9 || ESPN+ || No. 7 Ball State(4)Semifinals || No. 6(8) || Pauley Pavilion || 3–1 || (25–19, 23–25, 27–25, 25–19) || 9,409 || 21–8 || 3–0 |-bgcolor="ffbbbb" | May 11 || ESPN2 || No. 3 Hawai'i (2)Finals || No. 6(8) || Pauley Pavilion || 1–3 || (25–15, 18–25, 18–25, 20–25) || 8,414 || 21–9 || 3–1

Awards On May 8, the AVCA awards were released, awarding newcomer of the year, player of the year, coach of the year, assistant coach of the year, and the All-American teams to players and coaches across the country.

AVCA Newcomer of the Year Player No. Position Class Andrej Jokanovic 9 Outside Hitter Freshman

AVCA All-American Team Award Player No. Position Class First Team Shane Aitken 1 Libero RS Sophomore Second Team Trevor Clark 12 Outside Hitter/Opposite Junior Second Team Andrej Jokanovic 9 Outside Hitter Freshman Honorable Mention William D'Arcy 5 Opposite Senior Honorable Mention Micah Goss 7 Middle Blocker Sophomore Honorable Mention Cameron Kosty 15 Setter/Opposite Freshman

Andrej Jokanovic won the Big West Freshman of the Year award for his performance this year, revealed on April 28.

Big West Freshman of the Year Player No. Position Andrej Jokanovic 9 Outside Hitter

The postseason All-Big West team was released on April 22, 2026, a day prior to the beginning of the Big West tournament. The Big West All-Freshman team was released at the same time.

All-Big West Team Award Player No. Position Class First Team William D'Arcy 5 Opposite Senior First Team Andrej Jokanovic 9 Outside Hitter Freshman Honorable Mention Shane Aitken 1 Libero RS Sophomore Honorable Mention Trevor Clark 12 Outside Hitter/Opposite Junior

Big West All-Freshman Team Player No. Position Andrej Jokanovic 9 Outside HitterCameron Kosty 15 Setter/Opposite

Rankings Source:

References