A Decade of Highlights

No. 1 UCI defeated No. 2 USC, 3-0 in the 2012 NCAA championship on the Trojans’ home court. Carson Clark was named the Most Outstanding Player after hammering home 22 kills. Clark ended his illustrious career as the all-time leader in kills, attack attempts and aces.

Before the championship, second-ranked UC Irvine rallied down 0-2 to defeat No. 1 USC, 3-2 (24-26, 23-25, 25-16, 28-26, 15-9) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal match again at the Galen Center. In the next match, the Anteaters would battle back for a 3-2 victory against Stanford to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship and advance to the NCAA Championship. 

In 2013, the third-ranked Anteaters did it again with a 3-0 sweep of No. 1 BYU at Pauley Pavilion to become the first school to win back-to-back titles in 17 years. David Kniffin became the second head coach to lead a team to a national title in their first season on the job. Connor Hughes, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, had 11 kills for the Anteaters, as did Zack La Cavera and Kevin Tillie. 

Charles Jock capped a brilliant collegiate career by winning a national title in the 800m at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 8, 2012. Jock led for virtually the entire race and won the final in 1:45.59. He became UC Irvine’s first individual NCAA champion in 34 years. 

It was redemption for Jock, who was the NCAA runner-up in 2011, when he led for 799 meters before Virginia’s Robby Andrews edged him at the finish by four-hundredths of a second. Jock was a three-time All-American and Big West Track Athlete of the Year. He was also a two-time Big West champion in the 800m, and helped UCI’s 4x400 relay to four-straight conference titles. Jock is the Anteaters’ record holder in the 800m, breaking Steve Scott’s 33-year old standard with a time of 1:44.67 in 2011.

The baseball team advanced to the 2014 College World Series after defeating the No. 1 national seed Oregon State in an NCAA regional and No. 3 Oklahoma State in a super regional to advance to their second College World Series after being one of the final programs included in the NCAA Tournament field. In Omaha, they won the opener over Texas before exiting, but were led by the nation’s leader in strikeouts, Andrew Morales, who had 141, and was joined by his Golden Spikes Award watch list teammate Taylor Sparks and All-American and the nation’s best closer, Sam Moore. The Anteaters ended the season ranked sixth nationally.

Men’s basketball made its second NCAA appearance after beating Cal State Fullerton, 92-64 in the Big West Tournament final, the largest margin of victory in championship history. The Anteaters picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in program history, upsetting fourth-seeded and No. 18-ranked Kansas State, 70-64. It was the first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 15 Stanford in 2003 and the second over a Power 5 school last year. UCI ended the season with several school records including the most wins (31) and longest winning streak (17 games). Russ Turner’s squad went 15-1 in Big West play, tying the program best set in 2000-01. The Anteaters became the first Big West team, current or former, to win 30 games in a season since national runner-up UNLV went 34-1 in 1990-91. Senior forward Jonathan Galloway, the three-time Big West Defensive Player of the Year, ended his UCI career with the most wins (98), games played (146) and rebounds (969) in program history. His 146 games played are also the most in Big West history.

The 2010 UC Irvine women’s soccer team was still seeking its first NCAA trip, and it put itself in good position rattling off 14 straight wins and an unbeaten streak of 17 in a row to give them a 17-2-2 record to end the season adding a national ranking for the first time. Coupled with a perfect 8-0-0 Big West record, the first and only of its kind, it vaulted UCI into the NCAA tournament with an at-large berth. The ‘Eaters opened by erasing a late deficit to win its first-ever NCAA Tournament match, 2-1, over Arizona State, and in the second round ousted Wake Forest, 2-0, sending the ‘Eaters to the Sweet Sixteen against Washington where their run ended in double overtime. The season resulted in the program’s first two All-Americans, Tanya Taylor and CoCo Goodson, the first Big West Coach of the Year Scott Juniper, the first Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Danielle de Seriere, and Big West Offensive and Defensive Players of the year in Taylor and Goodson.

The Anteaters were fresh off their fourth NCAA trip and second time reaching the Sweet Sixteen as the 2014 season started. An unbeaten non-conference slate with upsets against ranked squads and a big home win against UCLA helped them reach another NCAA Tournament as an at-large and rolling through another first round NCAA win before running head-on into No. 1 Stanford in the second round. Having never beaten the Cardinal before, UC Irvine defied history and chopped down mighty Stanford at their place with a 1-0 overtime goal as All-American and MAC Hermann Watch List member Cameron Iwasa set up Michael Sperber in the 97th minute to launch the ‘Eaters into the third round for a third time with a 1-0 victory.

On the first day of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, two Anteaters were taken in the first 10 picks highlighted by Keston Hiura who was selected as the ninth overall pick by the Milwaukee Brewers, the highest-ever pick in UC Irvine program history.  Royce Lewis was taken No. 1 overall to the Minnesota Twins. He had signed a national letter of intent to join the program for the 2017-18 school year, but chose to pursue his professional career.

Hiura led the nation with a .442 batting average, breaking a 46-year UCI record. He also led the country in on-base percentage (.567), earning a spot as a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and was honored as the Big West Field Player of the Year. 

In May 2019, Hiura made his MLB debut as a member of Milwaukee Brewers, earning weekly and monthly awards and helping the squad make it to the National League Wildcard game.

Dan Klatt’s 2012 women’s water polo team won its fourth straight Big West Conference Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Championship, finishing in a program-best fourth place. The Anteaters entered the tournament as the fourth-seed and defeated LMU in the first round, 8-6. UCI dropped a game to Stanford in the semifinals and fell to UCLA, 10-9, in the third place game. Jessy Cardey and Kelsey Klatt were named to the NCAA All-Tournament first team. Women's water polo made six NCAA Tournament appearances in the decade.

The women's tennis team earned its first NCAA Tournament victory with a 4-2 victory over San Jose State. Ali Facey won 7-5 in the third set to complete the four-hour, 30-minute match. The Big West Player of the Year Kristina Smith also competed at the NCAA Championship as an individual.

The men’s tennis team made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011 after winning the Big West Tournament title both years. In 2011, the Anteaters were also the Big West regular-season champions and finished the season ranked 40th in the nation. Chris Kearney earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships and was named the Big West Athlete of the Year. The Anteaters went on to claim regular-season conference titles in 2013 and 2015 as well.

2010 - The men’s golf team won the Big West Championship in 2010 as well as 2015. In 2010, senior John Chin became the first ‘Eater in UCI’s Division I history to earn All-America honors. Chin also secured his second Big West Golfer of the Year award after winning the individual title, and garnered first-team all-conference recognition for the third time in his career.

2011 – The baseball teamentered the NCAA Tournament for a sixth consecutive season heading to UCLA for a second straight year. The Anteaters defeated the top-16 Bruins for its third-ever Regional victory heading to No. 1 Virginia for the Super Regionals. The Anteaters came back from losing the opening game to come within one out of the College World Series before falling in the ninth inning. Matt Summers was named an All-American and Big West Pitcher of the Year assisted by throwing the program’s 4th no-hitter. Brian Hernandez earned Big West Defensive Player of the Year honors, and he was joined by catcher Ronnie Shaeffer as Gold Glove recipients.

2011 and 2012 - UCI finished second in the Division I-AAA Director’s All-Sports rankings. 

2012 - In the fall of 2012, Kathleen and Mark Santora donated over $1 million to create the Santora Elite Training Center which opened in 2013. Other recent facility improvements include the Al Irwin Academic Center and new scoreboard at Anteater Ballpark.

2012 – UC Irvine was represented well at the 2012 London Olympics. Brian Thornton and David Smith became the first two men’s volleyball players to compete in the Olympics, while Ryan Bailey, Jeff Powers and Tim Hutten were members of the United States men’s water polo team. UCI had three coaches also serve as assistant coaches in London, including Dan Klatt who served as an assistant with the U.S. women’s water polo team that captured gold.

2012 – The men's cross country team had its best Big West finish in six seasons, placing third at the conference meet with 83 points. Steven Melena led the way, earning All-Big West honors with a fourth-place individual performance. Melena was UCI's highest finisher at the conference championships since 1993. 

2014 - On Feb. 1, 2014, Camille Buckley broke a 20-year old single-game school record with a career-high 26 rebounds against Cal Poly. Her 26 boards stood as the most by any men’s or women’s player in the country that season. The first-team All-Big West selection also led the conference in rebounding (12.0 rpg) and was second in scoring (18.5 ppg), while she ranked 15th in the nation with 19 double-doubles.

2015 –The men’s basketball team captured the Big West Tournament title for the first time in history to earn a spot in the NCAA tourney, where the 13th-seeded 'Eaters narrowly fell to No. 4 seed and three-time national champion, Louisville, 57-55, in the NCAA Second Round.

2016 - UC Irvine had eight representatives at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The eight Anteaters were the most by a Big West school and third most by a UC school behind Cal and UCLA. David Smith (United States) and Kevin Tillie (France) competed compete in men's indoor volleyball. On the track, former NCAA Champion Charles Jock represented the U.S. in the 800 meters, while current UCI student-athlete Persis William-Mensah was a member of 4x100 relay team for the Ghana delegation. Former UCI athletes Dan Klatt (women's water polo) and Dave Durden (men's swimming) served as assistant coaches for Team USA. Two of the seven member United States badminton team hailed from UCI. Alumna Eva Lee (women’s doubles) and a current student Phillip Chew (men's and mixed doubles)

2017 - The baseball team defeated No. 1 TCU for the second consecutive day. The Anteaters scored eight runs in the first inning on Friday and never looked back snagging an 11-2 upset over the top-ranked Horned Frogs at Anteater Ballpark. The next day (March 11), the Anteaters did it again with a 6-3 victory. An hour later, the men's volleyball team toppled No. 1 Ohio State, 3-0 at St. John Arena, snapping the Buckeyes' 42-match winning streak. The sixth-ranked Anteaters handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season and the first defeat in 399 days. It was a year of upsets as the men’s water polo team, who was ranked as high as No. 5 that season, toppled No. 1 UCLA 9-8. 

2017 - Junior women’s water polo player Allie Loomis received the 2017 Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each NCAA Championship. She joins Francis Larson (baseball) as UCI only two recipients. Another former women’s water polo player Megan Braun became the first UC Irvine student to win a prestigious Rhodes scholarship in 2010.

2017 – The women’s volleyball team ended the year 24-8 overall which tied the school record for wins, matching the 2009 squad who went 24-10. Head coach Ashlie Hain’s team advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, falling to Texas Tech, 3-1. It was the first postseason appearance since 2004 with the two postseason victories marking the most in program history.

2017-18 - UCI claimed two individual women’s golf titles in the 2017-18 season with Avery French winning the Fresno State Classic in April and Janet Yeo taking the Chip-N-Club Invitational in October. It is the first time since 2008 that the Anteaters have had two individual winners in the same year.

French, who started the last day with three consecutive bogeys, shot a tournament-low 69 on the final round and posted a score of 211 (70-72-69) to earn co-medalist honors at the Copper River Country Club. Yeo was co-medalist at the Chip-N Club Invitational at the Wildnerness Ridge Golf Club, her first collegiate title and the first win for an Anteater women's player since 2009. The junior carded a three-round total of 218 (73-71-74).

2018 - In a span of two weeks, three UCI teams competed at the NCAA Championships. Men’s Volleyball was an at-large selection and played in the opening round against Ohio State. Women’s water polo, who was the No. 3 seed, defeated top-seeded Hawaii in sudden death overtime in the Big West Championship and made its sixth overall appearance in the NCAA’s. Dan Klatt’s team won its opening round game against Pomona Pitzer before falling to Stanford. The men’s golf team won its eighth Big West Championship and made their 14th NCAA Regional appearance.

2019 - UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field saw two school records fall in 2019. In the first meet of the season, senior Barbara Coward set a new standard in the weight throw (57-05.75). Coward went on to top that mark one month later with a personal-best 58-04.75 at the MPSF Championships. Freshman Zani Meaders also beat UCI’s three-year old record in the indoor 400m at the conference meet with a time of 55.78 seconds. Meaders finished 10th among some of the nation’s best 400m runners, and had the second-best time by a freshman in the race.

2019 – Women’s track & field athlete Barbara Coward advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round for the fourth consecutive year in the discus and made her second-straight appearance in the hammer. Coward won both events at the Big West Championships, making her the first individual in the conference to sweep the hammer and discus titles since 2015. She easily defended her crown in the discus, and became UCI’s first-ever hammer champion on her final attempt of the competition. In 2019, Coward broke her own school records in the discus (186-4) and hammer (196-7), while establishing a new standard in the indoor weight throw (58-04.75).

2019 – Paula Smith was named the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. She became one of 40 female Division I athletic directors nationally and the second at UCI, following Linda Dempsay (1977 to 1983), who was the country’s first female athletic director at an NCAA Division I school.

2019 - Women's Volleyball upset No. 11 Hawaii in the Stan Sherrif Center. It was the first win over Hawaii in program history and the only loss suffered at home by the Rainbow Wahine since Oct. 27, 2018.

2019 - UC Irvine women’s cross country saw its first All-Big West performer in 11 years when Hannah Chau finished fifth at the conference championships on Nov. 2, 2019. Earlier in the season, Chau also established the fourth-fastest 6000m time in school history with a personal-best 20:44.5 at the UC Riverside Invitational (Sept. 14, 2019). She finished the campaign with four top-10 and three top-five showings.