Friday, April 24
Long Beach, CA
7:30 PM
UC Irvine
18-8,5-5Big West
0
at
3
Long Beach State
23-4,8-2Big West
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Irvine | 27 | 16 | 18 | 0 |
| Long Beach St. | 29 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
No. 5 UC Irvine Falls In Big West Semifinal To No. 3 Long Beach State
April 24, 2026 | Men's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. – Third seeded UC Irvine dropped a three-set loss to second seed Long Beach State (27-29, 16-25, 18-25) in a semifinal of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship at the Bren Events Center Friday.
The Anteaters, who are 18-8 overall and ranked fifth nationally, hit a season-low .137 (32-19-95) and totaled 17 service errors. Third ranked LBSU hit .355 (38-11-76) and out-blocked the Anteaters 7.5-4.5.
Freshman Andreas Brinck led the Anteaters with 10 kills, posting double-digit kills for the second consecutive night.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic added six kills and five digs
>Middle blocker Trevor Clark put away five kills and team-best four total blocks (1 solo)
>Libero Shane Aitken had a team-best six digs
>Outside hitter Andon Kiriakou recorded four kills, while opposite William D'Arcy and middle blocker Micah Goss totaled three kills
>Long Beach State's Wojciech Gajek had a match-best 10 kills and hit .471 (10-2-17)
FIRST SET
>LBSU started with an 8-3 lead on the strength of six kills
>UCI started to chip away on three consecutive LBSU errors, on a block by Trevor Clark and William D'Arcy then a kill and two aces by Andrej Jakonovic to get within 11-12
>A kill by Andreas Brinck and a Beach attack error moved UCI in front, 16-15
>An ace by Jokanovic and a triple block by D'Arcy, Clark and Brinck put UCI in the lead 21-20
>UCI went up 23-21 on back-to-back kills by Brinck
>A kill and block by The Beach knotted the score at 23-23
>After fighting of a set point Long Beach flipped the script on a kill and UCI attack error to lead 26-25 but a service error kept the set going
>A kill by Ben Braun and an Anteater attack error ended the set for Long Beach State, 29-27
>UCI hit .051 to LBSU's .367
SECOND SET
>A pair of kills and a block gave Long Beach State the first significant lead 11-7
>Four unanswered points by The Beach, the last an ace, gave LBSU a 18-10 advantage
>The Beach would roll to a 25-16 victory
THIRD SET
>Two kills and two Anteater errors pushed The Beach out to a 4-1 lead
>Three in a row, which included consecutive aces made The Beach margin 10-5
>Long Beach continued to stay in control with a 4-1 spurt, three on kills, 21-13
>A kill by Jackson Cryst ended the match, 25-18
NOTES
>All of UCI losses are by teams in the Top 8, including seven by teams in the Top 5Â Â
Â
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will wait for the NCAA selection show Sunday to see if their season will continue.
Â
The Anteaters, who are 18-8 overall and ranked fifth nationally, hit a season-low .137 (32-19-95) and totaled 17 service errors. Third ranked LBSU hit .355 (38-11-76) and out-blocked the Anteaters 7.5-4.5.
Freshman Andreas Brinck led the Anteaters with 10 kills, posting double-digit kills for the second consecutive night.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic added six kills and five digs
>Middle blocker Trevor Clark put away five kills and team-best four total blocks (1 solo)
>Libero Shane Aitken had a team-best six digs
>Outside hitter Andon Kiriakou recorded four kills, while opposite William D'Arcy and middle blocker Micah Goss totaled three kills
>Long Beach State's Wojciech Gajek had a match-best 10 kills and hit .471 (10-2-17)
FIRST SET
>LBSU started with an 8-3 lead on the strength of six kills
>UCI started to chip away on three consecutive LBSU errors, on a block by Trevor Clark and William D'Arcy then a kill and two aces by Andrej Jakonovic to get within 11-12
>A kill by Andreas Brinck and a Beach attack error moved UCI in front, 16-15
>An ace by Jokanovic and a triple block by D'Arcy, Clark and Brinck put UCI in the lead 21-20
>UCI went up 23-21 on back-to-back kills by Brinck
>A kill and block by The Beach knotted the score at 23-23
>After fighting of a set point Long Beach flipped the script on a kill and UCI attack error to lead 26-25 but a service error kept the set going
>A kill by Ben Braun and an Anteater attack error ended the set for Long Beach State, 29-27
>UCI hit .051 to LBSU's .367
SECOND SET
>A pair of kills and a block gave Long Beach State the first significant lead 11-7
>Four unanswered points by The Beach, the last an ace, gave LBSU a 18-10 advantage
>The Beach would roll to a 25-16 victory
THIRD SET
>Two kills and two Anteater errors pushed The Beach out to a 4-1 lead
>Three in a row, which included consecutive aces made The Beach margin 10-5
>Long Beach continued to stay in control with a 4-1 spurt, three on kills, 21-13
>A kill by Jackson Cryst ended the match, 25-18
NOTES
>All of UCI losses are by teams in the Top 8, including seven by teams in the Top 5Â Â
Â
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will wait for the NCAA selection show Sunday to see if their season will continue.
Â
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
RS
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OPP
/ Men's VolleyballTeam Stats
Irvine
LBSU
Kills
32
38
Errors
19
11
Attempts
95
76
Hitting %
.137
.355
Points
39.5
49.5
Assists
32
34
Aces
3
4
Blocks
4.5
7.5
Game Leaders
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Tuesday, May 12
Sunday, May 10
Sunday, May 10
Saturday, May 09
