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 5
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will wait for the NCAA selection show Sunday to see if their season will continue.
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 5
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will wait for the NCAA selection show Sunday to see if their season will continue.
Team 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
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's Volleyball/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's Volleyball
RS
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballOPP
/ Men's VolleyballUCI Men's Volleyball vs. CSUN | 2026 Big West First Round | Postgame Interview
Friday, April 24
𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐭-𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 👀 #TogetherWeZot | #Shorts
Thursday, April 02
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑭𝒐𝒓 ⏳
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GET UP 😤
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