Friday, May 1
Los Angeles, CA
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
19-8,5-5Big West
3
vs
2
Penn State University
22-8,12-0EIVA
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn St. | 18 | 29 | 25 | 17 | 13 | 2 |
| UC Irvine | 25 | 27 | 19 | 25 | 15 | 3 |
No. 6 UC Irvine Upends No. 15 Penn State, 3-2 In NCAA Regional
May 01, 2026 | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 6 UC Irvine advanced to the Los Angeles Regional final with a thrilling 3-2 victory (25-18, 27-29, 19-25, 25-17, 15-13) over No. 15 Penn State at Pauley Pavilion Friday night.
The Anteaters (19-8) advance to take on No. 1 UCLA Saturday (May 2) at 5:00 p.m.
UC Irvine out-blocked the nation's best blocking team 13.0 to 7.5. The Anteaters' 13 blocks are tied for a season-high.
UCI was led by senior William D'Arcy with 13 kills, hitting .423 (13-2-26). He had five digs and tied his career-high with five block assists.
Freshman Andrej Jokanovic put away 12 kills and had a career-high five total blocks (2 solo) and five digs.
Setter Cameron Kosty had a career-high five aces, 43 set assists, six digs and a block assist.
The middle blockers were unstoppable, committing just one error each. Micah Goss had 10 kills, hitting .692, while Trevor Clark had 10 kills hitting .562. Clark hit .625 in the fifth set with five kills and no errors in eight swings. Each player added five block assists.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman Andreas Brinck recorded five kills, five digs and three block assists
>Libero Shane Aitken shared the team lead in digs with Jokanovic and Kosty with six
>The Anteaters hit .390 (53-12-105), the best mark in four matches
>Penn State (22-8) was led by Sean Harvey's match-high 18 kills
>The Nittany Lions hit .240 (57-27-125) and out-aced UCI 9-8
FIRST SET
>UCI made the first move on a kill by Andrej Jokanovic, ace by Cameron Kosty, solo block by Jokanovic and kill by William D'Arcy, 10-5
>A 4-1 spurt which included consecutive kills by Jokanovic and another by Trevor Clark increased the lead to 18-13
>UCI held set point on an Andreas Brinck kill off the block, 24-16
>Following a Nittany Lion kill and ace, a Penn State service error handed the Anteaters a 25-18 victory
>The Anteaters came out firing, hitting .500 (12-1-22), while Penn State hit at a .111 (10-7-27) clip
SECOND SET
> Kosty started the set with an ace
>Three kills and two aces helped PSU build a 7-3 lead
>PSU led 12-7 before the Anteaters used a solo block by Joknovic, two rejections by D'Arcy and Clark, an ace by Kosty and a Nittany Lion attack error to tie the set at 12-12
>Jokanovic stepped back to the service line and fired two aces to move the Anteaters in front, 15-13
>A dump by Kosty ended a 12-4 run for the Anteaters, 19-16
>Back-to-back kills by Penn State forced a UCI timeout as the Nittany Lions drew within 21-20
>A UCI attack error out of the break tied the set at 21-21
>UCI answered with kills by Clark and D'Arcy, 23-21
>UCI held set point on another D'Arcy kill, but Penn State battled back with the next two points and the teams would keep playing
>Penn State would win the set on a kill and ace by Owen Rose, 29-27
THIRD SET
>UCI led 3-1 on two Penn State errors and a block by Clark and D'Arcy
>A kill and an ace moved Penn State in front, 8-6
>Four in a row, including an ace by Kosty and a kill by Jokanovic moved UCI in front 10-8
>It was short lived as PSU scored the next four, two from aces, 12-10
>Goss crushed a ball from the middle then Jokanovic had one from the outside to inch to 15-16
>Two Nittany Lion kills and an ace plus two Anteater errors gave Penn State a 23-17 advantage and they would go on to win 25-19
FOURTH SET
>Kosty was at the service line as UCI jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. Action included three PSU errors plus a kill by Jokanovic, a block by Jokanovic and Clark and an ace by Kosty
>A 5-2 run got the Nittany Lions back in the set, 8-11
>Kosty laid out for a dig that led to a Penn State hitting error, 17-11
>An ace from Goss made it 23-15
>A pair of kills by Jokanovic ended the set, 25-17
>UCI hit .450 to PSU's .120
FIFTH SET
>A kill and ace by Tristian Hassell gave Penn State the 2-0 lead then another kill made it 4-1
>After a break for a bloody nose, UCI had a kill by Clark and two blocks, the last a triple rejection by Brinck, Goss and D'Arcy to tie the set at 6-6
>Two UCI errors put PSU up by two (8-6) only to watch the Anteaters have kills by Gsoss and Brinck to knot the set again, 8-8
>A kill by Kosty on two and a block by Kosty and Goss gave UCI its first lead of the set, 10-9
>Teams would play point for point until the score was 13-13. UCI would end the match with kills from middles Clark then Goss, 15-13
NOTES
>UCI is 5-5 in five set matches this season, while Penn State suffers its first five set loss of the year (6-1)
>UCI's eight aces are tied for fifth most this season
>The Anteaters are 4-1 all-time in NCAA action against Penn State
The Anteaters (19-8) advance to take on No. 1 UCLA Saturday (May 2) at 5:00 p.m.
UC Irvine out-blocked the nation's best blocking team 13.0 to 7.5. The Anteaters' 13 blocks are tied for a season-high.
UCI was led by senior William D'Arcy with 13 kills, hitting .423 (13-2-26). He had five digs and tied his career-high with five block assists.
Freshman Andrej Jokanovic put away 12 kills and had a career-high five total blocks (2 solo) and five digs.
Setter Cameron Kosty had a career-high five aces, 43 set assists, six digs and a block assist.
The middle blockers were unstoppable, committing just one error each. Micah Goss had 10 kills, hitting .692, while Trevor Clark had 10 kills hitting .562. Clark hit .625 in the fifth set with five kills and no errors in eight swings. Each player added five block assists.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman Andreas Brinck recorded five kills, five digs and three block assists
>Libero Shane Aitken shared the team lead in digs with Jokanovic and Kosty with six
>The Anteaters hit .390 (53-12-105), the best mark in four matches
>Penn State (22-8) was led by Sean Harvey's match-high 18 kills
>The Nittany Lions hit .240 (57-27-125) and out-aced UCI 9-8
FIRST SET
>UCI made the first move on a kill by Andrej Jokanovic, ace by Cameron Kosty, solo block by Jokanovic and kill by William D'Arcy, 10-5
>A 4-1 spurt which included consecutive kills by Jokanovic and another by Trevor Clark increased the lead to 18-13
>UCI held set point on an Andreas Brinck kill off the block, 24-16
>Following a Nittany Lion kill and ace, a Penn State service error handed the Anteaters a 25-18 victory
>The Anteaters came out firing, hitting .500 (12-1-22), while Penn State hit at a .111 (10-7-27) clip
SECOND SET
> Kosty started the set with an ace
>Three kills and two aces helped PSU build a 7-3 lead
>PSU led 12-7 before the Anteaters used a solo block by Joknovic, two rejections by D'Arcy and Clark, an ace by Kosty and a Nittany Lion attack error to tie the set at 12-12
>Jokanovic stepped back to the service line and fired two aces to move the Anteaters in front, 15-13
>A dump by Kosty ended a 12-4 run for the Anteaters, 19-16
>Back-to-back kills by Penn State forced a UCI timeout as the Nittany Lions drew within 21-20
>A UCI attack error out of the break tied the set at 21-21
>UCI answered with kills by Clark and D'Arcy, 23-21
>UCI held set point on another D'Arcy kill, but Penn State battled back with the next two points and the teams would keep playing
>Penn State would win the set on a kill and ace by Owen Rose, 29-27
THIRD SET
>UCI led 3-1 on two Penn State errors and a block by Clark and D'Arcy
>A kill and an ace moved Penn State in front, 8-6
>Four in a row, including an ace by Kosty and a kill by Jokanovic moved UCI in front 10-8
>It was short lived as PSU scored the next four, two from aces, 12-10
>Goss crushed a ball from the middle then Jokanovic had one from the outside to inch to 15-16
>Two Nittany Lion kills and an ace plus two Anteater errors gave Penn State a 23-17 advantage and they would go on to win 25-19
FOURTH SET
>Kosty was at the service line as UCI jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead. Action included three PSU errors plus a kill by Jokanovic, a block by Jokanovic and Clark and an ace by Kosty
>A 5-2 run got the Nittany Lions back in the set, 8-11
>Kosty laid out for a dig that led to a Penn State hitting error, 17-11
>An ace from Goss made it 23-15
>A pair of kills by Jokanovic ended the set, 25-17
>UCI hit .450 to PSU's .120
FIFTH SET
>A kill and ace by Tristian Hassell gave Penn State the 2-0 lead then another kill made it 4-1
>After a break for a bloody nose, UCI had a kill by Clark and two blocks, the last a triple rejection by Brinck, Goss and D'Arcy to tie the set at 6-6
>Two UCI errors put PSU up by two (8-6) only to watch the Anteaters have kills by Gsoss and Brinck to knot the set again, 8-8
>A kill by Kosty on two and a block by Kosty and Goss gave UCI its first lead of the set, 10-9
>Teams would play point for point until the score was 13-13. UCI would end the match with kills from middles Clark then Goss, 15-13
NOTES
>UCI is 5-5 in five set matches this season, while Penn State suffers its first five set loss of the year (6-1)
>UCI's eight aces are tied for fifth most this season
>The Anteaters are 4-1 all-time in NCAA action against Penn State
Team Stats
PSU
Irvine
Kills
57
53
Errors
27
12
Attempts
125
105
Hitting %
.240
.390
Points
73.5
74.0
Assists
50
52
Aces
9
8
Blocks
7.5
13
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
5
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
L
/ Men's Volleyball
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Men's VolleyballRS
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
S/OPP
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