UC Irvine Falls To Hawaii In National Championship Match

Monday, May 11

Los Angeles, CA

4:00 PM

UC Irvine

21-9,5-5Big West

Hawai'i

30-5,9-1Big West

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	25	18	18	20	1
Hawaii	15	25	25	25	3

UC Irvine Falls To Hawaii In National Championship Match

May 11, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Stacey Shackleford

Press Conference

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – UC Irvine won the first set but could not hold off second seed Hawaii in a 3-1 loss (25-15, 18-25, 18-25, 20-25) in the national championship match at Pauley Pavilion Monday.

The Anteaters hit .562 (10-1-16) and had seven blocks in the first frame, while Hawaii hit .167. The 'Bows went on to hit .410 for the match to UCI's final .253. UC Irvine had a season-high 18 blocks, tied for most in the country in a four set match this season.

Trevor Clark and Andrej Jokanovic were named to the All-Tournament team. UC Irvine ends the season with a 21-9 overall record.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman Andrej Jokanovic led UCI with 13 kills. The AVCA national Newcomer of the Year added three block assists and an ace
>Senior William D'Arcy put away nine kills and had four digs and an ace
>Micah Goss recorded six total blocks (1 solo), three aces and three kills (.750)
>Middle blocker Trevor Clark and outside hitter Andreas Brinck each had six kills. Clark had six total blocks (2 solo) and Brinck matched his career-high with seven digs
>Setter Cameron Kosty had 32 set assists, seven digs and a career-tying five block assists
>Hawaii was led by Kristian Titriyski's 16 kills, while tournament MVP Louis Sakanoko had 12 kills, three aces, six digs and three total blocks

FIRST SET
>UCI started with a 4-0 lead using, a UH service error, block then kill on an overpass by Trevor Clark and block by Andrej Jokanovic
>The lead increased to 7-2 on another Clark blast from the middle and a block by Micah Goss and Andreas Brinck
>A kill by Brinck, block by Goss and Jokanovic and a kill by Jokanovic made it 11-4
>Four more in a row capped by an ace from Goss extended the lead to 16-5
>Hawaii made a move with four in a row, two kills, an ace and a block, 13-20
>Kills by Cameron Kosty and Jokanovic put UCI at set point 24-14
>Following a kill by Hawaii, Jokanovic had a cross court kill, 25-14

SECOND SET
>Hawaii jumped out to the early 4-1 lead
>Kills by William D'Arcy and Brinck plus UH attack error tied the set at four apiece
>Hawaii answered with 7-1 run to take control 11-5
>A Hawaii service error and a block by Goss and Kosty made a dent in the deficit, 8-12
>A solo block by Clark and an ace from Goss forced a Hawaii timeout, 11-15
>Three unanswered by Hawaii stopped the momentum, 18-11
>Hawaii would go on to win the set, 25-18

THIRD SET
>Teams would battle back-and-forth until Hawaii created separation on two UCI miscues and a kill by Louis Sakanoko, 11-9
>A kill by Clark and an ace by Jokanovic knotted the score at 11s, before Hawaii peeled off five in a row to move in front 16-11
>The crowd had something to cheer about when Kosty sent the ball over while sitting on the floor that eventually led to a Brinck kill off the block, 13-18
>Teams would side out until UH used a kill and a UCI attack error to get to set point, 24-18
>Following a service error, a kill ended the set 25-18
>UCI hit .067 to Hawaii's .458

FOURTH SET
>Kill by Brinck and a UH attack error gave UCI the slight 5-3 edge
>Three consecutive aces by Sakanoko moved Hawaii in front 8-6
>A kill by Jokanovic then another by D'Arcy on an overpass tied the set at 9 all
>A kill by D'Arcy made it 11-11 then Hawaii went on a 5-1 run to take a 17-12 advantage
>The Anteaters weren't done using two kills by Clark, a block by Clark and Kosty and an ace by D'Arcy, 16-17
>UCI would close to 17-18 before Hawaii would end the set, out-scoring UCI 7-3, six on kills to win 25-20