No. 6 UC Irvine Topples No. 1 UCLA 3-2 To Advance To NCAA Semifinals
May 02, 2026 | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- No. 6 UC Irvine rallied in teh fifth set to upset No. 1 UCLA 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 16-14) to capture the Los Angeles Regional at Pauley Pavilion Saturday.
UCLA held set point 14-12 before the Anteaters rallied for the final four points, two on kills by Andreas Brink and two Bruin attack errors to capture the set and match, 16-14.
UC Irvine improves to 20-8 overall and advances to the NCAA semifinals for the eighth time in program history.
The Anteaters will face No. 4 seed Ball State who defeated Pepperdine, 3-2 in their regional next Saturday (May 9) at Pauley Pavilion.
Brinck hit .483 (17-3-29), putting down four of his team-best 17 kills in the fifth set. The outside hitter also recorded a career-high seven digs.
Outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic and middle blocker followed with 14 kills each. Jokanovic was one shy of a double-double with nine digs, while Clark added two block assists and an ace.
Setter Cameron Kosty had a team and career-high six total blocks (one solo) to go with 47 set assists, six digs, three kills and an ace.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Senior William D'Arcy had five kills and six digs
>Middle block er Micah Goss fired three aces and recorded five kills and three block assists
>Libero Shane Aitken posted 10 digs
>The Anteaters out-aced the Bruins, 6-4
>UCLA held the advantage in hitting (.388-.292), digs (48-39) and blocks (8-6)
>UCLA's Sean Kelly had a match-high 26 kills in the loss
>UCI hands UCLA its second loss of the season as the Bruins close 2026 with a 29-2 record.
FIRST SET
>UCI made the first move with four in a row on a UCLA service error, block by Micah Goss and Cameron Kosty, a kill by William D'Arcy down the line and a Bruin swing long, 9-6
>An ace by Goss put the Anteater lead at 11-8
>Kills by Trevor Clark and D'Arcy and two Bruin attack errors stretched the margin to 16-11
>UCI led 17-12 on a crafty over the shoulder kill by Andreas Brinck on two
>Back-to-back blocks by the Bruins drew UCLA within 20-22
>A kill by Clark put UCI at set point only to watch the Bruins rally with the next three, all kills, 23-24
>A kill by Brinck ended the set 25-23
SECOND SET
>UCI led 3-2 on a Bruin service error, block by Clark and Kosty and ace by Goss
>A 4-1 run by the Bruins, all kills, moved UCLA in front 9-6
>A kill by Goss inside the block, an ace from D'Arcy and kills by Brinck and Jokanovic were part of a 4-1 UCI run to tie the set at 10-10
>UCLA responded with the next four, 14-10
>Three UCI errors, one courtesy of a block, started a 6-1 run by UCLA helped the Bruins to a 21-14 advantage
>The Bruins would win the set 25-19, hitting .407 (13-2-27)
>UCI hit just .037 (8-7-27)
THIRD SET
>UCI started with an early 6-3 lead that included two Clark kills
>Following a UCLA point, Brinck pounded back-to-back kills to force UCLA to call a timeout, 8-4
>Kosty had a monster solo block to give the Anteaters an 11-7 lead
>A kill by Jokanovic and an ace by Kosty made it 14-9
>A pair of UCLA kills and a UCI attack that sailed long inched the Bruins within 15-16
>Kosty hung in the air for an one-handed set for a Goss kill to stop the momentum, 17-15
>Two Zach Rama kills knotted the set at 18 all then two from Sean Kelly pushed UCLA in front 20-19
>A kill by Clark followed and the teams would go point for point until Brinck had a kill down the line from the left side then Kosty flew out of the back on two for a kill, 24-23
>Following a Bruin timeout, Goss and Kosty clamped down the net for the block and set winner, 25-23
>The Anteaters hit .556 (17-2-27)
FOURTH SET
>UCLA held an early 5-2 lead
>Three straight by UCI on two Bruin attack errors and an ace by Clark tied the set at 6-6
>Three kills and a solo block gave UCLA a 16-11 lead
>Consecutive kills by Jokanovic and Brinck made it 15-19 then Brink and Jokanovic again closed the gap to 17-20
>UCLA would end the set with three of the last four points, 25-19
FIFTH SET
>UCLA held a 4-3 lead with the help of three UCI service errors
>Following a Brinck kill, the Bruins scored three unanswered to take an 8-4 lead
>Anteaters wouldn't go away using two Bruins errors and a kill by Jokanovic and block by Kosty and Clark to force a UCLA timeout, 8-9
>Out of the break, a Bruin attack error tied the set at 9-9
> A Bruin service error and a kill by Brinck off the block moved UCI in front 12-11
>UCLA scored the next three points on a block and two kills to get to set point 14-12
>UCLA thought they had the match winner, but a challenge of a touch kept the set going and UCI took advantage on a Bruin attack error and a kill by Brinck, 15-14
>The match winner was scored on a UCLA attack error, 16-14
NOTES
>The Anteaters are battle-tested in five set matches this season, improving to 6-5 when going the distance.
UCLA held set point 14-12 before the Anteaters rallied for the final four points, two on kills by Andreas Brink and two Bruin attack errors to capture the set and match, 16-14.
UC Irvine improves to 20-8 overall and advances to the NCAA semifinals for the eighth time in program history.
The Anteaters will face No. 4 seed Ball State who defeated Pepperdine, 3-2 in their regional next Saturday (May 9) at Pauley Pavilion.
Brinck hit .483 (17-3-29), putting down four of his team-best 17 kills in the fifth set. The outside hitter also recorded a career-high seven digs.
Outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic and middle blocker followed with 14 kills each. Jokanovic was one shy of a double-double with nine digs, while Clark added two block assists and an ace.
Setter Cameron Kosty had a team and career-high six total blocks (one solo) to go with 47 set assists, six digs, three kills and an ace.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Senior William D'Arcy had five kills and six digs
>Middle block er Micah Goss fired three aces and recorded five kills and three block assists
>Libero Shane Aitken posted 10 digs
>The Anteaters out-aced the Bruins, 6-4
>UCLA held the advantage in hitting (.388-.292), digs (48-39) and blocks (8-6)
>UCLA's Sean Kelly had a match-high 26 kills in the loss
>UCI hands UCLA its second loss of the season as the Bruins close 2026 with a 29-2 record.
FIRST SET
>UCI made the first move with four in a row on a UCLA service error, block by Micah Goss and Cameron Kosty, a kill by William D'Arcy down the line and a Bruin swing long, 9-6
>An ace by Goss put the Anteater lead at 11-8
>Kills by Trevor Clark and D'Arcy and two Bruin attack errors stretched the margin to 16-11
>UCI led 17-12 on a crafty over the shoulder kill by Andreas Brinck on two
>Back-to-back blocks by the Bruins drew UCLA within 20-22
>A kill by Clark put UCI at set point only to watch the Bruins rally with the next three, all kills, 23-24
>A kill by Brinck ended the set 25-23
SECOND SET
>UCI led 3-2 on a Bruin service error, block by Clark and Kosty and ace by Goss
>A 4-1 run by the Bruins, all kills, moved UCLA in front 9-6
>A kill by Goss inside the block, an ace from D'Arcy and kills by Brinck and Jokanovic were part of a 4-1 UCI run to tie the set at 10-10
>UCLA responded with the next four, 14-10
>Three UCI errors, one courtesy of a block, started a 6-1 run by UCLA helped the Bruins to a 21-14 advantage
>The Bruins would win the set 25-19, hitting .407 (13-2-27)
>UCI hit just .037 (8-7-27)
THIRD SET
>UCI started with an early 6-3 lead that included two Clark kills
>Following a UCLA point, Brinck pounded back-to-back kills to force UCLA to call a timeout, 8-4
>Kosty had a monster solo block to give the Anteaters an 11-7 lead
>A kill by Jokanovic and an ace by Kosty made it 14-9
>A pair of UCLA kills and a UCI attack that sailed long inched the Bruins within 15-16
>Kosty hung in the air for an one-handed set for a Goss kill to stop the momentum, 17-15
>Two Zach Rama kills knotted the set at 18 all then two from Sean Kelly pushed UCLA in front 20-19
>A kill by Clark followed and the teams would go point for point until Brinck had a kill down the line from the left side then Kosty flew out of the back on two for a kill, 24-23
>Following a Bruin timeout, Goss and Kosty clamped down the net for the block and set winner, 25-23
>The Anteaters hit .556 (17-2-27)
FOURTH SET
>UCLA held an early 5-2 lead
>Three straight by UCI on two Bruin attack errors and an ace by Clark tied the set at 6-6
>Three kills and a solo block gave UCLA a 16-11 lead
>Consecutive kills by Jokanovic and Brinck made it 15-19 then Brink and Jokanovic again closed the gap to 17-20
>UCLA would end the set with three of the last four points, 25-19
FIFTH SET
>UCLA held a 4-3 lead with the help of three UCI service errors
>Following a Brinck kill, the Bruins scored three unanswered to take an 8-4 lead
>Anteaters wouldn't go away using two Bruins errors and a kill by Jokanovic and block by Kosty and Clark to force a UCLA timeout, 8-9
>Out of the break, a Bruin attack error tied the set at 9-9
> A Bruin service error and a kill by Brinck off the block moved UCI in front 12-11
>UCLA scored the next three points on a block and two kills to get to set point 14-12
>UCLA thought they had the match winner, but a challenge of a touch kept the set going and UCI took advantage on a Bruin attack error and a kill by Brinck, 15-14
>The match winner was scored on a UCLA attack error, 16-14
NOTES
>The Anteaters are battle-tested in five set matches this season, improving to 6-5 when going the distance.
Players Mentioned
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S/OPP
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