2025-26 Year in Review: Top Moments
7/10/2026
In 2025-26, the Anteaters won five Big West championships, an MPSF Championship, and a conference tournament title. Five teams made a national postseason appearance, highlighted by men's volleyball's run to the NCAA championship match. UCI wraps up its Year-in-Review with a look back at some of the top moments from another successful season.
August 24, 2025: Women's soccer's highlight came early in the season hosting Big Ten side Washington, their first match in Anteater Stadium since the 2010 NCAA Sweet Sixteen. Senior Mia Colombini pushed across the equalizer in the 87th minute to a dramatic 1-1 draw, the program's first result against the Huskies in their 10th all-time matchup.
September 5, 2025: UC Irvine men’s and women’s cross country swept the team and individual titles at the season-opening Vanguard Invitational in Irvine. Juan Chantaca won the 8K to lead the men to their first team victory since 2017. Liana Lee was the women’s 5K champion. She was followed by four more Anteaters as they finished with a perfect score of 15 points.
September 27, 2025: In his second cross country meet of the season, Juan Chantaca broke the 8K school record in a top-five finish at the UC Riverside Invitational. Chantaca crossed the finish line in 23:38.4 to beat UCI's previous best of 23:47.0.
October 13-15, 2025: Women's golf capped the fall season with a school record 279 on the second round of the Golf Iconic Classic held at the New Mexico State Golf Course. The Anteaters finished third with a three-day total of 859 (284-279-296), which was the third best 54-hole score in the UC Irvine record book. The first-round 284 was also tied for the fourth lowest in program history. Katelyn Kong carded an impressive five-under par 67 with five birdies on the first day to tie for sixth-best all-time at UCI. The school-record round of 279 came courtesy of HaYoung Lee (68), Katherine Gerbing (69), Jenny Chang (70) and Kong (72).
October 18, 2025: The 16th-ranked men's water polo team upset No. 10 UC Santa Barbara in a Big West match up. Sophomore Cole Francisco led the 'Eaters with two goals and two assists for a four-point performance. Junior Johann Thrall netted two and added one assist for three points. Sophomore Ethan Spoon scored the go-ahead goal in the thrilling 10-9 victory.
October 31, 2025: Women’s cross country claimed runner-up honors at the Big West Championships in Honolulu. It was the Anteaters’ third top-three conference showing in four years. Kaia Schmidt placed fourth in the 6K race to earn All-Big West honors.
In UCI women’s volleyball’s 3-0 victory at UC San Diego, senior libero Campbell Jensen totaled a match-high 21 digs. That moved her up to No. 2 in program history with 1,762 career digs. She would increase that total to 1,901 by the end of the season.
November 9, 2025: Men's water polo upset their second top-10 team with a win over seventh-ranked San Jose State on Senior Day. Junior Johann Thrall led the Anteaters with three goals and one assist. Senior Luka Krstic and junior Wyley Dale each added two tallies. The 'Eaters scored three unanswered goals in the final six minutes of the game to close out the 11-9 victory.
November 10, 2025: Men’s basketball defeated Lincoln, 130-63, at the Bren Events Center, setting a school record in assists for the second consecutive game with 40. The team also made 59 field goals, which were a school and Bren Center record, while their 88 attempts were a new arena record and just one shy of the overall school mark. The Anteaters' 71 second half points were a Bren Center record. UCI's 130 points were the most since scoring a school-record 135 in a victory over Bethesda on Nov. 28, 2020. Another highlight was guard Derin Saran posting a triple-double, the first 'Eater to accomplish the feat. The redshirt sophomore poured in a then-career-high 20 points, a career and game-best 10 assists, and 12 rebounds in the victory.
November 14, 2025: Men's soccer completed a championship season with a 2-1 victory at UC Santa Barbara in the driving rain to secure its sixth Big West Championship crown. Santa Barbara-native Travis Babineau scored a goal and added an assist while senior captain and defender Nolan DiCenzo was named Big West Championship MVP. UCI extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games which also included a Big West regular season title going 4-0-5 and sharing it with UCSB and Cal Poly. The win also guaranteed the 'Eaters a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in program history.
November 22, 2025: Women’s volleyball swept second-place and eventual Big West tournament champion Cal Poly, 25-23, 25-23, 25-11, on Senior Day. With the win, the Anteaters clinched a spot in the six-team Big West Championship. It was also the fifth-straight year UCI won its regular-season finale.
December 13, 2025: Hunter Hernandez scored her 1,000th career point in UC Irvine women’s basketball’s 77-57 win over California Baptist at the Bren Events Center. Hernandez, who needed 21 points to reach the milestone, finished with a game-high 27. She became the 16th member of the program’s 1,000-point club.
January 16, 2026: Men's volleyball upset No. 3 Pepperdine, 3-1, on the road in what would be the first statement win for a team that never gave up. In the pivotal second set, UCI trailed by as many as nine before closing with a 10-3 run to capture the 26-24 victory. William D'Arcy hit .833 (5-0-6) with two aces in the late surge. D’Arcy would go on to lead the Anteaters with 19 kills. The win was one of 11 consecutive victories to start the season, a new school record.
January 17, 2026: UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field started the season strong with a school record and three event wins at the Spokane Indoor Challenge. Jazzmine Davis, Aoife Hernon, Gabrielle Hawkins, and Esmeray Demirbas combined for a program-best 3:45.77 in the 4x400 relay. Davis also won the 60m hurdles, while Hernon finished ahead of the pack in the 400m. Nyla Baker claimed the shot put title with a lifetime-best 14.62 meters (47-11.75).
January 22, 2026: Women's basketball defeated UC Riverside, 74-68, for its program-best 16th consecutive victory. The Anteaters were one of only 16 NCAA Division I teams with a win streak of at least 16 games in 2025-26.
January 31, 2026: In her first indoor track & field meet as an Anteater, junior transfer Emma Hadley shattered the school record in the mile with a time of 4:42.71. She topped the mark of 4:52.78 set by Kim Ramirez back in 2005. Kaia Schmidt also passed Ramirez on the all-time list with a personal-best 4:51.70.
February 6, 2026: Halle Sutherland broke the indoor school record in the 200m at the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, Nevada. She crossed the finish line in 24.12 seconds to beat UCI’s previous standard of 24.26 that was established by Olympian Persis William-Mensah in 2018. Sutherland went on to break her own record again later in the season.
February 14, 2026: UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field continued to re-write the record books at the Battle Born Classic in Nevada. Aoife Hernon clocked a program-best 54.12 in the 400m before joining forces with Jazzmine Davis, Halle Sutherland, and Joy Anderson to set the 4x400 record for the second time in a month (3:42.46).
February 27-28, 2026: Baseball headed to Las Vegas for the prestigious Live Like Lou Las Vegas College Baseball Classic and started out hot with consecutive wins against ranked programs. UCI battled to a 9-4 win over No. 22 Vanderbilt behind solid pitching from Trevor Hansen and Ryder Brooks, and three hits and two RBIs by All-Tournament honoree Zach Fjelstad. The following day, UCI came from behind for an 8-6 win over No. 24 Oregon behind seven quality innings by Ricky Ojeda, and Fjelstad again with a two-run single to spark a five-run eighth inning.
March 2, 2026: UCI won the program’s first MPSF Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championship at Reno-Sparks Convention Center. The Anteaters took home the team title with a school-record 132.5 points. Jazzmine Davis was the conference champion in the 60m hurdles, while Joy Anderson won gold in the pentathlon. Over the course of the two-day meet, the ‘Eaters set school records in the 200m and distance medley relay.
March 5, 2026: Hunter Hernandez tied the single-game school record with 41 points to lead UC Irvine women’s basketball to an 85-65 victory at Cal Poly. Hernandez went 11-for-22 from the field and 16-of-18 at the charity stripe. Her 16 free throws matched the most by an Anteater in a game, while she also passed Katherine Hamilton to become UCI's all-time leader in career free throws made. Hamilton’s record of 368 had stood since 1983.
Kyle Evans etched his name in the record books in UC Irvine men's basketball's 107-85 victory over Cal Poly. Evans had five blocks to break the UCI and Big West single season record, surpassing the old mark of 106 held by former Anteater Mamadou Ndiaye in 2013-14. The forward would go on to lead the nation in blocks with 115 and blocks per game at 3.29.
March 7, 2026: Men's basketball captured their 10th regular season championship and third in the last four seasons with a 79-69 overtime victory against UC Davis in the regular season finale at the Bren Events Center. After the Aggies tied it up with a 3-pointer in the final minute, the Anteaters dominated the extra period where they outscored UCD, 14-4.
Women's basketball clinched the Big West regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a 70-58 win at UC Davis. It was a record-breaking end to the regular season as Hunter Hernandez became UC Irvine’s all-time single-season scoring leader, and the ‘Eaters earned their program-best 26th victory.
March 13, 2026: Women’s outdoor track & field set their first school record of the season at the Ben Brown Invitational in Fullerton. Aoife Hernon, Catalina Teran, Esmeray Demirbas, and Mikah Longcob closed out the meet with a program-best 3:40.83 in the 4x400 relay.
March 28, 2026: On their home track, Brandon Burns, Justin Johnson, Logan Lyght, and Brendan Clark took down UC Irvine men's track & field's 45-year-old record in the 4x100 relay at the Vince O'Boyle Classic. The quartet combined for the first sub-40 second 4x100 in program history, clocking in at 39.84 to top UCI’s previous standard of 40.08..
April 3, 2026: Kaia Schmidt won her second steeple race of the year in a 17-second personal-best 10:16.88. Her PR broke UC Irvine women’s track & field’s record of 10:20.11 that was set by Hannah Chau in 2023, while it also qualified her for the NCAA West First Round.
April 4, 2026: Women's tennis stunned No. 64 Hawai'i on the road for their first win in Honolulu since 2014-15 and first ranked win since 2013-14. After dropping the doubles point and falling behind, 3-1, Yen Hui Huynh, Bella Pitchford, and Carolyna Fowler each won singles matches for the 4-3 come from behind victory highlighted by Fowler's 7-5, 7-6 straight-set win.
April 10, 2026: Joy Anderson broke a 17-year-old school record in the heptathlon at the Bryan Clay Multis in Azusa. Anderson concluded her first career heptathlon with a program-best 5,572 points. Fifteen minutes later, Aoife Hernon uprooted UCI’s 35-year-old record in the 400m with a time of 54.05 at the Challenge Cup in Fullerton. Hernon would go on to break her own record two more times during the season.
Women's water polo made history in the Big West Championship quarterfinals, erupting for 22 goals in a win over UC San Diego. That total set a new program record for most goals in a conference tournament game, surpassing the previous mark of 18, while it tied the all-time Big West Championship game record set by Long Beach State last season. The 22 goals also stand as the sixth-highest single-game total in program history.
April 12, 2026: Women's tennis punctuated their 2026 season with an upset win on Senior Day, topping No. 73 Cal Poly, 4-3. With rain pushing back the start time and flipping the format, the teams finished singles even at 3-3 to set up the match-winning doubles point. After each side took a doubles set, it was seniors Carolyna Fowler and Amanda Perez who secured the decisive set, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles for the clinching point.
April 16, 2026: Continuing the Anteaters’ record-breaking ways on the track was Samantha Bartz, who clocked a program-best 11.43 in the 100m at the Pacific Coast Invitational in Long Beach.
April 18, 2026: Men's tennis swept UC San Diego, 4-0, to clinch a share of the Big West regular season title. The Anteaters were tied at the top of the standings with a 5-1 conference record. It marked the fifth consecutive year UCI won either a Big West tournament or regular season championship.
April 24, 2026: UC Irvine earned a ranked win in the semifinals of the Big West Men's Tennis Championship where it upended No. 72 Cal Poly. The Anteaters won the doubles point before Big West Player of the Year Hiroki Sakagawa, Tal Goodman, and Greg Gamal took down their singles opponents for the 4-1 victory. UCI advanced to its fifth-straight championship match.
April 28, 2026: Baseball shut down the 21st-ranked team in the nation on a Tuesday night in Anteater Ballpark with a 4-1 victory over USC. Five pitchers - Hunter Manning, Tim Grack, David Butler, Dane Grant, and Peyton Rodgers - limited the Trojans to five hits while each contributed a strikeout with Butler earning the win and Rodgers collecting the save. The offense used two of its three hits on the night to score runs in a three-run fourth inning and pull away from the Big Ten side.
May 2, 2026: Less than 24 hours after defeating Penn State in five sets, UC Irvine men’s volleyball toppled No. 1 UCLA, 3-2, at Pauley Pavilion to capture the NCAA Los Angeles Regional and advance to the NCAA semifinals. With UCLA holding match-point at 14-12, a challenge overturned an out call with a touch, sparking the Anteaters who would win the final three points and stun the home team, 16-14. Freshman Andreas Brinck was impressive, hitting .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 in the win.
May 5, 2026: Men’s golf moved into the top-three after the final round of the Big West Championships at La Quinta Country Club. The Anteaters, who were the No. 10 seed, placed third in the conference tournament for the second year in a row. It was also their best finish of the season. Rei Harashima paced UCI with a 4-under 212 to tie for seventh. That was his third consecutive top-10 Big West showing.
May 9, 2026: Men’s volleyball downed fourth-seeded Ball State, 3-1, in the NCAA Semifinals at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion to advance to their fifth national championship match. AVCA National Newcomer of the Year Andrej Jokanovic led four Anteaters in double-digit kills with 18. Middle blocker Trevor Clark hit .722, tying his career high with 14 kills, while also leading the team with six total blocks. The Anteaters would fall to Hawai'i in four in the title match.
May 16, 2026: Women’s track & field successfully defended their Big West title as they ran away with their second-straight conference championship. The Anteaters demolished the program record with 187.5 points to finish with a 61.5-point margin over runner-up Cal State Fullerton. The ‘Eaters took home gold in seven events. Joy Anderson (heptathlon, 5,740) and Aoife Hernon (400m, 53.61) both broke their own school records at the conference meet. Jolie Robinson was also the runner-up in the heptathlon with a PR 5,647 points, giving both her and Anderson NCAA Championship qualifying marks.
Kenechukwu Okonkwo led the UCI men’s track & field team on the final day of the Big West Championships with a wire-to-wire victory in the triple jump. He became the Anteaters’ second Big West triple jump champion and first since 1983.
