2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team
American college men's volleyball season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team is the varsity intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of California, Irvine. The Anteaters, led by head coach David Kniffin, play their home games in the Bren Events Center located on campus in Irvine, California. They also play at Crawford Hall for smaller games. UCI has been a member of the Big West Conference since the 2017–18 season, when the league began sponsoring the sport.[1] UC Irvine begins the season ranked sixth in the nation.[2] This year is also the first year that twelve teams will have a chance to play in the NCAA men's volleyball tournament, as the NCAA expanded the tournament to accommodate the sport's growth.[3]
- David Kniffin (14th season)
| 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball | |
|---|---|
| |
| Conference | Big West Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 6 |
| Record | 20–8 (5–5 Big West) |
| Head coach |
|
| Assistant coach | Michael Brinkley (3rd season) |
| Home stadium | Bren Events Center Crawford Hall |
Due to the expansion of the tournament, UC Irvine was granted an at-large bid to the UCLA regional, and played Penn State in the regional round, where they won 3–2.[4] Thus, UC Irvine went on to play UCLA in the regional finals, where they upset the No. 1 seed 3–2.[5] This marked their first win against UCLA since 2017.[6] They will play Ball State in the semifinals for a chance to play for their fifth national championship.
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 3 Hawaii †y | 9 | – | 1 | .900 | 27 | – | 5 | .844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Long Beach State ‡y | 8 | – | 2 | .800 | 25 | – | 4 | .862 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 UC Irvine y | 5 | – | 5 | .500 | 20 | – | 8 | .714 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 UC Santa Barbara | 5 | – | 5 | .500 | 14 | – | 12 | .538 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 11 UC San Diego | 3 | – | 7 | .300 | 13 | – | 14 | .481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Cal State Northridge | 0 | – | 10 | .000 | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Big West tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of May 2, 2026 Rankings from AVCA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous season
Last season, UC Irvine finished with a 21–7 record, going 6–4 in the Big West, and finished third in the conference. They did not receive an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA men's volleyball tournament while being ranked fourth in the nation at the time. The Anteaters fell to eventual 2025 Big West tournament champions, Hawai'i, 1–3.[7] UC Irvine finished the season ranked fifth in the nation following the tournament's conclusion.[8]
Preseason
Source:[9]
Both the preseason All-Big West team, and the Big West Coaches' Poll were released on December 29, 2025. UC Irvine did not have any players make the preseason team.
Big West Coaches' Poll
| Pos. | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Long Beach State | 24 (4) |
| 2 | Hawai'i | 22 (2) |
| 3 | UC Irvine | 17 |
| T-4 | CSUN | 9 |
| UC San Diego | ||
| UC Santa Barbara |
Roster
Source:[10]
| No. | Name | Position | Height | Year | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shane Aitken | L | 6'0" | R-So. | San Clemente, Calif. |
| 2 | Micah Tumas | S | 6'7" | R-Fr. | West Palm Beach, FL |
| 3 | Aidan Rigg | S | 6'6" | R-So. | Honolulu, HI |
| 4 | Andon Kiriakou | OPP | 6'2" | Jr. | Toronto, Canada |
| 5 | William D'Arcy | OPP | 6'10" | Sr. | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| 6 | Tim Ennis | OH | 6'4" | So. | Scotch Plains, NJ |
| 7 | Micah Goss | MB | 6'6" | So. | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| 8 | Lukas Winn | MB | 6'6" | So. | Castro, Valley, Calif. |
| 9 | Andrej Jokanovic | OH | 6'7" | Fr. | Cannes, France |
| 10 | Nicolas Restrepo | MB | 6'9" | R-So. | Camarillo, Calif. |
| 11 | Kobe Brown | MB | 6'9" | R-So. | Petaluma, Calif. |
| 12 | Trevor Clark | OH/OPP | 6'10" | Jr. | Lake Elsinore, Calif. |
| 13 | Beck Weber | MB | 6'8" | R-Jr. | Long Beach, Calif. |
| 15 | Cameron Kosty | S/OPP | 6'5" | R-Fr. | Hayward, Calif. |
| 16 | Aidan Cuppett | OH | 6'3" | So. | Los Altos, Calif |
| 19 | Alec Apelian | MB | 6'7" | So. | Irvine, Calif. |
| 23 | Andreas Brinck | — | 6'10" | Fr. | Vaerloesse, Denmark |
| 27 | Aidan Schulten | S | 5'8" | R-Jr. | Seal Beach, Calif. |
Coaches
| Position | Name | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | David Kniffin | 14th |
| Assistant Coach | Michael Brinkley | 3rd |
Schedule
Source:[11]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Anteaters win | |
| Anteaters loss | |
| Postponement | |
| * | Non-Conference Game |
| 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Men's Volleyball Game Log (20–8) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Season (17–7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Postseason (3–1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards
Andrej Jokanovic won the Big West Freshman of the Year award for his performance this year, revealed on April 28.[13]
| Big West Freshman of the Year | ||||
| Player | No. | Position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrej Jokanovic | 9 | Outside Hitter | ||
The postseason All-Big West team was released on April 22, 2026, a day prior to the beginning of the Big West tournament. The Big West All-Freshman team was released at the same time.[14]
| All-Big West Team | ||||
| Award | Player | No. | Position | Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Team | William D'Arcy | 5 | Opposite | Senior |
| First Team | Andrej Jokanovic | 9 | Outside Hitter | Freshman |
| Honorable Mention | Shane Aitken | 1 | Libero | RS Sophomore |
| Honorable Mention | Trevor Clark | 12 | Outside Hitter/Opposite | Junior |
| Big West All-Freshman Team | ||
| Player | No. | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Andrej Jokanovic | 9 | Outside Hitter |
| Cameron Kosty | 15 | Setter/Opposite |