The No. 6 UC Irvine (21-8, 5-5) Anteaters defeated the No. 7 Ball State University (26-5, 13-3) Cardinals, 3-1 in a National Collegiate semifinal matchup at Pauley Pavillion on May 9.
UCI arrived at the national semifinal match following a win over No. 1 UC Los Angeles on May 2.
The match was off to a good start for Ball State, who went up 2-0 in the first set with two early blocks. UCI responded with two kills of their own to tie the set up at two. The ‘Eaters went up 8-6 after freshman Andreas Brinck had two consecutive kills.
Irvine took a more commanding lead of 13-9 in the first set, which prompted Ball State to call a timeout. As UCI’s lead jumped to 18-13 in the first set, the Cardinals called their final timeout of the first set.
Ball State came out of the timeout with a kill, inches in front of the 10-foot line to make the score 18-14. UC Irvine fought for their next point, but immediately gave Ball State a point following a service error.
An ‘Eaters service error brought the Cardinals closer at 21-16, as another service error into the top of the net from sophomore middle blocker Micah Goss made the score 21-17. However, a block and kill put UCI in a commanding position in the first set, 23-17 — soon taking the first set 25-19 following a block.
Ball State had a good start in the second set with a kill, but Irvine junior outside hitter/opposite Trevor Clark had two big blocks and the eventual kill on a play to put UCI up 3-2. The set was tied at four following Brinck hitting a ball wide and picking up a kill.
Ball State got up to a 10-7 lead, which prompted an Anteater timeout and a loud response from the four rows of Ball State supporters who went to their feet.
A kill from Clark brought the score to 10-8 in favor of Ball State. In the point which put Ball State up 13-9, a ball was played off of the scoreboard.
UCI head coach David Kniffin challenged the call, which put Ball State ahead 15-10, and was then overturned. The Cardinals were able to build a five point lead as they went ahead 17-12.
After what was announced as a “monster block” to the people in attendance, the Anteaters cut Ball State’s lead to 18-15. Redshirt freshman setter/opposite Cameron Kosty set the ball no more than a foot high over the net, which led to a 20-15 lead for Ball State. Ball State closed out the set 25-23 after back and forth kills to finish the set.
In the third set early on, the Cardinals held multiple two point leads, but UC Irvine tied the set at 11 following an attack which hit an antenna. Kosty helped the Anteaters pick up a short lived lead 13-12.
Freshman outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic claimed a kill that put the ‘Eaters up 17-14 and 18-15 before a wide hit from the Cardinals put UCI up 19-15. After a Ball State timeout, Jokanovic committed a service error which prompted a small Cardinals run and cut UCI’s lead to 19-17.
A joust loss by the Anteaters led the Cardinals to cut the lead to one: 20-19. On the next play. a touch from Ball State on a ball which went out led to a 21-19 lead for the ‘Eaters.
UC Irvine was the first team to break the 22 mark in the third set off a ball hit off of a Cardinals player. A massive block by Jokanovic gave UCI a 23-21 lead and a lot of the momentum which prompted a Ball State timeout.
A “Ball U” chant from the crowd was followed by a Ball State score which cut UCI’s lead to 23-22. On the next play, the set was tied at 23 and Irvine took a timeout.
The Anteaters went to set point up 24-23, which saw Goss serving. After the Cardinals tied the set with a kill, the Anteaters took the final timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Ball State had a big block which put them up 25-24.
After a faulty serve and a ball which hit the net, UCI was up to set point and promptly closed the set out 27-25 to go up 2-1 in sets.
The fourth set started out close with a back and forth battle ensuing until the points started to go into double digits.
A 14-11 UC Irvine lead led to a Ball State timeout. Following that, the ‘Eaters extended their lead to 17-13 as the Cardinals called their final timeout of the set.
Despite the team’s struggles, Ball State senior outside hitter Patrick Rogers had a strong and challenging kill to cut the lead to 18-15. However, a net serve put UCI up 19-15.
The Anteaters would then go on a 6-4 run there to take the fourth set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
“The experience overall has been really good,” said Ball State head coach Mike Iandolo at a post-match press conference. “I think the NCAA and UCLA put on a great event and you know the fan turnout was awesome you know especially for matches that don’t involve UCLA, we got a lot of crowd which is really fun to see.”
“That’s a great volleyball match with great attendance,” said Kniffin at a post-match press conference. “Again I’ve been saying it all week but that’s just a win for the volleyball industry. There’s some players on that team that I’m super impressed with and I’m just thrilled that was a win for volleyball as a whole.”
Kniffin also shared some thoughts post-match on the Big West’s representation at the national semifinals.
“I think it’s really cool anytime, you know for the conference they have to be excited and you know Shane [Aitken] said it really well the other night and it bears repeating we are very aware that if there wasn’t tournament expansion we wouldn’t have even been in the conversation for that first round, we wouldn’t have had a chance to be here and so I think you put enough good teams out there and we play this tournament over 10 times it probably is not three Big West teams going at it now into the final four” said Kniffin.
UC Irvine now will take on the University of Hawai’i at Manoa in the national championship game at Pauley Pavillion which will be nationally televised on ESPN2 on May 11.
Jack Fedor is the 2025-26 Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Tracy Sandoval