2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men’s volleyball team: Difference between revisions

 

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|short_conf= Big West

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|head_coach= David Kniffin

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! colspan=2 style=”{{CollegePrimaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Men’s Volleyball Game Log (4–0)

! colspan=2 style=”{{CollegePrimaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Men’s Volleyball Game Log (4–0)

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! colspan=2 style=”{{CollegePrimaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | Regular Season (4–0)

! colspan=2 style=”{{CollegePrimaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | Regular Season ()

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{| class=”wikitable collapsible” style=”margin:auto; width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:95%”

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! colspan=12 style=”padding-left:4em;{{CollegeSecondaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | January (4–0)

! colspan=12 style=”padding-left:4em;{{CollegeSecondaryStyle|UC Irvine Anteaters}}” | January ()

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! bgcolor=”#DDDDFF” | Date

! bgcolor=”#DDDDFF” | Date

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| January 16 || [[Big Ten Network|B1G+]] || T-No. 3 [[Pepperdine Waves|Pepperdine]]* || No. 7 || [[Firestone Fieldhouse]]<br><small>[[Malibu, California]]</small> || 3–1 || (25–23, 26–24, 22–25, 25–20) || 906 || 5–0 || —

| January 16 || [[Big Ten Network|B1G+]] || T-No. 3 [[Pepperdine Waves|Pepperdine]]* || No. 7 || [[Firestone Fieldhouse]]<br><small>[[Malibu, California]]</small> || 3–1 || (25–23, 26–24, 22–25, 25–20) || 906 || 5–0 || —

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| January 23 || B1G+/[[BYUtv]] || at No. 8 [[2026 BYU Cougars men’s volleyball team|BYU]]* || No. 5 || [[Smith Fieldhouse]] <small><br>[[Provo, Utah]]</small> || || || || || —

| January 23 || B1G+/[[BYUtv]] || at No. 8 [[2026 BYU Cougars men’s volleyball team|BYU]]* || No. 5 || [[Smith Fieldhouse]] <small><br>[[Provo, Utah]]</small> || || || || || —

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| January 24 || B1G+/BYUtv || at No. 8 BYU* || No. 5 || Smith Fieldhouse || || || || || —

| January 24 || B1G+/BYUtv || at No. 8 BYU* || No. 5 || Smith Fieldhouse || || || || || —

American college men’s volleyball season

The 2026 UC Irvine Anteaters men’s volleyball team is the varsity intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of California, Irvine. The team’s home venue is 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 they’ve expanded to accommodate the sport’s growth.^[3]

2026 Big West Conference men’s volleyball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Long Beach State ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			5	–	0		1.000
No. 5 UC Irvine ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			5	–	0		1.000
No. 17 UC Santa Barbara ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			4	–	0		1.000
No. 3 Hawai’i ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			7	–	1		.875
No. 16 CSUN ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			4	–	1		.800
No. 11 UC San Diego ‍‍‍	0	–	0		–			3	–	2		.600
† – Conference champion ‡ – 2026 Big West Tournament champion y- Invited to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament As of January 19, 2026 Rankings from AVCA

Last season, UC Irvine finished with a 21–7 record, going 6–4 in the Big West, and finishing third in the conference. They did not receive an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA men’s volleyball tournament despite being ranked fourth in the nation at the time. The Anteaters fell to eventual 2025 Big West tournament champions, Hawai’i, 1–3.^[4] UC Irvine finished the season ranked fifth in the nation having not received a bid.^[5]

Source:^[6]

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.

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

Source:^[7]

2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Roster
	Libero/Defensive Specialists 1 Shane Atiken – RS Sophomore Setters 2 Micah Tumas – RS Freshman 15 Cameron Kosty – RS Freshman (also listed as an opposite hitter) 24 Aidan Rigg – RS Sophomore 27 Aidan Schulten – RS Junior		Middle Blockers 7 Micah Goss – Sophomore 8 Lukas Winn – Sophomore 10 Nicolas Restrepo – RS Sophomore 11 Kobe Brown – RS Sophomore 13 Beck Weber – RS Junior 19 Alec Apelian – Sophomore		Outside Hitters 6 Tim Ennis – Sophomore 9 Andrej Jokanovic – Freshman 12 Trevor Clark – Junior (also listed as an opposite hitter) 16 Aidan Cuppett – Sophomore 23 Andreas Brinck – Freshman Opposite Hitters 5 William D’Arcy – Senior 14 Andon Kiriakou – Junior

2025 UC Irvine Anteaters Coaching Staff

David Kniffin – head coach – 14th year Michael Brinkley – assistant coach – 3rd year

Source:^[8]

Legend
	Anteaters win
	Anteaters loss
	Postponement
*	Non-Conference Game

2026 UC Irvine Anteaters Men’s Volleyball Game Log (4–0)
Regular Season (6–0)
January (6–0) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC UC Santa Barbara Invitational January 8 ESPN+ vs. Harvard* No. 6 The Thunderdome Santa Barbara, California 3–0 (25–17, 25–16, 25–13) 150 1–0 — January 9 ESPN+ vs. Kentucky State* No. 6 The Thunderdome 3–0 (25–9, 25–7, 25–5) 50 2–0 — January 10 ESPN+ vs. Maryville* No. 6 The Thunderdome 3–0 (25–16, 25–18, 25–21) 55 3–0 — January 14 — No. 18 Princeton* No. 7 Bren Events Center Irvine, California 3–0 (25–17, 25–19, 25–10) 1,594 4–0 — January 16 B1G+ T-No. 3 Pepperdine* No. 7 Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, California 3–1 (25–23, 26–24, 22–25, 25–20) 906 5–0 — January 23 B1G+/BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 5 Smith Fieldhouse Provo, Utah 3–2 (16–25, 21–25, 26–24, 25–23, 15–13) 4,255 6–0 — January 24 B1G+/BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 5 Smith Fieldhouse — January 30 — Stanford* Bren Events Center — January 31 — Stanford* Bren Events Center —
Postseason (0–0)

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AVCA	6	7	5