{"id":3980,"date":"2026-05-10T22:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3980"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T22:01:18","slug":"uc-irvine-created-a-mens-volleyball-haven-and-its-riding-the-energy-into-the-ncaa-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3980","title":{"rendered":"UC Irvine created a men\u2019s volleyball haven, and it\u2019s riding the energy into the NCAA finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Each UC Irvine men\u2019s volleyball player gripped a white, plastic mini volleyball while waiting to hear their name ring through Pauley Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3978\">UFC 327: Carlos Ulberg wins UFC light heavyweight belt with 1st-round KO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One by one, the Anteaters jogged toward their fans and hurled the NCAA tournament semifinals souvenir into the crowd. Just a small way of saying \u201cthanks\u201d to those who have supported them through a tournament run that few saw coming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn those moments, I remember that I don\u2019t play only for myself,\u201d freshman outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic told reporters. \u201cI also play for everyone who is in the crowd, for all my teammates, and it gets me even more fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unseeded UC Irvine (21-8) conquered Penn State and top-seeded UCLA \u2014 both in five sets \u2014 before beating fourth-seeded Ball State on Saturday night in the semifinals. The \u2018Eaters are now in a position to give their loyal fans the ultimate gift of gratitude: an NCAA title.<\/p>\n<p>Second-seeded Hawai\u2019i (29-5), which beat third-seeded Long Beach State in the semifinals, awaits UC Irvine in Monday\u2019s 4 p.m. championship game. It\u2019ll be UCI\u2019s first appearance in a championship game since it won a national title in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>That season was also head coach David Kniffin\u2019s first with the program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see a lot of similarities,\u201d Kniffin said. \u201cI did not lead that team, and I am not leading this team. This team is leading this team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been so fun to be able to have high-level adult conversations about not just the volleyball, but also expectations, and if there\u2019s one thing \u2014 I\u2019m not asking them to do anything that\u2019s outside their skill set. The back and forth has just been really honest.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>UC Irvine probably would not have even been in the position to compete for a national title if not for this season\u2019s tournament expansion. Twelve teams were accepted into the tournament this season, as opposed to only nine in previous seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3977\">Clippers land No. 5 pick in NBA Draft<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Four seeds were up for grabs, making UC Irvine an at-large team and, mathematically, a long shot to win the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow we\u2019ve got a legitimate hype, a buildup, a runway going into the final four that we have never had before,\u201d Kniffin said of the expansion. \u201cNow you get the opportunity to have some of these things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The school has rallied around its volleyball program. The average attendance for games has been 2,283 fans, not just because of the quality of the product, but also due to promotional efforts by administration.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The team stood outside of the Anteatery, UC Irvine\u2019s dining facility, encouraging the student body to attend games. Players walked into the stands between sets and dished out high-fives, thanking them for coming \u2014 and they soon added free pizza into the mix.<\/p>\n<p>Buses of fans who learned to cheer for volleyball through social media videos posted by the team arrived at Pauley Pavilion wearing shirts that read \u201cwhy not us\u201d on Saturday. Even more may battle the 405 freeway on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to re-inspire a public that is wondering what is the value of collegiate sports and what is collegiate sports right now,\u201d Kniffin said. \u201cWhy should we still get excited about this and why should we support it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We have the opportunity to have great community engagement. And I think we can do that in an authentic, student-athlete way and that\u2019s just super exciting for me. I don\u2019t know how much longer that\u2019s going to last in collegiate sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=3975\">Ducks concerned about power-play drought against Golden Knights<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>NCAA MEN\u2019S VOLLEYBALL FINALS<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Who:<\/strong> UC Irvine (21-8) vs. No. 2 seed Hawai\u2019i (29-5)<\/p>\n<p><strong>When:<\/strong>\u00a0Monday, 4 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where:<\/strong>\u00a0Pauley Pavilion<\/p>\n<p><strong>TV\/Radio:<\/strong>\u00a0ESPN2<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The unseeded Anteaters conclude their magical tournament run with a championship match against second-seeded Hawai&#8217;i<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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