LOS ANGELES >> Without the expansion to 12 teams for the National Collegiate Men\u2019s Volleyball Championships this year, UC Irvine wouldn\u2019t be one win away from a national title.<\/p>\n
The Anteaters would have been sent home in the semifinals of the Big West tournament two weeks ago when they were swept by Long Beach State at Bren Events Center.<\/p>\n
Instead of calling it a season, UCI has rallied with three straight wins at Pauley Pavilion, including a monumental upset of No. 1 seed UCLA in the regional final, to earn a third crack at Hawaii in Monday\u2019s national final at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n
UC Irvine (21-8) was one of the last of five at-large teams selected to the tournament, which was increased from two the previous year.<\/p>\n
The third-place team from the Big West is now one victory away from a national championship, which seemed very unlikely after they were dominated by the Beach on their home floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, we haven\u2019t had to play Hawaii or Long Beach,\u201d UC Irvine coach David Kniffin joked about UCI\u2019s run to the national final. \u201cI think the thing that has been the biggest change for us since we stepped into Pauley Pavilion is just our commitment to play between the whistles.\u201d<\/p>\n
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UC Irvine\u2019s Andrej Jokanovic, the Big West Freshman of the Year, had 18 kills to lead four Anteaters in double figures in a 25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19 win over No. 4 seed Ball State in the first tournament semifinal on Saturday.<\/p>\n
UCI\u2019s balanced offensive attack was enough to turn away the Cardinals, who got a match-high 20 kills from senior outside hitter Patrick Rodgers.<\/p>\n
The Anteaters\u2019 run has included five-set victories over Penn State, the EIVA champion, and the MPSF champion Bruins.<\/p>\n
Ball State, winner of the MIVA, got to the NCAA Final Four by beating Pepperdine in five sets.<\/p>\n
Now UC Irvine has to deal with a Hawaii team it lost to twice in the Big West regular season, including in straight sets in the rematch on night two.<\/p>\n
The Anteaters are 0-5 this season against the Big West\u2019s top two teams, UH and Long Beach State.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very aware that if there wasn\u2019t tournament expansion, then we wouldn\u2019t have been in a conversation for that (NCAA) first round. We wouldn\u2019t have a chance to be here,\u201d Kniffin said. \u201cYou put good enough teams out there and if we played this tournament over 10 times, it\u2019s probably not three Big West teams going at it now in the Final Four, but because we\u2019ve got a bigger field and volleyball is a funny game where every time the whistle blows, it ends in a point. Overall it is just a really cool moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Big West is guaranteed to have the national champion for the sixth time in eight years since the league added men\u2019s volleyball in 2018.<\/p>\n
UC Irvine won four national titles in seven years when John Speraw coached the team to three of them before Kniffin took over and won in his first season in 2013.<\/p>\n
Hawaii is making its fifth trip to the NCAA final in the past seven seasons after making it four consecutive times from 2019 to \u201923. No tournament was held during the COVID-19 year in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that we will never take for granted. We know how difficult it is to achieve this,\u201d Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. \u201cThis is the third time that two Big West teams will be playing each other in the final. We\u2019re very fortunate that volleyball is a big deal in the Big West. They do a lot to give us a platform to play at the highest level, and I think it is recognized not only across the country but around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
RELATED:<\/p>\n
>> UH volleyball team advances to its seventh national final<\/a><\/p>\n