| 2023 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Conference | Big West Conference |
| Record | 18–11 (6–4 Big West) |
| Head coach |
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| Assistant coaches |
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| Home arena | Bren Events Center |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Hawaii †‡y | 9 | – | 1 | .900 | 29 | – | 3 | .906 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 Long Beach State †y | 9 | – | 1 | .900 | 21 | – | 5 | .808 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 UC Irvine | 6 | – | 4 | .600 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 3 | – | 7 | .300 | 8 | – | 17 | .320 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC San Diego | 2 | – | 8 | .200 | 8 | – | 17 | .320 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 1 | – | 9 | .100 | 12 | – | 16 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Big West tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from AVCA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2023 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team represented the University of California, Irvine in the 2023 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The Anteaters, led by eleventh year head coach David Kniffin, played their home games at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters competed as members of the Big West Conference and were picked to finish third in the Big West preseason poll. [1]
The preseason poll was released on December 21, 2022. UC Irvine was picked to finish third in the Big West Conference standings. [3]
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawai'i | 25 (5) |
| 2 | Long Beach State | 19 |
| 3 | UC Irvine | 17 (1) |
| 4 | UC Santa Barbara | 13 |
| 5 | CSUN | 10 |
| 6 | UC San Diego | 6 |
| 2023 UC Irvine Anteaters Roster [4] | ||||||
Defensive Specialist/Libero Middle Blockers
| Outside Hitters | Opposite Hitters
Setters | ||||
TV/Internet Streaming/Radio information:
| Date Time | Opponent | Rank | Arena City (Tournament) | Television | Score | Attendance | Record (Big West Record) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/6 3 p.m. | vs. #14 Lewis | #8 | Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT | byutv.org | W 3–1 (26–28, 28–26, 25–22, 25–23) | 249 | 1–0 |
| 1/7 3 p.m. | vs. McKendree | #8 | Smith Fieldhouse Provo, UT | byutv.org | W 3–0 (36–34, 25–15, 25–19) | 152 | 2–0 |
| 1/13 7 p.m. | Emmanuel | #7 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3–0 (25–12, 25–21, 25–11) | 578 | 3-0 |
| 1/18 7 p.m. | # 10 USC | #7 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3–2 (25–22, 25–27, 23–25, 25-20, 15-11) [5] | 1,534 | 4-0 |
| 1/20 7 p.m. | Concordia Irvine | #7 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3–0 (25–21, 25–18, 25–16) [6] | 702 | 5-0 |
| 1/21 7 p.m. | @ Concordia Irvine | #7 | CU Arena Irvine, CA | EagleEye | W 3–0 (25–17, 25–20, 25–7) | 112 | 6-0 |
| 1/25 7 p.m. | #12 BYU | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3–0 (25–21, 25–23, 25–15) | 1,102 | 7-0 |
| 1/27 7 p.m. | #12 BYU | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | L 2-3 (24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 9-15) | 1,743 | 7-1 |
| 2/03 6 p.m. | @ #9 Grand Canyon | #7 | GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ | ESPN+ | L 1-3 (19-25, 19-25, 25-12, 22-25) | 1,108 | 7-2 |
| 2/04 4 p.m. | @ #9 Grand Canyon | #7 | GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ | ESPN+ | L 2-3 (21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 27-29, 13-15) | 704 | 7-3 |
| 2/08 7 p.m. | @ #6 Pepperdine | #7 | Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA | WavesCast | W 3-2 (29-27, 20-25, 25-20, 27-29, 15-9) | 623 | 8-3 |
| 2/10 7 p.m. | #6 Pepperdine | #7 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17) | 1,292 | 9-3 |
| 2/24 7 p.m. | #2 UCLA | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | L 1-3 (25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 16-25) | 2,411 | 9-4 |
| 2/26 5 p.m. | @ #2 UCLA | #6 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA | P12+ UCLA | L 1-3 (25-20, 22-25, 16-25, 25-27) | 1,306 | 9-5 |
| 3/04 3 p.m. | @ #10 Stanford | #6 | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA | P12+ STAN | W 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-22) | 793 | 10-5 |
| 3/05 5 p.m. | #3 Penn State | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | L 2-3 (34-32, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 11-15) | 881 | 10-6 |
| 3/10 7 p.m. | UC San Diego* | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-16) | 932 | 11-6 (1-0) |
| 3/11 7 p.m. | @ UC San Diego* | #6 | LionTree Arena La Jolla, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-14) | 910 | 12-6 (2-0) |
| 3/16 7 p.m. | @ UC Santa Barbara* | #6 | Robertson Gymnasium Santa Barbara, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-11, 15-11) | 312 | 13-6 (3-0) |
| 3/17 7 p.m. | UC Santa Barbara* | #6 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) | 790 | 14-6 (4-0) |
| 3/31 7 p.m. | #15 CSUN* | #5 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) | 620 | 15-6 (5-0) |
| 4/01 7 p.m. | @ #15 CSUN* | #5 | Premier America Credit Union Arena Northridge, CA | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-19) | 186 | 16-6 (6-0) |
| 4/07 9 p.m. | @ #1 Hawai'i* | #5 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | ESPN+ | L 1-3 (16-25, 25-17, 23-25, 22-25) | 7,399 | 16-7 (6-1) |
| 4/08 9 p.m. | @ #1 Hawai'i * | #5 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI | ESPN+ | L 0-3 (24-26, 20-25, 19-25) | 8,409 | 16-8 (6-2) |
| 4/14 7 p.m. | @ #4 Long Beach State* | #5 | Walter Pyramid Long Beach, CA | ESPN+ | L 0-3 (18-25, 19-25, 22-25) | 2,409 | 16-9 (6-3) |
| 4/15 5 p.m. | #4 Long Beach State* | #5 | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA | ESPN+ | L 2-3 (25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 13-15) | 1,651 | 16-10 (6-4) |
| 4/20 7:30 p.m. | CSUN (6) | #5 (3) | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA (Big West Quarterfinal) | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-18) | 1,008 | 17-10 |
| 4/21 7:30 p.m. | #4 Long Beach State (2) | #5 (3) | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA (Big West Semifinal) | ESPN+ | W 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) | 2,543 | 18-10 |
| 4/22 7 p.m. | #1 Hawai'i (1) | #5 (3) | Bren Events Center Irvine, CA (Big West Championship) | ESPNU | L 1-3 (18-25, 25-21, 13-25, 22-25) | 4,064 | 18-11 |
| Week | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AVCA Coaches | 8 [7] | 7 [8] | 7 [9] | 6 [10] | 7 [11] | 7 [12] | 6 [13] | 6 [14] | 6 [15] | 6 [16] | 6 [17] | 6 [18] | 5 [19] | 5 [20] | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Off the Block Media | Not released | 7 [21] | 5 [22] | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | ||
^The Media did not release a Pre-season or Week 1 poll.