Trevor Clarke has not been shy about the high expectations for UC Irvine this season.
Earlier in the season, players for their online biography page on the team’s website provided answers to a series of questions ranging from why they chose UC Irvine to their favorite song. Clarke when asked what are you most excited for this year simply answered winning a championship.
Clark lived up to all those expectations Saturday in Los Angeles to put UC Irvine in the championship match.
Clark finished with 14 kills on a .722 attack percentage and a team-high six blocks as UC Irvine defeated the No. 4 Ball State 25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.
The offseason junior college transfer did not commit an attack error until midway through the third game and ended the match with one error. It also was the third consecutive match in the NCAA Tournament that Clark had double-digit kills and hit at least .400.
UC Irvine had four players with double-digit kills and out-hit Ball State .362 to .234.
Freshman outside attacker Andrej Jokanovic had a team-high 18 kills on a .308 attack percentage, including the game-winning kill in the third-game overtime. Outside attacker Anreas Brincks contributed 13 kills and hit .300, while opposite William D’Arcy had 12 kills.
D’Arcy and libero Shane Aitken also both had a match-high 10 digs.
UC Irvine held Ball State to its second-lowest attack percentage of the season. The Cardinals entered the semifinals with a nation-best .385 attack percentage and had hit more than .300 in 11 consecutive matches.
Outside attacker Patrick Rogers in the loss had a match-high 20 kills on a .304 attack percentage. Rogers, though, was the only Ball State pin-hitter to hit more than .100.
Middle attacker Will Patterson added nine kills on a .533 attack percentage against the Anteaters.
Patterson also had a match-high eight blocks.
UC Irvine hit a match-best .600 and committed two errors in the final game to complete the victory. In addition, Brinck had three consecutive kills to jumpstart a 7-2 run midway through the game and give the Anteaters a lead it would not relinquish.
Ball State trailed 19-15 in the third game before rallying with a 6-2 run to tie the game and then fought off a game-point to force overtime.
The Cardinals took the advantage in overtime with a triple block on Jokanovic. Ball State, though, committed back-to-back errors to give UC Irvine the lead and Jokanovic closed out the game with a kill.
Rogers had a game-high nine kills in the second game to help Ball State even the match. In addition, Rogers had three kills as part of a 7-3 run midway through the game.
UC Irvine limited Ball State to a .114 attack percentage in its opening-game win. Clark led all players with four blocks in the first game, including having the game-winning block.
UC Irvine with this victory will advance to play the winner of the semifinal match between the No. 2 seed Hawai’i and the No. 3 seed Long Beach State.
Ball State was attempting to reach the NCAA Tournament finals for the first time in program history. The Cardinals are 0-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.