MVB Meets UC Irvine in NCAA Semifinal Saturday

Saturday, May 9

Los Angeles, Calif.

6:30 PM

Ball State University

UC Irvine

Victor Scherer, Ryan Louis, Will Patterson and Patrick Rogers Celebrate vs Pepperdine 5/2/26

Photo by: Ball State University/Bobby Ellis

May 07, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Ball State Men's Volleyball (26-4; 13-3 MIVA) vs UC Irvine (20-8; 5-5 Big West)
2026 NCAA Tournament Semifinals	Saturday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT ESPN+
Game Notes	UC Irvine
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This Week in Ball State Men's Volleyball: The Ball State men's volleyball team sets its sight on the NCAA National Championship as the unit travels to Los Angeles, Calif. to meet UC Irvine at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on May 9 at 6:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. PT in the national semifinal. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.

What a Win Means: With an advancement to the May 11 championship final, the Cardinals would see its first appearance in the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship match in program history. Earning its 17th semifinal appearance, the Cardinals are 0-16, dating back to its first in 1970.

Overall, a national title in 2026 would be the sixth in Ball State history (two in track - 2023 by Charity Griffith & 1999 by LaTasha Jenkins; three in swimming by Patricia Bergman in 1970 & 1971). It would also be the first men's national championship in Ball State history.

NCAA Tournament History: All-time, the Cardinals are 12-30 in the NCAA Tournament. the Cardinals are competing in the NCAA semifinal for the third time this millennium, and the second time in five years. BSU made it to the national semifinal in both 2002 and 2022.

How We Got Here: With a No. 4 tournament ranking, the Cardinals not only earned a regional semifinal bye, but were awarded the opportunity to host its first regional-round matchup since 1992 -- the fifth time in program history. On May 2 in the regional final, Ball State rallied from a 14-12 deficit in the fifth set to defeat Pepperdine 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 16-14) at Riverview Health Arena, earning its first NCAA Tournament win since 1995. Patrick Rogers sparked the comeback with three consecutive clutch serves, leading to a triple block and two aces, finishing with 15 kills, four aces, and nine digs. Ryan Louis had a team-high 16 kills, while Will Patterson had a career night of 12 kills and 11 blocks. Lucas Machado orchestrated the offense with 52 assists while tallying seven blocks and six digs.

Inaugural Year of the Iandolo Era: In this first year as head coach of Ball State, Mike Iandolo earned the title of the AVCA's National Coach of they Year after leading his unit to a 2026 MIVA Regular Season and Tournament Championship, becoming the fourth out of five head coaches in program history to win both titles in the first year. At the helm of the Cardinals, the 2026 MIVA Coach of the Year has marched Ball State to a 26-4 record, the most wins since earning 27 in 1997, and a No. 7 national ranking, which includes 13 ranked wins. Ball State reached a stretch of 13 consecutive home victories in 2026, the 10th-most in the history. Heading into his first national semifinal as a head coach, Iandolo was an assistant during Ball State's last trip in 2022.

Patrick Rogers - The Senior Sensation: As the leading attacker for the Cardinals, Patrick Rogers has complied a phenomenal senior campaign in 2026, highlighted by his first-career First Team All-American honor. A three-time MIVA Offensive Player of the Week in this year, the New jersey native earned the league's player of the year award as well as first team All-MIVA at the end of the regular season. Rogers continued his dominance into the postseason, being declared MIVA Tournament MVP after leading the Cardinals to three straight sweeps to take the MIVA Tournament Championship. During Ball State's trip to the First Point Collegiate Challenge earlier this season, Rogers surpassed the 1,000 kill milestone against No. 1 UCLA, striking down 17 kills in the contest (Jan. 17). Earlier this week (May 5), Rogers was named as one of four finalists for the AVCA's 2026 Men's National Collegiate Player of the Year award.

In the summer of 2025, prior to this season, Rogers was selected to the Men's U23 National Team and Beach Collegiate National Team, earning silver at the 2025 NORCECA Pan American Cup. He also won gold with the US Men's National Team at the 2025 NORCECA Final Six in Ponce, Puerto Rico where he was named tournament MVP.

2026 All-Americans: Five Cardinals earned AVCA All-American honors this year. Along with Rogers being selected to the first team, Lucas Machado was named to the second team while Wil Basilio, Ryan Louis and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were named honorable mentions.

2026 All-MIVA: The Cardinals placed four members onto All-MIVA teams this season, with Patrick Rogers and Lucas Machado being named first team while Ryan Louis and Braydon Savitski-Lynde were named second team.

Match History - UC Irvine: These two teams have met 11 times, with the Anteaters leading the all-time series 7-4. Ball State's last win over UC Irvine was a five set victory in 2016 inside Worthen Arena (March 20). The Cardinals' opened the all-time series with three wins in consecutive years (1992, 1993 and 1994). UC Irvine has taken three sweeps over Ball State since the Cardinals' win in 2016 (2017, 2018 and 2019). Saturday will be the first time these teams meet during the NCAA Tounrament.

Scouting UC Irvine: The Anteaters hold a No. 6 national ranking, reaching as high as No. 4 midway through the 2026 season (Feb. 16-March 9). Against ranked opponents, UC Irvine is 15-8, including its most recent victory against No. 1 UCLA during the regional final (May 2). Against opponents ranked in the top 10, the Anteaters are 6-8. In its last 10 matchups, UC Irvine is 5-5.

UC Irvine finished 5-5 in conference action this year, reaching the Big West Semifinal before falling to Long Beach State in three sets (April 24).