LOS ANGELES - -  Fourth-ranked Ball State saw its run to a national title come to an end Saturday evening, suffering a 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19) setback to UC Irvine in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship at Pauley Pavilion.
 
After dropping the opening set 25-19, the Cardinals (26-5) were able to even the match with a 25-23 victory in the second stanza. Unfortunately, the Anteaters (21-8) took a thrilling third frame 27-25, before winning the fourth 25-19.

"I'm super proud of our guys," head coach Mike Iandolo stated. "We achieved something that has only been done for the third time since 2000 for our program, so these guys have a lot to be proud of."
 
In his final match for Ball State, senior Patrick Rogers led all players with 20 kills and finished the match hitting .304 (20-6-46). He also collected seven digs and a service ace. Will Patterson was second on the squad with nine kills, while hitting .533 (9-1-15) and collecting a match-high eight total blocks. 

Ball State captured 13.5 blocks in total, it's 10th match this season hitting the double-digit mark, aided by Ryan Louis and Wil Basiliio who had five each. The pair also combined for 11 kills, with Louis totaling six while Basilio recorded five. 
 
Andrej Jokanovic led a quartet of UC Irvine attackers with 18 kills, while William D'Arcy and Shane Aitken tied for match-high honors with 10 digs apiece. The Anteaters' backcourt effort, which included 48 digs, helped limit the Cardinals' NCAA-leading offense fo a .234 rate of success in the match.

"We walk out of here with our heads high," Iandolo stated. "We kept fighting, we held confidence within each other and played through until the end. We'll be back, and our guys have set the stage for that."