After winning the program's third NCAA championship in six seasons in 2012, the UC Irvine men's volleyball team said goodbye to a legendary coach who some consider the best in the business, a four-time All-American who is the school's career kills leader, an All-American middle blocker, and two reserves gifted enough to start for most programs in America.
Any perception of devastation, however, was quickly dispelled by UCI's first No. 1 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches' Assn. national preseason poll. Also, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation coaches tabbed the Anteaters to finish first in the conference that has produced 39 of the last 43 national champions.
What's wrong with this picture?
Very little says first-year coach and former Anteaters assistant and setter David Kniffin, who after one season as an assistant with the Illinois women's program that reached the NCAA title match, returned to his alma mater to step in for his mentor John Speraw, who left after 10 seasons to replace the retired Al Scates at UCLA.