University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Postmatch Quotes - Men's Golf NCAA Championships
POST-MATCH QUOTES
UCLA 3.5, Arizona 1.5
Carlsbad, Calif. (Omni La Costa Resort & Spa)
Tuesdayโs National Semifinals
June 2, 2026
UCLA Head Coach Armen Kirakossian
on reaching the match play final
โAmazing, match play is so difficult. There's so many emotions ebbing and flowing within each match itself, with the overall kind of thing going on. We had an emotional one versus Texas this morning, and were able to turn it around. These afternoon ones, I've been in them before. They're so tough. You are gassed physically, you're gassed mentally, emotionally, everything. Itโs just, can you dig a little deeper? Can you pull anything else out just to kind of get through these, and you see it. The golf gets just a touch sloppier, and I'm just so proud of the way the guys just battled and brought it there, especially late. That was huge.โ
on what it means to him to reach the match play final
โOh, it's huge. It's been a while since UCLA's been in this position, so to be back and having a chance on a national stage like this is just an amazing opportunity. This is why we practice and what we play for, to get to moments like this, you don't know if you will, it takes a lot to go your way. It's going our way right now, so we'll hope for tomorrow.ย Honestly, just grateful tomorrow, just to have the opportunity to compete for national championship.โ
on the way the season has progressed to this point
โSo I think we have a young team, so that's number one. The guys were just getting more and more comfortable with college golf. But, more than anything, the buy-in with each other, I've been trying to reflect on, like, what has changed most and just how much the guys are playing for each other. There's no let up, there's no give in. I mean, they're really just battling no matter what game they have or what they feel like that day, they're just giving it everything they have, and that's pretty special. As a coach, you're fortunate if you ever get a team like that, and I'm just so fortunate that the guys are fighting so hard.
on being a potential underdog in the final tomorrow
โI think in golf, you just got to go out and earn it every single day. That's something that we talk about on our team, and once you step up on the first tee, rankings and leaderboards and all that stuff goes out, you just got to go play golf. Obviously, we had two really difficult opponents today, and it went our way. I don't really think about it that way. I just think, hey, you got to go up and you're just going to have to play, play your best and see what that turns out.โ
UCLA sophomore Baylor Larrabee
on advancing to the match play final
โI would just say I feel incredibly blessed just for my teammates, and I mean, this opportunity has been unbelievable, just to compete here. I think that keeping that grateful attitude has really helped me, this tournament especially, just because there's so much pressure on the line, so much just kind of going on at once. You just kind of sit back in the moment and realize, like, dude, when I was eight years old, this is, like, all you dream of. I think that's a really important mindset to keep in use this week, especially. So I feel incredibly grateful for my teammates, especially and just in general.โ
on experiencing the tournament last year and applying at this yearโs event
โI would say, I lean on it a ton. I mean, just seeing, especially how Omar [Morales] and Pablo [Ereño] handle themselves under pressure and kind of were able to manage themselves and manage their games. I mean, I use what I learned from those two last year all the time. Also, just the experience of kind of everything that happened last year โ coming out here and just getting kind of whooped by the golf course really helped me a lot, kind of showed me holes in my game and showed me where I needed to improve. So I would say just as a whole, I've used last year a ton.โ
on if he was aware of the other matches being close late on against Arizona
โI was. I was looking around at the leaderboard and stuff. I was aware. I think it's hard not to be, because they have all these leaderboards out and then you kind of see the UCLA and you're like, โOh, I got to look at it.โ So I was.โ
UCLA junior Alex Papayoanou
on his day overall, facing both Texas and Arizona
โWhen I was three down through three, and I was three down with six to play, but I was hitting the ball really well, and just not really making anything, and kind of coming down the stretch, I hit some important shots, made some putts, and I finally made that eagle putt down there on the 20th hole [against Texas]. Then in the afternoon came out, started out decent and hitting it well. And then kind of the middle of the round, my swing just got really off and I was hitting it everywhere. I kind of just persevered, my short game was pretty good, and my putting was good, and I never gave up on the hole, even when it looked like I was completely out of it. I tied a bunch of holes where I should have lost, and I feel like that was the main difference.โ
on clinching the match to send the team to Wednesdayโs title contest
โIโm just excited for tomorrow. It's a fun moment, but you still got tomorrow.โ
on the opportunity to play for a national title
โOh, it's chills. I mean you could talk to the rest of us. I mean, looking back in March, April, and if you told us we'd be playing in the national championship final, we'd tell you you're out of your mind, and we kept believing, we kept grinding. Made it to regionals, won the Big Ten Championship, and now we're here, it was a team effort.โ
UCLA 3.5, Arizona 1.5
Carlsbad, Calif. (Omni La Costa Resort & Spa)
Tuesdayโs National Semifinals
June 2, 2026
UCLA Head Coach Armen Kirakossian
on reaching the match play final
โAmazing, match play is so difficult. There's so many emotions ebbing and flowing within each match itself, with the overall kind of thing going on. We had an emotional one versus Texas this morning, and were able to turn it around. These afternoon ones, I've been in them before. They're so tough. You are gassed physically, you're gassed mentally, emotionally, everything. Itโs just, can you dig a little deeper? Can you pull anything else out just to kind of get through these, and you see it. The golf gets just a touch sloppier, and I'm just so proud of the way the guys just battled and brought it there, especially late. That was huge.โ
on what it means to him to reach the match play final
โOh, it's huge. It's been a while since UCLA's been in this position, so to be back and having a chance on a national stage like this is just an amazing opportunity. This is why we practice and what we play for, to get to moments like this, you don't know if you will, it takes a lot to go your way. It's going our way right now, so we'll hope for tomorrow.ย Honestly, just grateful tomorrow, just to have the opportunity to compete for national championship.โ
on the way the season has progressed to this point
โSo I think we have a young team, so that's number one. The guys were just getting more and more comfortable with college golf. But, more than anything, the buy-in with each other, I've been trying to reflect on, like, what has changed most and just how much the guys are playing for each other. There's no let up, there's no give in. I mean, they're really just battling no matter what game they have or what they feel like that day, they're just giving it everything they have, and that's pretty special. As a coach, you're fortunate if you ever get a team like that, and I'm just so fortunate that the guys are fighting so hard.
on being a potential underdog in the final tomorrow
โI think in golf, you just got to go out and earn it every single day. That's something that we talk about on our team, and once you step up on the first tee, rankings and leaderboards and all that stuff goes out, you just got to go play golf. Obviously, we had two really difficult opponents today, and it went our way. I don't really think about it that way. I just think, hey, you got to go up and you're just going to have to play, play your best and see what that turns out.โ
UCLA sophomore Baylor Larrabee
on advancing to the match play final
โI would just say I feel incredibly blessed just for my teammates, and I mean, this opportunity has been unbelievable, just to compete here. I think that keeping that grateful attitude has really helped me, this tournament especially, just because there's so much pressure on the line, so much just kind of going on at once. You just kind of sit back in the moment and realize, like, dude, when I was eight years old, this is, like, all you dream of. I think that's a really important mindset to keep in use this week, especially. So I feel incredibly grateful for my teammates, especially and just in general.โ
on experiencing the tournament last year and applying at this yearโs event
โI would say, I lean on it a ton. I mean, just seeing, especially how Omar [Morales] and Pablo [Ereño] handle themselves under pressure and kind of were able to manage themselves and manage their games. I mean, I use what I learned from those two last year all the time. Also, just the experience of kind of everything that happened last year โ coming out here and just getting kind of whooped by the golf course really helped me a lot, kind of showed me holes in my game and showed me where I needed to improve. So I would say just as a whole, I've used last year a ton.โ
on if he was aware of the other matches being close late on against Arizona
โI was. I was looking around at the leaderboard and stuff. I was aware. I think it's hard not to be, because they have all these leaderboards out and then you kind of see the UCLA and you're like, โOh, I got to look at it.โ So I was.โ
UCLA junior Alex Papayoanou
on his day overall, facing both Texas and Arizona
โWhen I was three down through three, and I was three down with six to play, but I was hitting the ball really well, and just not really making anything, and kind of coming down the stretch, I hit some important shots, made some putts, and I finally made that eagle putt down there on the 20th hole [against Texas]. Then in the afternoon came out, started out decent and hitting it well. And then kind of the middle of the round, my swing just got really off and I was hitting it everywhere. I kind of just persevered, my short game was pretty good, and my putting was good, and I never gave up on the hole, even when it looked like I was completely out of it. I tied a bunch of holes where I should have lost, and I feel like that was the main difference.โ
on clinching the match to send the team to Wednesdayโs title contest
โIโm just excited for tomorrow. It's a fun moment, but you still got tomorrow.โ
on the opportunity to play for a national title
โOh, it's chills. I mean you could talk to the rest of us. I mean, looking back in March, April, and if you told us we'd be playing in the national championship final, we'd tell you you're out of your mind, and we kept believing, we kept grinding. Made it to regionals, won the Big Ten Championship, and now we're here, it was a team effort.โ