COLLEGES:

Ryan Ammerman is hoping for two more matches, two more wins and one final assist.

Should the 6-foot-9 senior setter, who has risen from obscurity to become a first-team All-American, lead the top-seeded UC Irvine men’s volleyball team to its second NCAA championship in three seasons this weekend at BYU, he will likely spend a moment celebrating with teammates, before quickly turning his attention to his family in the Smith Fieldhouse stands.

He will find his father Brett, also 6-9 and still as visibly fit as he was when he played basketball and club volleyball at Purdue. He will also acknowledge his 5-11 mother, Maria, who played collegiate volleyball at Alaska-Anchorage.

He will find other siblings, as well, but will particularly be hoping to make eye contact with his 5-year-old brother, Sebastian.

When those eyes do meet, for the first time in months, there will be deep meaning for both.

“Whenever he sees me, his eyes light up,” Ryan said of Sebastian, who was born with Down syndrome and diagnosed almost three years ago with Leukemia. “And he loves for me to hold him for a period of time. It’s good.”

Time spent with Sebastian has always been quality time for Ryan, who has missed his youngest brother most of all, since leaving home to come to UCI.

“We definitely have a connection,” said Ryan, whom Sebastian will watch in person for the first time in his career, should UCI defeat Ohio State in Thursday’s semifinal and reach Saturday’s title match against either Penn State or USC.

“I enjoy spending time with him,” Ryan said. “I guess you could say he’s always in the back of my mind.”

Sebastian, or at least his initials — SMA (middle name Michael) — are also tatooed on Ryan’s left rib cage. Ryan also changed his jersey number from 18 to three after learning Sebastian had Leukemia, the diagnosis coming the day before his brother’s third birthday.

Ryan, whose progress toward becoming one of the nation’s elite setters was fraught with so much frustration, he almost quit the program on more than one occasion — including last summer while touring Europe — said he has gained continual inspiration from Sebastian.

“He’s definitely been though so much and gone through so much at an early age,” said Ryan, who endured a stress-induced affliction that caused his hair to fall out in clumps last season. “It makes me realize that while I’ve been through some tough times, it’s nothing compared to what he has been through. He’s a much tougher individual than I am.”

Sebastian’s toughness was apparent as he endured 30 months of debilitating chemotherapy. The treatments have, at times, rendered him extremely sick.

Sebastian was too ill to make the trip when Ryan, then a backup setter, and UCI won the program’s first national title at Ohio State in 2007.

Sebastian was also very sick in late March, threatening a scheduled trip by Ryan’s parents to watch UCI play visiting Hawaii in back-to-back conference matches. But a decision to end the chemotherapy treatments, six months before their scheduled fruition, allowed Sebastian to regain his strength enough for Brett and Maria to attend the Hawaii matches.

“It kind of goes in waves,” Ryan said of Sebastian’s condition during his 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy. “Some days he’s good; some days he’s bad.”

Sebastian is much stronger, these days, and scheduled to make the trip for Saturday’s final.

It’s after a victory in that final that Ryan would like to plop an NCAA championship hat on Sebastian’s head.

“That would be awesome,” Ryan said of his final collegiate assist. “Very awesome.”

 On their way to their third Final Four in four seasons, UCI seniors have plenty of experiences to relay to their younger teammates about what to expect.

Senior outside hitter Taylor Wilson, who along with senior libero Brent Asuka, started on the 2007 title team, was asked what was most memorable about winning it all that season at Ohio State.

“The best part was, after winning, being on the SportsCenter Top 10 [Plays of the Day],” Wilson said. “We were all out together that night and we saw ourselves on SportsCenter probably two or three times that night. It was one of the coolest things ever. So, we’d love to do that again.”