(ABC 6 News) – It was a special day in Cannon Falls, as the community rallied together to honor one of their own, who’s life was tragically cut short by melanoma cancer in 2023, with the 2nd annual Alex Hanson Volleyball Tournament.

“It’s all in honor of him man, and that’s why we do it, cause we all love him so much and we just want to come out here and have fun in his honor,” said Philip Marklevits, Alex’s neighbor.

Family and friends of Alex were out Saturday celebrating his memory, in the way he would’ve wanted.

“I knew him for like 4 or 5 years, but we all get so close so fast, so it’s really nice to be able to just do something for him,” said Maddie Johnson, a friend of Alex’s.

“Alex was in a lot of sports. Twins, Vikings, you know, everything. I don’t really care much for a lot of sports so volleyball was the one thing that we had a lot in common,” said Mitchell Ryan, another one of Alex’s friends.

Everyone who knew Alex took the time to reflect on the impact he left on them..

“Alex means a lot to me. And I just come out here because he’d be out here playing to, if he was here with us so that’s why I do it,” said Marklevits.

The tournament wasn’t all games and laughter; it was also about raising awareness of the dreadful disease of Melanoma.

“Wear your sunscreen, get checked. If you see something off, that’s probably the biggest thing is people push off things, so yeah if you see something that doesn’t seem right, get checked out,” said Joe Conner, Alex’s Brother-In-Law.

Most importantly though, the day was about having fun and remembering the good times shared, even if Alex’s loved ones wish he could be playing right alongside of them.

“Everybody is so connected now, it’s nice to see everyone come together and actually supporting something,” said Johnson.

Organizers say that all proceeds this year will go to Cannon Falls and surrounding cities for places to escape the sun to further spread awareness on Melanoma.

11 teams participated in this years tournament and is expected to continue next year.

The event is open to the public. To sign up next year, you can look for a link on the Alex Hanson Volleyball tournament Facebook page.

A spurt of three consecutive hits resulted in a Wilson Weber double that drove in the first two runs of the game for the Beavers.

Oregon State loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the second. Easton Talt’s blooper just missed the outstretched glove of Alex Champagne in center, allowing a run to score. With a shift on against Aiva Arquette, Trotter Enright fielded his grounder up the middle, stepped on second, and threw to Connor Charpiot at first to complete the double play. A run scored on the play to make it 4-0. Gavin Turley flew out to end the game.

Weber led off the bottom of the third with his 10th home run of the year. The first seven Beavers reached base in the inning. Weber added an RBI single in his second at-bat of the frame as Oregon State scored seven times to reach double digits. 

Talt’s two-out, two-run opposite-field home run to left in the bottom of the sixth capped off the scoring.

Oregon State starter Ethan Kleinschmit allowed a Long Beach State hit and an Armando Briseno first-inning single over the first five innings. He retired 13 Dirtbags in a row before walking Jake Evans to begin the sixth. He struck out two of the next three LBSU batters to keep Long Beach State at bay.

Kleinschmitt threw the first six innings before giving way to Noah Ferguson, who retired the Dirtbags in order in the seventh. Weber was 3-for-4 with four RBI to top the Beavers. Arquette went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Long Beach State finishes the season with a 22-31 record. Oregon State is 41-12-1.

Up next on the boys volleyball calendar is the District 3 tournament, where eight Lancaster-Lebanon League teams are ready to set sail in those brackets.

Ah, brackets. Get your pencils sharpened.

The league finalists snared the best seeds among L-L qualifiers; runner-up Manheim Central is the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A bracket, and L-L champ Cedar Crest is No. 3 in 3A.

First-round matches are on Tuesday. Manheim Central has a bye into Thursday’s 2A quarterfinals. There are no neutral sites this year; the higher seed hosts in every round, straight through the championships, set for May 29 in both classifications.

The top five finishers in 3A will qualify for the PIAA tournament. Just the top three in 2A will get through to states.

The L-L had a pair of district runners-up last spring; Manheim Central fell to Exeter in the 2A finale, and Warwick lost to Central York in the 3A title match.

The Barons ended up going all the way to the PIAA championship showdown, where Manheim Central fell to Meadville. The Barons and the Bulldogs have been on a collision course for a rematch, and with Exeter up in 3A this spring, Manheim Central definitely has a path — a path that could see the Barons face a pair of L-L Section 2 rivals in the district bracket.

Stay tuned.

Manheim Central hits districts at No. 2 and District 10 power Meadville at No. 1 in the PVCA 2A state rankings. Those slots have gone unchanged since March.

The state playoffs get started on June 3.

But first, it’s the District 3 tournament. Here’s a preview.

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DISTRICT 3 BOYS VOLLEYBALL BRACKETS

PVCA BOYS VOLLEYBALL STATE RANKINGS

CLASS 3A

Section 1 champ Cedar Crest (No. 3) and Section 2 runner-up Cocalico (No. 10) are in the bottom half of the bracket. On Tuesday, the Falcons (18-2 overall) will host No. 14 Dallastown, and the Eagles (16-3) will be at No. 7 Central Dauphin.

Cocalico is up from 2A this spring. The Eagles’ three setbacks: Twice to Manheim Central in league play, and to Cedar Crest in the L-L semifinals. They’re certainly battle-tested for their first soiree in 3A.

Meanwhile, Section 1 runner-up Warwick (No. 4), 15-time district champ Hempfield (No. 9) and three-time district champ Penn Manor (No. 16) are in the upper half of the draw. The Comets went 4-1 down the stretch to snag the final seed.

On Tuesday, Warwick (10-3) will welcome No. 13 Northeastern York — no strangers to a district bracket with 18 championship banners hanging on the gym wall — Hempfield (10-4) will play at No. 8 Mechanicsburg, and Penn Manor (10-8) has the trickiest draw in the bracket with a trip to No. 1 Cumberland Valley.

Note: Hempfield at Mechanicsburg is a 4:30 p.m. start. All other matches begin at 7 p.m.

Cumberland Valley (14-0) is one of just two undefeated teams still standing in the district, and the Mid-Penn power Eagles, who won the 3A district crown in 2023, and who haven’t dropped a set this spring, are at No. 1 in the PVCA 3A state rankings.

Berks County champ Governor Mifflin (16-0) is the No. 2 seed, and the Mustangs will host No. 15 Carlisle on Tuesday. Mifflin dethroned Exeter in the Berks finale last week.

The most intriguing first-rounder in 3A: No. 6 Central York, which owns a district-record 25 titles — including last year’s eke-it-out 3-2 victory over Warwick — will host No. 11 Exeter, which won 2A gold last spring, and bumped up a class in 2025. That survivor could get Cedar Crest in the quarterfinals if the Falcons take care of their business.

Player to watch: Cedar Crest senior jumping-jack hitter Jack Wolgemuth, a St. Francis University recruit, is coming off a jaw-dropping 15-kill, 15-dig performance against Manheim Central in the L-L grand finale. The Section 1 MVP makes the Falcons tick.

Prediction: Cumberland Valley over Cedar Crest. Here’s thinking the Falcons will ride the momentum of their first L-L crown all the way to the finals. But the Eagles are a different animal.

CLASS 2A

Manheim Central, looking for some redemption after falling in the L-L title match to Cedar Crest last Thursday, awaits the winner of Tuesday’s match featuring No. 8 Northern Lebanon hosting No. 9 Harrisburg Christian Academy.

The Barons saw their two-year L-L reign come to a screeching halt. Still, Manheim Central captured its third straight Section 2 title, with a 38-match winning streak in league play to boot.

Northern Lebanon (10-10) wrapped up its first season as full-time L-L members with a trip to districts. Win, and the Vikings would head to Manheim Central (17-1) on Thursday.

Lancaster Mennonite (No. 5) is also in the top of the bracket; the Blazers (11-8) will host No. 12 Hershey on Tuesday, and that winner could get another local squad in the quarterfinals: No. 4 Linville Hill Christian (16-2) out of the Commonwealth Christian Athletic Conference, will host No. 13 Millersburg in Gap for a first-rounder on Tuesday.

What a school year for Linville Hill, which has already produced a state champ in boys basketball, and a state runner-up in girls basketball and in girls volleyball.

Manheim Central, Lancaster Mennonite, Northern Lebanon and Linville Hill are all in the upper bracket, giving that pod plenty of local flavor — and potential win-and-advance matchups.

The bottom half of the 2A bracket features No. 2 York Suburban, which has a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Trojans are ranked fourth in the state, and they’ll get the No. 10 Schuylkill Valley at No. 7 Berks Catholic survivor.

All things considered, it will take some pretty major upsets for this not to be a Manheim Central vs. York Suburban finale. The Barons blanked the Trojans 3-0 in a nonleague match in York back on May 5. Anything short of a rematch would be a stunner.

Player to watch: Manheim Central senior hitter Reagan Miller pounded out 20 kills against Cedar Crest in the L-L title match, and he’s a reliable pin-hitter — and sizzling jump-serve specialist — for the Barons, who are amped to make some gold-laden postseason memories.

Prediction: Manheim Central over York Suburban. The Barons, who last mined district gold back in 2019, have been salivating to get some redemption in this bracket. It’s theirs to lose. Win three matches in cozy Derbyshire Gym, and they’ll get the gold medals.

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Manhattan Beach students are making their mark in national competitions from academics to athletics. Below, see a selection of recent national honors received by Manhattan Beach students.

Academics/Activities

Manhattan Beach students got high marks in the international Math Kangaroo Competition 2025. See our full Math Kangaroo story here. 

Mira Costa senior Kimaya Mata was selected as a national winner in the Level 4
National German Exam for high school students sponsored by the American
Association of Teachers of German (AATG). She scored in the 99th
percentile and will have the opportunity to go on an all-expense paid
summer study trip to Germany. She is one of 37 students selected from across the country to receive the award.

The Mira Costa Model United Nations program attended the National
High School Model United Nations Conference (NHSMUN) and took home the
Best Large Delegation Award, four Awards of Distinction, and six Plenary
Speaker Awards. Office of Public
Information representative and student Isabel Borochmet was selected to
ask former President Joe Biden a question during the conference’s
Fireside Chat. Also at the Canadian High Schools Model United Nations,
the Mira Costa team took the Best Large Delegation Award.

Three Manhattan Beach students were accepted into the American Choral Directors Association’s National Honor Choir: Jaxon Stroyke of Mira Costa and Rose Reach and Delilah Weber of Manhattan Beach Middle School. They were chosen from among 5,000 students who auditioned.

Athletics

The Mira Costa Cheer Traditional Team won the 2025 CIF State Championship Invitational and placed 5th at the national high school cheerleading championship at the ESPN
Wide World of Sports Complex, while the Game Day team ranked 6th in the nation.

Mira Costa senior Ronan
Curnyn, along with teammate Logan Mraz, won the 49erFX Nationals in Miami, a three-day race.
The 49erFX is a high-performance, two-person, skiff sailboat, making this win an impressive achievement.

Mira
Costa junior Krish Desai competed at the New Balance Nationals
Indoor Championship at New Balance’s world headquarters in
Boston, dominating in the boys’ mile championship heat race with a
time of 4:16.25, and ranking 50th out of 170 runners.

A trained Bharatnatayam dancer, a lead UI/UX designer with a leading MNC and India’s first female water polo coach, Sayali Gudhekar wears multiple hats.

Sayali was only 14 when she captained the Indian team for the first time. She demonstrated passion and leadership from a young age and the recently concluded Indo-Sri Lanka Championship in Sri Lanka, was her first stint as India’s first female coach. Her team won the series with a clean sweep over Sri Lanka.

Her transition from a player to a coach has been emotionally empowering and Sayali couldn’t agree more. In an exclusive conversation with The Bridge, Sayali shares her journey and plans ahead. Excerpts:

Congratulations! Your U-21 women’s team had a clean sweep in Sri Lanka. Please take us through your experience.

It was an incredible journey. From Day 1, the team showed commitment, energy to go ahead. Every match was a testament to their preparation. They had the hunger to win and as we know that it was a clean sweep.

We had prepared well for the tri series. We had a month-long camp at SAI Bangalore. We had to make sure that we were going all out. There’s no mercy. It’s water polo, one of the toughest sports. So, yeah, we went all out and played well. The Swimming Federation of India (SFI) is helping us get good exposure with camps, international matches and other facilities. All in all it was a good journey.

This was your first stint as a water polo coach, making you the first female water polo coach in India. What does it feel like to begin your coaching career successfully on foreign soil?

Watching my team rise to this occasion, stay composed under pressure and clinch the gold was one of the most rewarding moments of my coaching career.

You have been an active player yourself, having led the Indian water polo team for a long time. How has the transition been?

I would say the transition has been emotionally empowering. From representing India as a young player to now mentoring the next generation, it feels like a full circle. And being the first female coach comes with a lot of responsibility. But it also opens doors for more women to step into leadership roles in this arena.

Water polo is a very male dominant sport and you have to pave your own path and make your own way. And I’m here for it.

You said water polo is a tough sport. What makes it a tough sport?

Water polo is a team sport and a very close contact sport. So, there are times when players pick up injuries in the water. To avoid that, we need to prepare ourselves on land. There are different strategies and tactics to play in each position. A center fullback training is different from that of a winger. Attacking tactics are different. Defensive tactics are different to keep us safe from injury.

We had an unfortunate incident in Sri Lanka, where our second best player tore the webbing of her finger that needed stitching. But despite that, the team didn’t panic and performed. So, these are the scenarios that you come up with.

Share with us your journey and the challenges?

I was 13 or 14 when I began playing water polo. That was the time when the visibility of the sport, especially for women, was not that much. It wasn’t easy. Even I have faced a lot of setbacks with injuries and the usual resistance that women often encountered in any contact sports. But there were highs too like captaining India, winning medals at senior nationals, junior nationals and national games and now coaching the under 21 team to international success. The journey has been tough but every challenge is built by resilience.

Water polo being a male dominant sport, what made you stay true to the sport?

The first thing that comes to my mind is only passion. I have always been passionate about water polo and the belief that water polo in India, especially for women, deserves more attention. Each setback made me stronger and every little win, personal or my teams, kept me going. I knew I had to give more not just as a player but as a mentor or a builder of the sport. I am associated with the Greater Mumbai Amateur Aquatics Association (GMAAA) as a vice president to provide a platform to young and budding players. It’s an honorary work.

What are your long-term and short-term goals?

In the short term, I want to create more exposure for our women athletes and prepare them to perform consistently at international tournaments. I aim to establish a stronger pipeline of talent through grassroots level and programs to see India being recognized as a competitive water polo nation globally.

What message would you give to someone trying their hands at water polo for the first time?

Go for it. It’s a game that challenges your body, sharpens your mind and it builds that unbelievable teamwork. Keep fighting till the last minute. It might be tough at first but with training, holding the ball, swimming with the ball, you have to shoot, you have to make plays for scoring. You have to think two steps forward and once you get hooked there’s no turning back. Water polo truly shapes the character like no other sport. It shaped me well so I’m really happy water polo chose me.

Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions that you believe in before going in for a match?

I think every sports person has it and so do I. I always take a quiet moment before the match, close my eyes and visualize. I like to cut off from social media or any kind of distractions or phone calls and just be into the moment. I believe, if it’s done in the mind then it’s already aligned with your body. You know what you’re doing and just stay positive and let the whole team feel that positivity.

Do you feel more responsible as a coach than when you were a player?

Yes, definitely because as a coach I’m answerable to everyone. If the team loses, I would say it’s because of me but when the team wins, it’s always because of everyone’s hard work. It’s a bigger responsibility right from training, planning schedules, to seeing who’s well, who’s not and it’s everything that falls under one rule.

How different is the coaching approach now?

I started with Parsi Hakeem (Parsi sir). He’s no more. He followed a very traditional approach but gave us the best in his capacity. Not just as a player he also pushed me into coaching at my club level. I remember one time he was in the US, I just had one and a half months to train my boys because our pool was under renovation and we were practicing at another pool. We won that tournament against defending champions. He said Sayali, I’m very proud of you and this is your journey. That’s how he pushed me so I’m grateful for it.

Your husband Arjun Kawle is also a professional water polo player. How does that help?

He plays for the Western Railway. He is one of the best center forwards India has. Coming back to the team I was playing, he was the coach. I was playing against his team. I was nervous as it was my first stint as coach and his team was champion for two years. It was like a healthy rivalry. I am proud of that.

What are the plans from here?

The focus is now on the senior team. We have Asian Championships in October in Ahmedabad. Most of the junior players will be in the senior camp. The life for players is very short in Indian water polo especially for women. The first phase of camp got over in April, now we have a second and third phase coming up. The second phase is before the Senior Nationals.

Why do you say the life of a women’s water polo player is shorter?

We don’t have opportunities. Male players have jobs, they have other options. But for women, we can only represent club teams. There are no professional teams. There is a police team but with very limited options and hence everybody pursues their studies.

What do you do when not playing water polo?

I’m a lead UI/UX designer with Accenture. In my teens I did my MFA and BFA in Bharatnatayam. Dance and water polo have always been my passion. Then, when you grow up, you choose.

Upon the event’s conclusion, the State or UT securing the highest count of gold medals will be declared the winner.

Over 800 athletes from 22 States and UTs from across the country will compete for medals at KIBG 2025.

Khelo India Beach Games 2025 sports list

• Beach soccer
• Pencak silat
• Sepaktakraw
• Beach kabaddi
• Beach volleyball
• Open water swimming

Pencak silat, a type of martial arts sport, will see the highest participation at the KIBG, with 22 teams set to compete for medals from May 20 to 23.

Sepaktakraw, or kick volleyball, will feature 17 teams and will be the only discipline hosted at Diu Beach, with all other events taking place at Ghoghla Beach.

Open water swimming will see 10 teams in action, while beach volleyball and beach kabaddi will feature eight teams each. Beach soccer rounds out the programme with participation from seven teams.

The KIBG 2025 will be the third Khelo India event of the year after the Winter Games and recently concluded Youth Games.

Where to watch Khelo India Beach Games 2025 live

Live streaming of the Khelo India Beach Games 2025 will be available on the Prasar Bharati Sports YouTube channel. KIYG 2025 will be telecast live on the DD Sports TV channel in India.

Khelo India Beach Games 2025 schedule