Spalding Water Polo Club has been nominated for a coveted national award.

Their name has been put forward for the Swim England Water Polo Club of the Year accolade.

The news has been hailed as a ‘massive and wonderful achievement’ for the club who meet at the Castle Sports Complex in Spalding and also train in the summer at the Bourne outdoor pool.

The annual awards bring the entirety of the aquatics community together to celebrate the individuals, groups and organisations for their outstanding contributions throughout the past 12 months.

In 2025, the awards will highlight achievements from clubs, coaches, teachers, volunteers, inclusion, health and much more – showcasing those that create great experiences across aquatics.

The Club of the Year awards are discipline-specific, highlighting the unique contributions of clubs across aquatics.

It highlights where clubs go above and beyond to create exceptional experiences both in and out of the water, placing their members at the heart of everything they do.

The ceremony will be held at the Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Saturday, November 29.

The Spalding club play in the Hertfordshire League and took part in its tournament at Letchworth Lido.

Six matches would be played by each team, with a game lasting eight minutes.

Things would not be easy for Spalding as they had several players pull out at the last minute which meant they travelled with only eight players, little more than half a full squad, and no recognised goalkeeper.

Having agreed a rota for goalkeeping, captain Nathan Henfrey took the first game in goal against Dunstable.

Spalding were switched on from the start, keeping a solid defence and scoring twice through Adam Found and Sam Murray for a 2-0 opening game win.

The second game against host team Hertford saw Frazer McGruer in goal for Spalding.

Spalding scored first through Dan Leigh but Hertford were able to equalise.

Spalding were then able to capitalise on a turnover foul which allowed Henfrey to score the winning goal of the game in a 2-1 success.

The third game saw Spalding play Enfield where this time Leigh went in goal.

The game was even with both teams scoring twice, the two Spalding goals coming from Murray.

However, in the final minute, Spalding gave away a penalty allowing Enfield to take a 3-2 win.

Going into the fourth game against Cambridge, McGruer volunteered to take the remaining games in goal.

This brought about Spalding’s most dominant performance after a 4-1 victory with goals coming from Adam Found, Henfrey, Adam Gibbons and Murray.

Moving into the last few games, a couple of players volunteered from Hertford to boost Spalding’s substitute options.

However, the Spalding players were noticeably tiring against what would prove to be the toughest opponents of the night.

Bedford were able to beat Spalding 5-0 before Watford defeated them 5-1, Leigh getting the goal in the final game.

The Spalding players, including Lola Westrick and Paige Cheek, deserve great praise for putting in a tremendous amount of effort and working well as a team.

Spalding finished the night with three wins and three losses, putting them fourth out of the seven teams. Watford were the overall winners.

Rock Hill, S.C. — For the 12th time in program history, the Winthrop Volleyball team has garnered the distinction of American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award, sponsored by INTENT.

Volleyball programs that maintain a year-long grade-point average of at least 3.3 on a 4.0 scale are honored with the Team Academic Award, a feat which 1,450 collegiate and high school programs were able to achieve.

“It is very exciting to see that the record-setting, on-court successes during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom,” says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon. “The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes.”

The Eagles registered a 3.65 GPA over the course of the 2024-25 academic year, with a record-setting performance of a 3.78 GPA in the Spring 2025 semester for the highest mark in program history. In the spring, every Eagle held a 3.0 GPA or higher with five perfect 4.0 marks, and nine athletes over a 3.5 GPA.

LINK TO AVCA RELEASE

WASHINGTON – Five Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball programs recieved the 2025 AVCA Team Academic Award. The award, which is sponsored by INTENT, was announced on Monday. 

Davidson, Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham and Loyola Chicago were recipients of the honor. Eligible programs maintained at least a team GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale over the course of the 2024-25 year.

Dayton, the 2024 regular season champions, won the award for the eighth conseuctive season and 14th overall. Duquesne won its seventh consecutive award and 15th overall. Fordham collected its eighth overall honor. 

Davidson received the Team Academic Honor Roll distinction. The Team Academic Honor Roll is awarded to programs that are in the top 20 percent of GPAs in their division. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced today that Missouri State’s beach volleyball program has earned the prestigious 2025 AVCA Team Academic Award, sponsored by INTENT. This award recognizes teams that sustain a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher across the academic year.

In addition to the Team Academic Award, the Bears were recognized on the AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll, an honor reserved for teams that hold the top 20% of team GPAs across all programs in their division.

Missouri State posted an impressive 3.76 cumulative GPA for the 2024–25 academic year, with a 3.78 in the fall and 3.74 in the spring. Every student-athlete on the roster recorded at least a 3.00 GPA each semester, totaling 39 semesters at 3.00 or higher, including 33 at 3.50 or above and nine perfect 4.00 semesters.

 

#GoBears

 

PHILADELPHIA – The American Volleyball Coaches Association has announced the 2025 Team Academic Award sponsored by INTENT for the 2024-25 academic year.

 

“It’s very exciting to see that the record-setting, on-court success during the 2024-25 season have extended to the classroom,” says AVCA CEO Jaime Gordon.

 

Temple is a part of a cohort of 1,450 other collegiate and high school volleyball teams that maintained a year-long GPA of at least a 3.3 on a 4.0 scale.

 

Gordon continued,” The fact that more programs earned the Team Academic Award than ever before is evidence of how committed our coaches are when it comes to helping their players reach their goals as both students and athletes.”

 

The Owls finished the 2024-25 academic year with a team cumulative GPA of 3.54. 15 student-athletes finished the school year with at least a 3.0 GPA, which accounts for 94% of the team.

 

Day eleven of the World Aquatics Championships – Singapore 2025 delivered drama and thrill as artistic swimming crowned new champions, while Greece stunned by defeating defending champions USA in the women’s water polo semi-final, setting up a gold medal showdown with Hungary on Wednesday.

In the artistic swimming competition, athletes delivered flawless performances across the Men’s Solo Free Finals and Women’s Duet Technical Finals, while twenty six teams competed in the Team Technical Prelims with eyes on championship glory.

Hear more about it all below.

Artistic Swimming

Filippo PELATI (ITA) – Bronze in the Men’s Solo Free Finals

On the result:

“I’m very happy with my performance because I didn’t expect the result. I was only enjoying the moment and I only felt the music and the choreography and thought about nothing. I’m very proud of myself and happy to win a bronze. It’s very important for me; it’s like a gold medal and I’m very emotional.”

On his first World Championships medal:

“Now it’s confirmed, because last year I took part in the junior worlds in Lima and I won the bronze in the mixed duet technical and placed fourth (in both solo free and technical). So for me, now (this) seems like a gold. And also because it’s with all the best male artistic swimmers – every (swimmer) is the best one. I’m very proud.”

Eirini-Marina ALEXANDRI (AUT) – Gold in Women’s Duet Technical Finals

On whether being twins gives them an advantage:

“We have a special connection because we know how we feel. I know how she feels even if I just look at her, so I know what I have to tell her to calm her down. And the same applies for her; she knows everything about me and we can communicate very easily. If it’s another girl, then sometimes maybe you have to be careful how you tell them things.”

Water Polo

Kathy ROGERS (GBR), captain and Player of the Match – re. FRA V GBR (9-14)

On their Singapore 2025 campaign and the future:

“There’s going to be a really good future. It’s going to be really big. We’re getting more support from Swim England and Aquatics GB, so it’s a really exciting time.”

Tilly KEARNS (AUS), Player of the Match – re. AUS-JPN (21-17)

On how close the match was:

“From a disappointing quarter-final, it’s always hard to get up and play another game when it’s not for a medal and it’s not for the result that you want. But we’re a team that always gets around each other and we love each other a lot, so we wanted to play for each other.”

Eleftheria PLEVRITOU (GRE), captain – re. GRE v USA (14-10)

On the match:

“It was amazing today. We played really good. My team is ready for the final, ready for the gold. At the beginning, it was just the attack that we were stuck a little bit. We couldn’t score. That’s why, I think the score was close. Until the third quarter, it was close…We played amazing in the last minutes. We controlled the game with the time.”

Boglarka NESZMELY (HUN), Player of the Match – re. HUN v ESP (15-9)

“It was a perfect win from us. Our team, we played really, really good water polo. We did what the coach said so thanks to my teammates, thanks to my coach and to everybody who helped us. I’m so blessed to be a part of this team because it’s a huge thing for us, reaching the final. Our team is basically a new team and we have a lot of young players, including me, so it’s a huge thing for us. It means everything because Hungary is a water polo nation and I’m so thankful.”

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