Mizzou Volleyball was picked to finish fourth in the SEC’s preseason coaches’ poll released Tuesday, the team’s highest projection since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

Dawn Sullivan’s Tigers garnered 182 points, falling behind preseason favorite Kentucky (218, nine of 16 first place votes), Texas (216, six of 16 first place votes) and Texas A&M (195, one of 16 first place votes).

The tally placed the team ahead of Florida, which received 169 points after a tumultuous offseason that saw the retirement of legendary head coach Mary Wise and transfer of superstar Kennedy Martin.

Mizzou faces Kentucky at the Hearnes Center late in the season, Nov. 7, but will go through a gauntlet by facing Texas, Texas A&M and Florida on the road in the span of five matches from Sep. 24 to Oct. 10.

Sullivan’s squad also faces Tennessee in Knoxville Oct. 31, meaning they will face four of the conference’s projected top six teams away from Columbia.

Maya Sands also received an individual honor, being named to the Preseason All-SEC Team. The Tigers’ libero was named an Honorable Mention All-American last season and has won SEC Libero of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

She missed last year’s preseason list despite being the defending libero of the year, raising some eyebrows, and went on to make the decision look foolish. SEC coaches avoided the possibility of a similar fate this season, when Sands is expected to be one of a few players vying to become the nation’s best collegiate libero.

A few of her teammates, however, now enter the season with some bulletin board material.

Starting setter Marina Crownover was left off the list despite being a Second Team All-SEC selection last season and ranking second in the conference in assists per set while leading one of the top offenses in the nation.

Tennesse’s Caroline Kerr (who also earned second team honors in 2024) and Mokihana Tufono of Ole Miss were the two setters named to the preseason team instead. Kerr was named an Honorable Mention All-American last year, making her the most obvious choice, but Tufono was a bit of a surprise due to Crownover’s advantage in accolades and statistics.

Also missing from the group of all-conference honorees was incoming outside hitter Caylen Alexander, who was an Honorable Mention All-American and the Big West Player of the Year in 2024.

That decision was less surprising, as all seven hitters included in the list of 15 players were All-Americans or received honorable mentions last season, though she held the statistical advantage in several categories over multiple hitters named instead.

Sullivan and her players have well exceeded expectations as a team and individually each of the past two years, making the exclusion of Crownover and Alexander seem like a result that could cause some regret among the conference’s coaches come December.

Mizzou begins its highly anticipated season, following a Sweet Sixteen berth last year, in less than two months.

Danny Alvarez was with the University of Hawai‘i’s beach volleyball program from the very beginning, back when the Rainbow Wahine were known as the sand volleyball team in 2012.

Alvarez served as an assistant coach from 2012 to 2019, as well as during the 2023 season, spending nine seasons with the BeachBows. A graduate of both the University of Hawai‘i and nearby University Laboratory School, Alvarez is set to return to his alma mater as the new beach volleyball head coach, filling a vacancy left by Evan Silberstein, whose contract was not renewed following the 2025 season.

“Obviously, this is a lifelong dream to be able to coach at the University of Hawai‘i to be involved in the beach volleyball program,” Alvarez said in a Zoom call with local media on Monday afternoon. “I was there at the beginning, so to be able to get to this point where I’m the head beach volleyball coach, I’m super excited, honored to do it, and really, really looking forward to the challenge.”

Alvarez became the first head coaching hire of the Matt Elliott era. Elliott officially began his post as UH’s new athletics director on June 30. The beach volleyball team did not have a permanent head coach since April 30, back when acting athletics director Lois Manin chose not to renew Silberstein’s contract. Women’s indoor volleyball assistant coach Nick Castello had served as the interim head coach since then.

“We are thrilled to welcome Coach Danny back to the UH ‘ohana,” Elliott said in a Monday press release. “He helped build UH beach volleyball from the very start and played a pivotal role in creating a program that competed at the highest level. His love for the sport, his alma mater, and for our student-athletes is unquestioned and I know he’ll give his absolute best effort as our new head coach.”

Given its locale and the popularity of volleyball across the state, UH set big goals for itself on the sands. Under former coach Jeff Hall, the Rainbow Wahine earned a No. 1 national ranking during the 2015 season before falling in the AVCA national quarterfinals. The NCAA sanctioned the sport starting in 2016.

The ‘Bows finished third nationally in both 2017 and 2018 under Hall, who was laid off by former athletics director David Matlin during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Hawai‘i most recently went 14-21 in 2025, finishing under .500 for the first time since 2013.

“When I was there at the beginning, we were just building the program. The beach volleyball landscape was nothing like it is today,” Alvarez recalled. “We were one of the 14 teams. It was an emerging sport. To be kind of involved in the beginning of it and the growing of it, having a lot of success through that first portion of it, was amazing.

“And to be able to come back as the head coach and the person leading the program, I don’t know if there’s anything more special than that, so I’m real honored about it. And kind of in my life, I’m 55 now, so it’s kind of that cherry on top. … I’m super excited to be a part of this.”

Alvarez initially stepped away following the 2019 to be more involved with the volleyball career of his son, Kaina, a 2021 ‘Iolani graduate who was a high school All-American. Kaina Alvarez went on to play for the University of Charleston, Irvine Valley College and Cal State Northridge as a setter.

“I really wanted to watch him play his junior and senior year, and that was actually during Covid, so we kind of missed that,” Danny Alvarez said.

Between coaching stints at UH, Alvarez worked with some of the world’s top beach volleyball players, including Theo Brunner and Punahou alumnus Trevor Crabb as they narrowly missed a bid to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He also continued to work with and mentor players at the college and junior levels.

Following the announcement of Alvarez’s hire, he estimates he received approximately 150 congratulatory texts, with people from all stages in his life sharing in his excitement.

“I’m super excited. There’s really nothing like playing high-level athletics. There’s just no greater joy. There’s no greater adrenaline,” Alvarez said. “There’s no greater kind of bond between you and the student-athlete when you achieve something, or you guys are all pushing in the same direction. I’m really looking forward to being back with the athletes pursuing those goals.

“There’s nothing like the beach volleyball championship. It’s in [Gulf Shores,] Alabama, which is kind of weird for beach volleyball, but they have beautiful sand, and it’s really one of the most engaging events in NCAA sports. Now they have it on ESPN, but there’s nothing like being there. It’s an amazing event where everybody kind of converges on this small little southern beach and it’s awesome. I look forward to bringing us back there, and then maybe kicking down the door and looking at a national championship. That’s really what I want to do.”

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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.

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During her first year at Texas, Asjia O’Neal thought her volleyball career was over. Her life could be in danger if she didn’t stop.

“I went to my cardiology appointment in Austin, just a regular checkup, and the doctor came in and told me that I have to quit,” O’Neal said. “My heart was at a point that was extremely dangerous for me to play.”

That was in the spring of 2019. The former Southlake Carroll star was born with a heart murmur and mitral valve leak, and she had already had open-heart surgery when she was 13. Now, she was struggling to finish workouts during her redshirt freshman year at Texas.

“Luckily, I have parents and a coaching staff who were like we are going to get every possible opinion so that we don’t just end your career here,” O’Neal said. “I went to the Cleveland Clinic, and they did a lot of tests with me and they said it was fine for me to finish out my season, but then I would have to get another surgery.”

Her second open-heart surgery occurred in 2020 and led to one of the great comeback stories in volleyball. O’Neal became a two-time All-American and led Texas to back-to-back national titles in 2022 and 2023, and she is now a member of the U.S. national team and plays professionally.

She will have a homecoming this week, as she will be among five players with Texas ties — including four who played high school ball in the Lone Star State — on Team USA as it competes in the FIVB women’s Volleyball Nations League stop in Arlington. The U.S. will play Thailand at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at UT-Arlington’s College Park Center, then will face the Dominican Republic at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Canada at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and China at 7 p.m. Sunday.

The Volleyball Nations League is an annual international competition that started in 2018 and features national teams worldwide that play in a league-style format. Eleven players who played high school and/or college ball in Texas made the United States’ VNL roster for this summer, but from that group, only O’Neal, Avery Skinner and former UT stars Madisen Skinner, Logan Eggleston and Brionne Butler will be competing in Arlington — the only VNL event in the United States this year.

“It does feel like you are playing in the Olympics every year, because you are playing all of these countries,” O’Neal said. “It gets you accustomed to them, so by the fourth year [and the Olympics] you know a lot about these teams.”

O’Neal, a 25-year-old middle blocker, will be playing in Arlington alongside former Kentucky and Baylor star Skinner, who was on the U.S. team that won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics last summer. Both players have fathers who played in the NBA, and both were aided in their careers by playing in high-level youth and club volleyball while growing up in Texas.

“I played at Houston Skyline, which is the No. 1 club in Texas right now,” said Skinner, who is from Katy and competed in the Homeschool Christian Youth Association (HCYA) in high school. “There are so many great programs across the nation, but I would say Texas is known for being very good at a lot of different sports, so it was very easy to find a high-quality club, and there are so many.

“The one I chose, I felt like had a great reputation, and they cared about the people. I’m really grateful that I played in a state that really valued that.”

O’Neal was named to the all-tournament team three consecutive years at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Championship while playing for the local Texas Advantage Volleyball club from 2015-17. Her dad, Jermaine O’Neal, was a six-time All-Star in the NBA, but he never pushed his daughter to play basketball, and her career took off after she started volleyball when she was 13.

“I definitely think that growing up in D-FW, I was thrown into pretty high-level volleyball from the start,” O’Neal said. “I always had really good coaches who knew the game and knew how to get me to the next level, whether that was middle school to high school or high school to college. Just being a Texas girl is really a testament to how I have gotten to where I am.

“I think the skill training that you get at a young age is very different. Everything that we did was done at a very professional level. Girls that I know that grew up in other states did not have that at all.”

That has helped produced some of the best volleyball players in the world.

Chiaka Ogbogu, a two-time state champion at Coppell and three-time first-team All-American at Texas, won Olympic gold (2021) and silver (2024) medals with Team USA but won’t be playing in Arlington as she is taking time off from the national team following the Olympics. Ogbogu has played professionally in Italy, Poland and Turkey, Skinner has played pro ball in France and Italy, and Ogbogu and Asjia O’Neal have played in League One Volleyball in Austin.

League One, which is branded as LOVB, is a six-team professional women’s indoor league that debuted in January. The Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) and Athletes Unlimited are other professional leagues in the U.S.

“It’s exciting to have the option, because I went to play overseas because there were no options to play in the States,” Skinner said. “Just the exposure to high-level volleyball really has increased these past couple of years with leagues in the States and just it being more accessible.”

This week’s Volleyball Nations League competition in Arlington will help in that regard, too, as young athletes in Texas can see their idols in action as they dream of one day representing their country on an international stage.

“It’s definitely going to be exciting,” O’Neal said. “I think you have a really good fan base that comes out, and I think it’s really cool for D-FW in general. It’s a big volleyball hub, and them being able to see high-level professional and international volleyball is really awesome. I think it brings even more eyes to the sport.”

Arizona State WR Jordyn Tyson credits time at Allen for success in college football

Returning to North Texas for Big 12 Media Day, Tyson credited his high school coach, Chad Morris, for preparing him for the college ranks.

Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby says time at Lake Dallas taught him a valuable lesson

Sorsby, a Lake Dallas product, is one of nine returning quarterbacks in the Big 12 who threw for at least 2,400 yards last season.

Frisco Panther Creek four-star athlete Jalen Lott commits to Oregon

The nation’s fifth-ranked athlete turned down the chance to go to Texas, where his dad played football and his mom was a basketball player.

Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

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Sadly, several programs, particularly in the more competitive sports elsewhere, are heading toward the fate of Cal (Women’s) Lacrosse, where Cal has not had a competitive team since that program was added (it’s the second newest program but Beach Volleyball is a top-10 program). Casual Cal fans possibly don’t even realize that the program exists.

To me, the Women’s Gymnastics and Track and Field Throwing coaches leaving Cal fall into a different category, as those coaches have earned the opportunity to be paid top money in their sport. The more concerning thing is that Cal can’t (or won’t) offer a competitive wage to possibly lure a more established head coach for the current Softball opening or with the Volleyball vacancy last year. Other than coaching, student athletes in these sports also do get NIL money from other schools.

A total of seven student-athletes from the San Diego State swim and dive program were named CSCAA Scholar All-Americans for the 2024-25 campaign, as announced Wednesday by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America.

Valentina Lopez Arevalo earned first-team CSCAA Scholar All-America honors, while Wilma Johansson, Alex Roberts, Alina Skrocki, Meredith Smithbaker, Summer Westmoreland and Christiana Williams received second-team distinction.

Eligible candidates for CSCAA Scholar All-America awards must maintain a 3.50 grade point average or higher, with first-team honorees competing at their national championship meet, while second-team selections must have recorded a “B” cut time standard for their national championship or qualified for a zone diving competition.

SDSU’s seven individual CSCAA Scholar All-America certificates were tied with Nevada and Washington State for the most by a Mountain West school, followed by UNLV (6), Wyoming (5), Colorado State (3) and New Mexico (3).

In addition, the Aztecs were recognized as a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team for the 2025 spring semester on July 3.

To be eligible for team consideration, swim and dive squads must have maintained an aggregate 3.0 grade point average for the spring 2025 semester. The CSCAA honored 763 squads (both men and women) from 432 different institutions, representing 18,459 individuals.

The Aztecs’ 28 student-athletes posted a combined 3.68 GPA this past spring, meriting CSCAA Scholar All-America Team distinction for the 19th consecutive semester.

In all, the San Diego State swim and dive team has garnered CSCAA Scholar All-America Team accolades in 25 of the last 26 semesters since the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

Founded in 1922, the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) is the nation’s first organization of college coaches. The mission of the CSCAA is to advance the sport of swimming and diving with coaches at the epicenter of leadership, advocacy, and professional development.

San Diego State is coming off another banner season in 2024-25, winning its fourth straight Mountain West championship and sixth in the last seven years.

Individually, Valentina Lopez Arevalo (3-meter springboard) competed in the NCAA Championships for the second time in her career and received Mountain West Diver of the Year, while Roland McDonald garnered MW Diving Coach of the Year accolades for the fourth in his tenure on The Mesa.

In addition, Lopez Arevalo received MW Diver of the Meet recognition at the conference championships for the second straight season, while Alex Roberts took home the league’s Senior Recognition Award.

San Diego State Swim & Dive
2024-25 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans

• Valentina Lopez Arevalo (1st Team), Sustainability
• Wilma Johansson (2nd Team), Psychology
• Alex Roberts (2nd Team), Data Sciences Advanced Certificate
• Alina Skrocki (2nd Team), Art
• Meredith Smithbaker (2nd Team), Graphic Design
• Summer Westmoreland (2nd Team), Civil Engineering
• Christiana Williams (2nd Team), Public Health