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Skyridge girls volleyball coach Tayler Hifo, right, gives instruction to junior Anzlee Holt in a match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Sophomore Lucy Meck of Skyridge (38) leads her team in celebrating a point in a high school girls volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Senior Kylie Buttars of Skyridge (10) serves the ball in a girls high school volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Sophomore Sienna Kuresa of Skyridge (50) takes a swing in a girls high school volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Skyridge girls volleyball coach Tayler Hifo leads a time out during a match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Senior Kylie Buttars of Skyridge (10) takes a swing against Bingham in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Junior Emma White of Skyridge (in orange) tips the ball against Bingham in a girls high school volleyball match on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Players on the Skyridge bench react to an ace serve in a match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Senior Lily Grant of Skyridge sets the ball during a high school girls volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Senior Lily Grant of Skyridge serves against Bingham in a high school girls volleyball match on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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The Skyridge girls volleyball team celebrates a point in a match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Senior Lily Grant of Skyridge sets the ball during a high school girls volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Skyridge girls volleyball coach Tayler Hifo, left, gives instructions to junior Estelle Slaney in a high school girls volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Skyridge girls volleyball coach Tayler Hifo, right, and assistant coaches Sidney Martindale (left) and Cyrus Fa’alogo prepare for a match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Sophomores Lucy Meck (38) and Sienna Kuresa prepare to run through a tunnel of their teammates before the start of a girls high school volleyball match against Bingham on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Tayler Hifo — in her first season as head girls volleyball coach at Skyridge — finds herself saying the same things in practice and in games she used to hear from Heather Olmstead at BYU.

Hifo could do much worse that trying to emulate Olmstead, the NCAA leader in career win percentage.

Hifo played four seasons for Olmstead, backing up two of the Cougars all-time best setters in Lyndie Haddock-Eppich and Whitney Bower. Hifo carved out a role as a designated server and totaled 62 aces while in Provo. The American Fork High School graduate (then known as Tayler Tausinga) married Cougar football player Aleva Hifo in 2020.

For her additional COVID year, Taylor Hifo transferred to UC Riverside and was an All-Big West honorable mention selection in 2022, totaling 1,004 assists, 331 digs and 51 aces for the Highlanders.

Then, the call to coach found her.

“I was an assistant at Skyridge for two years and I just kind of fell in love with coaching,” Coach Hifo said. “BYU was great because they establish great coaching techniques from your freshman year on through their camps. I’ve always appreciated that because it’s helped me learn the whole game of volleyball, not just the position that I played. It’s been a blessing to continue coaching at Skyridge. The opportunity came to be head head and I decided to take it.”

Coach Hifo has surrounded herself with talent on the bench as well, pulling in former BYU teammate Sydney Martindale and former Cougar men’s volleyball player Cyrus Fa’alogo to join her.

“They’ve been so awesome,” Coach Hifo said. “I have such a great support staff and the have so much wisdom to share with the girls.”

It was a nice debut for Coach Hifo and the Falcons, who drilled Bingham in straight sets (25-9, 25-14, 25-20) to open the season on Tuesday.

Skyridge jumped out to a 7-1 lead in Set 1 as Bingham struggled with ball control. Emma White and Lucy Meck combined for a block and White scored on a tip to lead the Falcons to a commanding 18-4 lead. A kill from sophomore Sienna Kuresa helped Skyridge get to set point and a solo block from Hadyn Smith finished things off for a 25-9 victory.

Set 2 was more of the same and an ace from Lily Lundberg pushed the Falcons lead to 21-9. Kylie Buttars pounded the ball off the Bingham block at set point for a 25-14 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Bingham, also breaking in a first-year coach in Kendzee Cloward,  finally got things going in the third set and took a 12-7 lead. Skyridge went on a 7-0 run, which included a block and a kill from Smith, a kill by Kuresa and an ace serve from Buttars, to surge into a 14-12 lead. The score was tied at 15, 17, 18, and 19 before Falcons libero Estelle Slaney served consecutive aces for a 21-19 advantage. Leading 21-20, Skyridge scored the final four points of the match with back-t0-back kills from Smith to finish off the sweep.

“Bingham really came around and came back in the third set,” Coach Hifo said. “They played tough and I loved how we were able to deal with some adversity.”

So far, the transition to a new head coach is going well for the Falcons.

“Everybody loves Tayler,” Skyridge senior setter Lily Grant said. “I think she’s a great coach. She’s also a setter coach, so that’s really nice for me. I love her coaching style. I love how she breaks things down and explains it to us.

“It’s awesome how we have such great team chemistry. We’re really good on the pins and our middles are really good, too. We’ve got some stuff to work on in practice but it’s going to be a really good season.”

The Hifos are expecting their second child (another boy) in mid-September. Right now, Coach Hifo is helping her players improve every day and hopes to eventually take them deep into the state tournament.

“I want to make sure we’re defining our success with the growth of the players and the growth of the program,” she said. “But it’s always the goal to get to that final game.”

Skyridge (1-0) will travel to northern Utah to play Ridgeline on Thursday.

Pamela Kosgei’s freshman year at the University of New Mexico wasn’t just remarkable — it was record-shattering. Now, the distance running sensation has been named Mountain West Female Athlete of the Year for 2024-25, capping one of the most dominant debut campaigns in NCAA track and field history. The league announced the honor Thursday, adding Kosgei’s name to an elite Lobo list that includes Amelia Mazza-Downie (2022-23), Weini Kelati (2019-20), Josh Kerr (2016-17) and Courtney Frerichs (2015-16).

Kosgei delivered a perfect conference cross country season, claiming both MW Freshman and Athlete of the Year honors while leading UNM to the team title. She finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships, powering the Lobos to a seventh-place national finish.

Her indoor campaign brought three Mountain West titles (mile, 3,000m, 5,000m) and the fifth-fastest indoor 5,000m in collegiate history (15:00.36). Outdoors, she went undefeated, winning NCAA titles in both the 5,000m and 10,000m — only the fifth woman ever to sweep the distance double, and just the third since 1998. Her 10k victory came in a meet-record 31:17.82, the No. 3 all-time collegiate mark; she already owns the No. 2 time at 31:02.73.

Along the way, Kosgei posted one of the fastest steeplechase performances in NCAA history (9:15.93) and ran a high-altitude 10k in Albuquerque (31:58.51) that was the fastest ever outside of Africa. She finished the year with six conference titles, five All-America honors, two NCAA outdoor golds, and 50 points toward UNM’s first-ever sweep of MW women’s XC, indoor, and outdoor team crowns.

Her dominance helped both Lobo track programs achieve their best combined NCAA finish in school history, with 56 total points and Top 10 team placements for both men and women — making UNM the only non-Power Five school in the nation to pull off the feat in both outdoor track & field and cross country in 2024-25.

Kosgei also earned a Bowerman Award finalist spot — track & field’s highest individual honor — becoming the first Mountain West athlete and first UNM woman to be named. Off the track, the public health major maintained a 3.33 GPA, earning USTFCCCA National Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. She will next compete for Kenya at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Williams Earns Spot on College Football “Freaks” List

On the gridiron, another Lobo is making national headlines. Senior cornerback and kick returner Abraham “Abe” Williams has been named to Bruce Feldman’s annual College Football Freaks List, which spotlights the most physically gifted and athletic players in the country. Williams, who checks in at No. 100, is the active leader in college football with five career 100-yard kickoff returns for touchdowns.

A 6-foot-1, 186-pound transfer from Idaho — and former FCS All-American at Weber State — Williams impressed scouts this summer with elite measurables, including a top speed of 22.5 mph, a 39-inch vertical leap, and a 10-foot-5 broad jump. Feldman praised Williams’ length, explosiveness, and versatility, projecting him to be a key contributor at cornerback, on kick returns, and potentially as a punt returner.

Williams is one of only two Mountain West players to make the 2025 list, alongside Wyoming’s John Michael Gyllenborg at No. 54, and one of just 27 non-Power Four athletes recognized.

UNM Rolls Out \$4 Value Menu for Football Games

In an effort to keep Lobo Football both family-friendly and affordable, UNM Athletics announced the launch of an all-new $4 value menu at University Stadium this fall. Starting with the August 30 home opener against Idaho State, fans can purchase hot dogs, popcorn, Pepsi products, and bottled water for just \$4 each.

The value menu will be available at the main west concession stands as well as the northwest and northeast concourse locations. The initiative follows the school’s “Kids 12 & Under Get in Free” promotion, which offers two free general admission tickets for children with the purchase of an adult GA ticket for select games.

“Our goal is to make Lobo Football as family-friendly and affordable as ever,” said Vice President/Director of Athletics Fernando Lovo. “We want every New Mexican to be able to enjoy a great game-day experience without breaking the bank.”

Between Kosgei’s record-breaking freshman season, Williams’ spot on a national list of elite athletes, and new fan-friendly promotions, it’s shaping up to be an exciting year for Lobo Athletics — on the track, on the field, and in the stands.

If you want, I can also make this read more like a Sunday newspaper sports section centerpiece with subheads, quotes, and photo captions so it feels like a single polished feature. That would give it even more punch.

Big names flock to Seaside Volleyball Tournament

Published 10:49 am Tuesday, August 12, 2025

The top ranked high school girls volleyball player in Washington state, international standouts and an Olympic Gold Medalist were some of the many stars who flocked to Seaside Beach for the 43rd Annual Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament.

    With more than 230 nets and a sold-out crowd, the biggest volleyball Tournament in the United States lived up to its reputation. Not only was it a star-studded weekend, it was a weekend filled with showmanship. Athletes on center court were not just playing to win the match, but also to entertain the packed crowd in the process.

    For those who attended on Friday and Saturday that is exactly what happened.

    Though the weekend was filled with players from the Los Angeles beaches, the headliner was 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Phillip Dalhausser. The 2023 International Volleyball Hall of Fame inductee made his first trip to the Oregon Coast hoping to add another championship to his more than 30 career gold medals.

     To do that, Dalhausser and his partner Brendan Onishchenko would have to defeat the team of Avery Drost and Wyatt Harrison in the semi-finals. Despite Dalhausser being 45 years old and sporting a grey beard, he and Onishchenko took care of business in straight sets to advance to the finals.

    They would await the winner of the second semi-finals match, which consisted of Derek Bradford and Evan Cory taking on Alexander Harthaller from Innsbruck, Austria and Diego Perez. Though Perez and Bradford were on opposite teams they ended up stealing the show — Perez because of his incredible defense and blocking prowess and Bradford for his flair.

     The 21 year old from Northridge, California lived up to every Southern California stereotype. The 6-foot-8 high flier wore a loose fitting hat that would fly off his head every time he served. The hat-flying-off move revealed the perfect blond hair that had all the young girls in the audience swooning.

      Bradford and Cory would go on to win the match in straight sets and looked likely to face the 45-year-old former Olympic Champion, but it was not to be. While diving for a ball late in the second set, Cory landed awkwardly on his shoulder and ended up hurting it to the point where he was not able to play. This meant that Dalhausser and Onishchenko would win the boys title by forfeit.

   The girls open championship was a rematch of sorts. 

Marine Kinna saves a ball during the first set of the girls championship match. Photo by Paul Matli

    French sensation Marine Kinna and her partner Chloe Loreen had defeated Ella Connor in a previous matchup. Connor was hoping that her partner and fellow Southern California beach girl Zoey Henson would be able to get revenge.

      Set one saw the French sensation put on one of the best defensive shows Seaside Volleyball has seen in a while. Kinna ran around the back line digging out balls, dove in the sand and even put away some spikes of her own. This helped her and Loreen win the first set, 21-18.

     The next set saw the youngsters from California fight back. Henson, 20, and Connor, 21, controlled much of the second set and at one point went up 14-10, before the No. 1 seeded team tied it up with a 4-0 run. After a timeout, Connor and Henson once again took what looked to be a commanding lead in set two. They went up 18-15 and then had a set point at 20-16. That’s when Loreen went on a service run. After winning five straight points on her service game to turn the tables, the two teams went back and forth for multiple points until Kinna and Loreen won the second, 25-23, and thus the championship.

     “I felt stronger as the match went on,” Loreen said. “Towards the end we had momentum and it felt great.”

      ‘We didn’t feel much pressure in the second set,” Kinna said. “Just trusted each other’s game and finished it off.”

Real Madrid has said that it “firmly rejects” having a regular-season Spanish league game played in the United States and warned of “a turning point in the world of football”.

Villarreal, in contrast, is promising free travel and tickets for season-ticket holders if its match against Barcelona in Miami is approved, in what would be a first for the league. The 17th-round match in La Liga would be played at Hard Rock Stadium, the home of Barca legend Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

Madrid said on Tuesday that it has taken action to keep the December 20 match from happening in the US, claiming it would hurt the “integrity of the competition” and the “legitimacy of the results”.

“The measure, which was taken without prior information or consultation of the clubs participating in the competition, infringes the essential principle of territorial reciprocity, which applies in two-legged league competitions (one match at home and the other at the home of the opposing team), upsetting the competitive balance and giving an undue sporting advantage to the applicant clubs,” Madrid said.

The club said the match would set “an unacceptable precedent that opens the door to exceptions based on non-sporting interests, clearly affecting sporting integrity and risking the adulteration of the competition”.

“If this proposal were to be carried out, its consequences would be so serious that it would be a turning point in the world of football,” Madrid said.

The Europe-wide fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE) said it was “liaising” with members, soccer stakeholders, affected groups and partner organisations to “collectively resist the latest threat to the very nature of football”.

“We are following the broader impact on football with the utmost concern,” the group said. “Moving games from their domestic territories strikes at the heart of the relationship between fans and their teams, breaking vital links between clubs and their communities.”

The group also criticised a similar move by the Italian league to play a match abroad.

The Italian football federation said in July that a plan was in motion to play the Serie A match between AC Milan and Como in the Australian city of Perth in February.

Madrid asks FIFA and UEFA to withhold permission for Barcelona game

Madrid said it has asked FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s top sport body to not authorise the game in the US. The Spanish football federation on Monday approved a request for the match to be played in Miami. UEFA and FIFA now have to approve the request before it can be made official.

“Any modification of this nature must, in any case, have the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition, as well as strictly respecting the national and international rules governing the organization of official competitions,” Madrid said.

Madrid and the Spanish league president, Javier Tebas, have often been at odds on various issues.

The club said UEFA should deny the request to play the game abroad, based on the “criterion established in 2018 that prevents official matches in domestic competitions from being played outside national territory, except in duly justified exceptional circumstances, which are not present here”.

Madrid said it asked the country’s high sport council “not to grant the necessary administrative authorization without such unanimous consent”.

“Real Madrid reaffirms its commitment to respect the national and international rules that guarantee the fairness and proper functioning of official competitions, and will defend its compliance with them before all competent bodies,” the club said.

Villarreal hoping to expand its brand in US

Villarreal earlier on Tuesday said that its season ticket-holders can travel for free and receive free tickets for the match. It said those who do not want to go, or cannot go, will get a 20 percent discount on their season tickets.

“We would be the first [Spanish] team to play a league match abroad,” Villarreal’s president, Fernando Roig, told a news conference. “It would greatly help us expand our brand in a key market like the United States.”

Staging a match abroad has long been part of the league’s goal to promote football and its brand in other countries.

It first tried to stage a match in the US in 2018, with a game between Barcelona and Girona, but the idea was dismissed after criticism from players, fans and clubs. Subsequent attempts to play there also failed.

The league had offered compensation packages for Girona fans in 2018.

It was not clear whether it would be Villarreal or the league paying for the travel and tickets for the club’s fans this time.

The attempts to play in the US are part of the league’s long-term partnership with sport and entertainment group Relevent Sports, which is part of Stephen Ross’s portfolio of companies, including Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins, the Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix and the Miami Open tennis tournament.

Earlier this year, it was announced that New York-based Relevent Sports has exclusive negotiating rights over the global commercial rights to the UEFA men’s club competitions for the period 2027-2033.

FIFA moved last year towards ending decades of football tradition by ordering a review of its policy that blocks domestic league games from being played in other countries.

Some fan groups in Spain and the country’s players’ association on Monday expressed their disapproval of the plan to move the match thousands of kilometres away.

It has become routine, though, for US pro sport leagues to stage games in Europe, Asia and South America that help build their brands and fan bases.