Sports
#B1GFirstServe – Rutgers Volleyball At Big Ten Media Day
Opening Statement:
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER : Year four, wow! I can’t believe it. It’s gone fast. It’s my sixth season, headed into my sixth season at Rutgers, and it’s remarkable how much this program has really shifted over the past six seasons, and I’m really excited to be here to obviously let Lexi and Kenzie talk about their experience this past spring as well as what the team is — what you’re going to be experiencing as a Rutgers team in the fall. Thank you all for being here and being part of this media day experience.
Q. Coach, I want to ask as you head into 2025 and continuing to build what you’re most looking forward to and wanted to showcase with this particular squad this year.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, this team last year was incredibly young. We started four freshmen, a couple of sophomores. We only graduated one key player. Obviously, she was a major contributor, but we feel like we’ve been able to definitely replace that position through the transfer portal. So I’m just excited that we’re able to use the experience that we had in unfortunately being defeated in some really tight matches last year, but actually having had the opportunity to play in those matches in the past, we’ve never really had that experience to go to five sets in so many matches that we did. Unfortunately, losing them at the end, I think came down to a little bit of inexperience and just team leadership as a whole, but obviously I gained the opportunity to learn, and the rest of my coaching staff to learn how to move forward and really get over the finish line in those matches. I think you’re going to see a bit of a different Rutgers team but also the same — it’s kind of hard to explain. We obviously have some new people in some key positions, but a lot of returners as well.
Q. I’ll ask the players what you’re looking forward to and what you want people to know as you go through summer workouts about what this 2025 Rutgers team is going to be like. KENZIE DYRSTAD: I just really want people to know that we are a very close-knit team and we’re working on fixing the little things and we’re really working on coming together and being able to play well with one another.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say we’ve been working extremely hard in summer workouts and lift and practice and that we’re ready to compete and play against the best.
Q. Talk about Lauren Wilcock, a transfer, also a Master’s biomedical sciences major. How does that match with the volleyball training schedule?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: I’ll talk about the educational piece first. We have one of the best degree programs in biomedical sciences. I’ve learned a lot about that graduate program. But the dean of that program has had multiple athletes come through, so they know how to work with the schedules. Rutgers, being such a large institution, we offer a lot of classes at different times. One of the things we’re doing this year is shifting our practice block a little bit later in the day. We practiced earlier in the day in the past, but moving to a little bit later in the day. It’s always my goal to have local talent on the team. Lauren was in the ones pair at Washington. She was also in the ones pair before that at South Carolina and something that really stood out to me about her was she typically had a partner that was younger than her. So from a leadership standpoint, I thought she would be a wonderful add, help support our passing unit. And there’s been a transition for her obviously taking the game from outside to inside, just the speed, but I got to watch her do some training during camp last week, and I thought she really has meshed nicely. Q. Can I ask the players what that transition is like? Do you notice when someone has that primary beach background?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Yeah, we mess around with Lauren, especially when we’re sitting kids at the camp was like, oh, isn’t that a carry though when she was setting, and she’s like, I’m working on it. So she’s definitely working on that. Obviously, setting in beach is a little bit different, but she’s working on that and then a few footwork things. And she said diving was a lot different. She got pretty bruised up the first couple weeks of open gym. But she’s meshed really nicely with us, and I’m super excited to be able to keep playing with her.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: I was joking with her because obviously Lexi has a really strong jump top spin serve and Lauren was like, well, I did it on the beach. I was like, that’s a free ball. We’ve got to be better at that. She was like, I just have to figure out how to hit the indoor ball a little bit harder.
Q. What is your mindset coming into the upcoming season?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: For me personally, my mindset is we get to play against the best of the best day in, day out. There’s not a lot of conferences where you get to say that you play top-25 teams back-to-back nights. Really just enjoying the moment and trying to remember that it’s so cool to be able to play some of the best athletes in the country and really focusing on that.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say something similar. Going into my senior year, I really want to make this my best season and enjoy every moment.
Q. Coach, how do you determine playing time, and what are some factors considered for freshmen coming in?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Well, playing time. We train for about 25 days before our first game. Obviously, we have the opportunity to see these players on more of a year-round basis. Summer access would be wonderful, but we get to see them play a lot. We also were able to go on a foreign trip this year, so I got a little bit of an early insight. We were able to bring one of our freshmen, Imani Howell on that trip with us, so got to see how she meshed with the team. I think playing time comes from a few things. You can perform well in practice but can you replicate that in a game, and there’s certain players who can and there’s certain players who can’t. We learn that over time of just getting to know them and experiencing. It doesn’t mean that’s every night, but that definitely is something that goes into it. I think competitive personality, how you hold yourself under the pressure, under the big lights, the fans, how do you recover, are you taking care of your body correctly. So we play back-to-back nights sometimes, and are the players that are able to repeat their Friday night skill level on Saturday night. Then last but not least, obviously, experience. As you get older, you get more comfortable, so that goes into it as well. We haven’t really had that much opportunity to really have a lot of experienced players out there, so this will be the first year where I think we have a junior and senior class that is able to really hold their own and it’s not just all freshmen out there, freshmen and sophomores out there.
Q. For the players and coaches, how do you guys process game film? Do you watch the Big Ten Network? Do you listen without the sound? How do you take in a game?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Usually, before games, we’ll break down film through volley metrics, so we’ll look at hitting tendencies, serving tendencies, all that type of stuff. We really break it down to what are people’s very specific tendencies so we can try and like help prevent what they’re really, really good at or things like that.
LEXI VISINTINE: Yeah, we usually take it in offense. We focus on that and scout their offense, and then their defense, which makes it easier to digest. Then we form a game plan about what we should do.
Q. How do you guys know when you watch the game? Do you watch broadcast? How do you watch the game?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: So I have this saying where I’m like, are we watching it as a player, are we scouting this, or are we watching this as a fan. It’s totally okay to watch games as a fan. They’re both from states that are big volleyball states and they might just want to turn on the television and watch the game as a fan. But it’s a very different mindset when you’re watching it to prepare for a team. I wouldn’t recommend that they just turn on BTN and just watch the game and say, hey, we’re prepped. No, it’s not like that. We’re on the road sometimes and we’ll turn it on at night just in the hotel when we’re eating dinner or whatever if it’s a game after hours. But when it comes to film breakdown, our technical director does an unbelievable job of creating small videos for the players. We break down practice film so they can see themselves playing. We break individual reps. This year — I think in the past having a young team we really force fed a lot of the scouting report to them, and they did a great job of memorizing set 1. We did a lot better job — won a ton of set 1s. We didn’t do a great job of being able to transition into when the other team made an adjustment in set 2, 3, 4. We almost needed to have a whole ‘nother practice to learn about that. So we are spending more time less team specific things and more about player tendencies, and so that’s an area they want to focus on this year. They do small group sessions. A lot of film.
Q. Coach, you alluded to the foreign travels that you guys had. I think this was the first time ever and for all three of you, tell us what that does for your program, chemistry, competition, et cetera.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, our main two donors who really helped fund that trip aren’t going to want to have their names announced, but we were very supported when it came from a donor relationship to really drive that trip. It was a goal of mine when I first was hired that I wanted to do that trip and wait for the right timing of it. We’ve had an opportunity actually to do this probably for the last three years but I wasn’t sure the team dynamic, everything was exactly where I wanted it to be that would really jump start the next season. I felt after this spring — actually after last fall of knowing we were retaining the majority of our team, having the opportunity to train for the extra 10 days before that trip and then go on that trip, the relationships, and then the growth from a player development that we were able to create. So again, yes, it was the first trip Rutgers has ever done. I was able to do a foreign trip with some of my previous institutions and I just saw how successful those seasons are. Actually one of the ways we got the trip pushed through is we had to do some research about the success of other programs on years after foreign trips. There really is a trend that’s related to that, so that was a driving factor for those donors to really push through that trip. But I had a wonderful time. I got to know my players a lot more on a personal level. My daughter was able to go, my mother was able to go, so they got to see that side of my life more. It was a lot of together time, but I was actually honestly — maybe you guys can explain how we got through that trip, but I was shocked how there really was no fighting. Everyone seemed to really still enjoy being around each other at the end of that trip, and that was pretty cool.
KENZIE DYRSTAD: Yeah, it was so cool to be able to experience new cultures, especially we have a girl on our team, Ema, she’s from Serbia, so to be able to experience her culture, her home, it was so cool. Just all the new experiences and being able to create new memories, especially with the new people, that just makes your team so much closer. It’s going to really translate to the court hopefully.
LEXI VISINTINE: I would just add that it was also interesting to see the different styles of play. I feel like every country had their unique way of playing. I think it was a great experience for us to grow.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: For a player like Lexi who is going into her senior year and potentially what’s next, do I stay playing volleyball, do I go into the workforce, what do I do. I think opening her eyes and kind of putting words in your mouth, but she had a wonderful foreign trip, and the doors that opened from just other teams getting to see her play and different countries that might not have been their first thought about a 5’10” outside hitter, they got to see how successful she was against really quality players. We played the U-21 Italian team and she had an unbelievable hitting percentage against them, so it was just really interesting. Q. What keeps you guys motivated when things get tough in volleyball?
LEXI VISINTINE: I would say there’s a lot of younger girls who looked up to us, and I think that’s the main thing that keeps me motivated, is playing for my younger self and playing for younger girls that would love to be in my shoes.
KENZIE DYRSTAD: For me, same thing as Lexi. Playing for younger me who loved the game. I still love the game. Really, just focusing on my joy for the game just really keeps me going.
Q. Caitlin, how has the House settlement impacted your team management? And for the players, is that a topic of conversation or are you discussing that? Is that on your mind of how the sport is growing and evolving?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Yeah, the House settlement is interesting. Obviously, I followed along the whole process for the past several years. I don’t know how much they’ve followed along the ins and outs of it. But I think a lot of coaches will say that’s not the reason they got into coaching originally was because of where we’re at now, but I do think after really trying to process and ask the questions as to why we got to this point, I understand. I see how much is on their plate and how much is on all the players’ plates in all different sports and how much they really do represent these institutions in such a high-quality way that it is only fair that they’re able to be compensated for their time and what they bring to the table. However, what they probably will realize is it’s a tough ask for every institution, not only Rutgers, but every institution. I was just talking to the head of our booster club, and she’s involved with the Women in Finance group at Rutgers, and they did an entire overview of how all the Big Ten teams would fare when it comes to paying out this amount of money year after year after year. The reality is it’s going to be tough for pretty much 98 percent of institutions. How that translates, I think Rutgers is doing a wonderful job of trying to keep the experience the same for all of out athletes regardless of what sport they play, and we’ve been able to be at a point where I have fought for the past several years when I took over this program so make sure that we were operationally funded the same way other teams in the Big Ten were, because in the past the volleyball program was not. And so in order to be successful we need to remain at that level. Obviously doing things like selling tickets for the first time ever in program history was a big deal, and that’s something that I pushed for for several years, and now I want to show that we have this fan base that’s able to generate some income back into the university, and it just shows how invested the region is in the sport of volleyball. Again, when it comes to player-to-player, those are individual conversations, and Rutgers is part of that mix for volleyball. Obviously, we’re going through some administrative changes, and we don’t need to get into that, but we’re going to figure out who’s leading the charge, and that is whoever that may be. Obviously, we’ve had wonderful interim athletic directors in the meantime, but whoever full-time leads the charge, they know that volleyball needs to be a priority sport because it is in this conference.
Q. Have you had conversations on the player level at all?
KENZIE DYRSTAD: I like to ask Caitlin questions about it. I see a lot of it, especially on Twitter I’ll see people post about it. Most of my conversations have just been asking Caitlin, what does this mean, what is this, stuff like that.
LEXI VISINTINE: Pretty much the same.
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: It’s really important to me that I treat my players as if they are professional athletes because they basically are professional athletes. So I want to make sure that they’re part of their own process and that I’m as transparent as possible with the decisions I have to make and how it affects them. I don’t want to hide anything from them. Obviously there’s things they don’t need to be privy to that don’t affect them immediately, but I think it’s important that they’re aware of decisions that not only the NCAA is making, not only the ABCA is making, but also that Rutgers is making and I am making that will affect them in the near future.
Q. Can you talk a little bit about what went into your decision to bring Kenzie and Lexi to media days this year?
CAITLIN SCHWEIHOFER: Sure. Well, Kenzie has been a captain for us. She was captain as a sophomore, which I think is really — maybe a rare thing. I don’t know how many teams have a sophomore captain. But she was our libero full-time last season. She has a ton of experience. But we have a family tree growing in the Dyrstad family, so it’s something she has really invested in this Rutgers process and growth process. She was one of the first true commits that I had for the class of 2023, and she opened the door for us in the Nebraska market, and now that’s growing exponentially year after year, the interest. I thought it was really important she represent this team and this program. Lexi is a really unique story where she came in as a walk-on, as a freshman, and I didn’t know exactly what role she would fill. She played more of a utility player, but she has taken every single bit of feedback that I have given her, that the rest of the staff has given her in great stride and now she is a player we can’t take off the court. So I felt like she really earned that honor to represent this team, and it just shows that just like this program that we’re trying to create as a whole, that sometimes it takes time to meet your goals. It doesn’t always happen overnight, but the reality is if you stick with something regularly, good things can happen.
Follow Rutgers women’s volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.
– RU –
Sports
Week Ahead: Monday, Jan. 12 to Sunday, Jan. 18
By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. — Here’s a look at the week ahead (Jan. 12-18) for the Bridgewater State University athletics teams:
WEDNESDAY
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, at Anna Maria College, 5:00 PM: The Bears travel to Paxton, Mass., for a game against the AMCATS.
Anna Maria is a new member of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference after moving from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference.
The AMCATS are 4-7 overall and dropped their lone conference game to Salem State, 71-67.
BSU, after a 1-9 start in non-conference games, are 2-0 in the MASCAC with wins over Fitchburg State and Salem State.
MEN’S BASKETBALL, at Anna Maria College, 7:00 PM: BSU takes on a MASCAC newcomer on the road.
The teams played non-conference games the past two seasons with the Bears winning both. They opened the 2023-24 season with a 119-110 overtime win on the road and defeated Anna Maria, 89-64, in a game played at Wheaton College last season.
The AMCATS are 4-8 overall and 1-1 in the conference with a loss to Salem State and a win over the Mass. College of Liberal Arts.
BSU is 3-10 overall and is 1-1 in the MASCAC, defeating Fitchburg State and losing to Salem State.
FRIDAY
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Bates Invitational & Multi, 10:00 AM: Ryker King and Drew Alves will compete in the heptathlon at the two-day meet held at Bates College’s Merrill Gymnasium.
The University of New Hampshire finished first last season while Bates was second in the seven-team field.
SATURDAY
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational, 10:00 AM: The Bears will take part in the meet held at Tufts University.
Last season, BSU was third in the six-team field with Kevin McBirney winning the 1,000-meter run, breaking the school record with a time of 2:29.42.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Bates Invitational & Multi, 10:00 AM: King and Alves will wrap up their two-day stay at the Bates College meet in Lewiston, Maine.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational, 10:00 AM: The Bears compete in the meet at Tufts University.
Kiara Abrantes led BSU by winning two events last season, setting a school record of 25.26 seconds in the 200 and placing first in the 60.
Serenity Sands was also first for BSU in the high jump, helping the Bears wind up third overall.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at home, Brandeis and Keene State, Noon: The Bears have their first competition since Dec. 6 when they host a tri-meet against the Judges and the Owls.
BSU lost to both Keene State, 166-133, and Brandeis, 165-121, in a tri-meet in New Hampshire last year.
MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at home, Brandeis and Keene State, Noon: The Bears return to the pool for the first time since hosting the BSU Invitational on Dec. 6.
In a tri-meet a year ago in New Hampshire, BSU split a pair, defeating Keene State, 145-112, and losing to Brandeis, 184-77.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, at home, Mass. College of Liberal Arts, Noon: The Bears close out January with four of five games at the Tinsley Center, beginning with a matchup with the Trailblazers.
The teams are meeting for the first time since Feb. 3, 2024.
WRESTLING, at home, Williams College, 12:30 PM: The Bears will host Senior Day at Kelly Gym as part of the final home match of the season.
BSU lost at home to Williams a year ago, 42-9.
Williams was No. 3 in the last New England Wrestling Association rankings.
MEN’S BASKETBALL, at home, Mass. College of Liberal Arts, 2:00 PM: After playing just two home games in the opening two months of the season, the Bears will be playing four of five games at the Tinsley Center to finish January.
BSU and Mass. College split two games last season, each winning at home.
The Trailblazers begin the week 3-8 with three straight losses and are 0-2 in the MASCAC.
SUNDAY
MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at Bentley University, 1:00 PM: The Bears will be in Waltham, Mass., to face the Division II Falcons.
Desmond Ng led BSU last season against the Falcons, winning the 100 breaststroke and placing second in the 200 freestyle. the Bears were defeated at home, 173-50.
WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING, at Bentley University, 1:00 PM: The Bears compete in the first of two straight road meets, traveling to Waltham, Mass., to take on the Division II Falcons.
BSU lost at home to Bentley, 189-99, a year ago.
Sports
VOTE for the 2025 Las Cruces Sun-News Female Athlete of the Year
Updated Jan. 11, 2026, 1:02 p.m. MT
This post has been updated to correct a duplicate nominee.
Voting is now open for the 2025 Las Cruces Sun-News Female Athlete of the Year award.
100 nominees have been chosen by the Sun-News across Las Cruces-area schools, including Las Cruces, Mayfield, Organ Mountain, Centennial, Mesilla Valley Christian, Gadsden, Santa Teresa, Chaparral and Hatch Valley. They have been chosen from volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer, track and field, cross country, wrestling, golf and tennis teams from all nine of those schools.
The nominees represented themselves, their schools and their communities in the best possible way they could during their respective seasons. They each accomplished something notable and made their friends, family, coaches and loved ones proud. They were All-State players, All-District players, strong performers at state championships, or members of the Sun-News’ Super Teams.
Voting for this honor will be open for the remainder of the month and will conclude at 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 31. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter. There are no restrictions, so vote now and vote often.
The 2024 winner was Las Cruces track and field’s Kaselle Davis. To ensure a new winner, so that someone else can be recognized and have their story told, Corona is not included in this year’s poll.
Please remember these things as you vote:
- Some of the nominees played multiple sports. However, the ones that are will only be listed in the sport in which they were best or most accomplished in 2025.
- Some athletes may no longer be at their respective schools because they have graduated. However, they still participated in high school sports in 2025.
- It is preferred that voters cast their ballots for the athlete you believe had the best year or accomplished the most out of all the nominees. However, you may vote for whoever you want.
If you believe someone should be nominated who isn’t, please email Nick Coppola at ncoppola@lcsun-news.com.
Here are the nominees:
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Addison Massey
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Caleigh Garcia
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Ava Price
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Sydney Pipkin
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Lyza Jackson
- Las Cruces volleyball’s Kalea Romney
- Mayfield volleyball’s Alexa Chavez
- Mayfield volleyball’s Madison Martinez
- Mayfield volleyball’s Sophia Thompson
- Mayfield volleyball’s McKenna Linnan
- Mayfield volleyball’s Isobella Munker
- Centennial volleyball’s Tristan McReynolds
- Centennial volleyball’s Allie Estrada
- Centennial volleyball’s Judy Borham
- Centennial volleyball’s Andrea Sedillo
- Organ Mountain volleyball’s Maggie Coats
- Organ Mountain volleyball’s Annabelle Jorgensen
- Organ Mountain volleyball’s Alexa Edmondson
- Mesilla Valley Christian volleyball’s Addison Hackey
- Mesilla Valley Christian volleyball’s Ella Rice
- Mesilla Valley Christian volleyball’s Julia Black
- Gadsden volleyball’s Krystal Lucero
- Santa Teresa volleyball’s Evelyn Castro
- Santa Teresa volleyball’s Bridgitte Sandoval
- Chaparral volleyball’s Diana Valenzuela
- Las Cruces soccer’s Raylene Carillo
- Las Cruces soccer’s Aubrie Herrera
- Las Cruces soccer’s Alyssa Parra
- Mayfield soccer’s Ashley Chavez
- Mayfield soccer’s Alexia Lopez
- Mayfield soccer’s Nicole Garza
- Mayfield soccer’s Juliette Moreno
- Organ Mountain soccer’s Ariyah Vazquez
- Organ Mountain soccer’s Ashley Black
- Organ Mountain soccer’s Mia Dean
- Organ Mountain soccer’s Koury Judd
- Centennial soccer’s Zia Flores
- Centennial soccer’s Cleo Coca
- Centennial soccer’s Emma Ruiz
- Centennial soccer’s Amorie Moreno
- Gadsden soccer’s Jazbrie Alvarado
- Gadsden soccer’s Sandra Camara
- Gadsden soccer’s Brianna Esparaza
- Centennial softball’s Destiny Perez
- Centennial softball’s Amanda Valles
- Centennial softball’s Aaliyah Betancourt
- Centennial softball’s Addie Moccia
- Centennial softball’s Stevie Jimenez
- Centennial softball’s Amaris Villegas
- Las Cruces softball’s Kaia Renteria
- Las Cruces softball’s Zaysha Hawkins
- Mayfield softball’s Ausaundra Roberto
- Mayfield softball’s Angelina Ramirez
- Mayfield softball’s Payton Oliver
- Mayfield softball’s Emma Enoch
- Organ Mountain softball’s Hannah Justus
- Organ Mountain softball’s Leah Melero
- Mesilla Valley Christian softball’s Maren Fiske
- Mesilla Valley Christian softball’s Briley Eaton
- Gadsden softball’s Jazmin Alcantar
- Gadsden softball’s Alyssa Lujan
- Hatch Valley softball’s Alaya Martinez
- Las Cruces basketball’s Bethzy Quiñones
- Las Cruces basketball’s Danae Pacheco
- Las Cruces basketball’s Jaysha Hawkins
- Mayfield basketball’s Jazlene Ruiz
- Mayfield basketball’s Ceanna McKines
- Mayfield basketball’s Lorrena Viarreal
- Mayfield basketball’s Serena Carrasco
- Organ Mountain basketball’s Siena Gonzales
- Centennial basketball’s Rizaya Cash
- Centennial basketball’s Joy Hunt
- Centennial basketball’s Carli Nunez
- Mesilla Valley Christian basketball’s Neveah Benjamin
- Mesilla Valley Christian basketball’s Katey Black
- Las Cruces wrestling’s Emberlyn Atma
- Las Cruces wrestling’s Paige Atma
- Centennial wrestling’s Paige Jorge
- Centennial wrestling’s Aliyah Salas
- Centennial wrestling’s Anahbel Padilla
- Santa Teresa wrestling’s Jennifer Rico
- Chaparral wrestling’s Kimberly Perez-Lopez
- Organ Mountain cross country’s Ashley Galaz
- Organ Mountain cross country’s Isabella Barlow
- Organ Mountain cross country’s Jaymie McBroom
- Mayfield cross country’s Arabella Richardson
- Centennial cross country’s Eva Nolan
- Las Cruces track and field’s Sofia Herrera
- Las Cruces track and field’s Kian Almanza
- Centennial track and field’s Anniston Lustig
- Centennial track and field’s Ashley Miller
- Centennial track and field’s Sidney Andrade
- Organ Mountain track and field’s Wren Hofacket
- Santa Teresa track and field’s Jazel Torres
- Organ Mountain golf’s Eleanor Warden
- Organ Mountain golf’s Alyssa Serna
- Centennial golf’s Mia Silva
- Centennial golf’s Carly Moore
- Organ Mountain tennis’ Savannah Reiman
- Centennial swimming’s Savannah Skow
VOTE HERE
Sports
UNC Bears volleyball’s busy offseason
The UNC volleyball team’s fall season ended a little more than a month ago, and the Bears are already moving on toward 2026
In a rare occurrence, two freshmen will join UNC this month with the start of the spring semester. The program also said good-bye to associate head coach Pi’i Aiu, who announced his retirement in December.
Freshmen Gillian Walton and Riley Taylor were among six players to sign for 2026, the program announced in November. Walton and Taylor are expected to be on campus for the start of the spring semester Monday with both athletes opting to graduate a semester early from high school.
UNC has since announced the signing of three transfer students in setter Emily Bruss, middle blocker Summer Snead and outside hitter Kylie Cackovic.
Walton was an outside hitter, defensive specialist and opposite hitter at Overland Park High School in Overland Park, Kansas. Taylor was a right-side outside hitter at Green Level High School in Apex, North Carolina.

UNC, 17-16 overall in 2025, turned in one of its most successful seasons under head coach Lyndsey Oates.
After starting their nonconference season with a 3-9 record, the Bears turned things around during the Big Sky Conference season.
UNC won the conference tournament title on its home court, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. UNC then pushed nationally ranked Creighton to five sets in a first-round match on the Bluejays’ home floor in Omaha, Nebraska.
The match was the final one for Aiu, who’d been with Oates for seven years.
Aiu came to UNC before the 2019 season after 12 years at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He was promoted to associate head coach in January 2020, and was really a right-hand man for Oates.
She said this week the search for a successor will soon begin. Oates was aware of Aiu’s plans to retire long before the end of the season. She said she heard from several people on her coaching connection with Aiu as news of his retirement became public.
“I don’t know that I took that for granted,” Oates said of Aiu as a coaching colleague. “It is maybe true how much success the two of us had together in the last seven years.”
Oates said she previously had the same camaraderie with assistants Jenny Glenn and Tom Hunter, both of whom spent close to a decade in the program.

In the last seven years, UNC’s record is 150-64 with four Big Sky Conference Tournament titles leading to four NCAA Tournament appearances. In the same span, UNC also won a Big Sky Conference regular-season championship (2024). Also in 2024, UNC qualified for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship after a runner-up finish at the Big Sky tournament.
“It just shows you how valuable assistant coaches are,” Oates said. “I mean, they are doing a bulk of the recruiting and their training, and they create our culture as much as a head coach does.”
Sports
WSU volleyball signs Audrey Hollis out of the transfer portal – The Daily Evergreen
Four weeks ago, it was made public that Jackie Carle and Italia Bernal were both hitting the transfer portal. At the time, this left the Cougars with Livia Ward as the only setter on the team.
On Wednesday, the Cougs fixed at least part of the setter shortage by signing setter Audrey Hollis. Hollis will be a true junior in the fall and is a transfer from the University of Hawai’i. Before playing in Hawaii, she played at UC San Diego in 2024.
As a sophomore at Hawai’i, she recorded 125 assists and 49 digs. However, she only played in 16 out of 29 matches and 38 total sets.
At UC San Diego, however, she produced. As a freshman, while playing both setter and opposite, she logged 921 assists, 8.86 assists per set (fifth-most in the Big West Conference in 2024), 188 digs, 48 blocks, 57 kills and 17 service aces. She played in 27 out of 30 matches, starting in 25 of them, and helped the Tritons achieve an overall record of 17–13, which allowed them to qualify for the Big West Championship in the team’s first year of eligibility.
For her freshman-year efforts, she made the Big West All-Freshman team.
Hollis even has championship-level DNA after she helped lead her club volleyball team to win the USA Volleyball 18s National Championship in the National Division in 2022.
Despite her statistically underwhelming season at Hawai’i this past year, head coach Korey Schroeder and company will look to tap into the upside she showed in her freshman year.
“Audrey brings a lot of [experience] and [success] for us at the setter position. Her freshman season she ran a 5-1 for a very successful UC-San Diego team while she was still 17 years old,” Schroeder said about her in a statement posted on the WSU Athletics website upon signing her.
Sports
Lubbock-Cooper Liberty Campbell Beeler is top area volleyball player
Jan. 12, 2026, 4:05 a.m. CT
WOODROW — Like the rest of the Lubbock-Cooper freshmen three years ago, Campbell Beeler faced one of the first major decisions of her life.
Should she stay at her high school, or enter a new frontier as part of the first contingent to attend Lubbock-Cooper Liberty?
There were plenty of factors to consider, including the athletics landscape. What would sports at a new school look like?
Sports
Here is the 2025 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal volleyball Super Team
Jan. 12, 2026, 4:09 a.m. CT
Here is the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s volleyball Super Team for the 2025 season. Players are listed in alphabetical order in their respective tiers.
Read about our player of the year, Lubbock-Cooper Liberty senior Campbell Beeler.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Emma Clawson, Sr., OH, Shallowater
Clawson, a New Mexico State signee, notched 511 kills (.303 hitting percentage), 157 digs, 36 aces, 13 blocks and eight assists. She was District 2-3A MVP and Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state.
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