Sports
No. 23 Colorado Hosts No. 24 BYU for Senior Day
The Buffs met with the Cougars earlier this season for their conference opener, beating then-No. 14 BYU in four sets – a statement win for CU as it started Big 12 play (Sept. 25). This will be the teams’ eighth meeting all-time, and the Buffs’ eighth ranked matchup of the season.
Last week, CU split the week during its final regular season road trip, with one sweep over West Virginia (Nov. 19) and a loss to Cincinnati (Nov. 21). The Black and Gold improved to 2-1 against WVU all-time and moved to 2-1 versus Cincinnati as well.
THIS WEEK
MATCH #30 • Saturday November 29 • 1 p.m. MT
No. 23 Colorado (22-7, 12-5 Big 12) vs. No. 24 BYU (21-8, 9-8 Big 12)
SERIES RECORD: BYU Leads, 5-2 (.286)
LAST MEETING: W, 3-1 (September 25, 2025 • Provo, Utah)
STREAK: Won 1 • LAST 10 MEETINGS: 2-5
OPPONENT WEBSITE: BYUCougars.com
FIRST SERVE (TL;DR)
- CU is led by 10th-year head coach Jesse Mahoney, who has led the Buffs to a 162-132 (.551) record as CU’s fifth head volleyball coach. Coach Mahoney has been extended through 2027 and has led the Buffs to three NCAA appearances. Mahoney also picked up his 150th win as head coach at CU against Denver at CU Events Center (Sept. 14). He becomes the third coach in Colorado Volleyball history to reach 150 wins, joining the likes of Pi’i Aiu and Brandon Saindon.
- In its second year back in the Big 12, Colorado was picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 Preseason Poll. The Buffs are 163-170 (.489) all-time in Big 12 conference play and third in the conference standings.
- For the first week this season, the Buffs are ranked 23rd in the AVCA Coaches’ Poll. This is the 11th week this season that the Buffs have received votes in the poll, and their eighth week in a row in the top-25.
- Colorado has 20 wins this season, marking the program’s 13th 20-win season and its first since 2022. With 22 wins currently, this season ties for the third-most wins in a season in program history (1988, 1989).
- Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic currently ranks first in points per set (5.45), which is good for sixth in the NCAA. She is also second in kills per set (4.68), as well as third in service aces per set (0.43) in the Big 12. She is 10th in kills per set and 44th for aces per set in the NCAA. Burilovic reached 1,000 career kills against West Virginia (Nov. 19), and finished last week with 21 kills, five blocks, 13 digs, two assists and an ace.
- R-Jr. S Rian Finley is sixth in the Big 12 for assists per set with 9.38. Finley finished last week with 41 assists, an ace, two kills, 15 digs and two blocks.
- So. MB Maria Splawska has moved up to sixth in the Big 12 for blocks per set with 1.21. Last week, she had nine blocks, four digs, an ace, and 10 kills.
- Fr. PIN Inés Losada cracked into the Big 12 top-10 for aces per set with 0.33. Last week she totaled three aces.
- As a team, the Buffs are third in the Big 12 for aces per set (1.58) and fifth for blocks per set (2.51).
ROAM WITH THE BUFFS: The Buffs’ match against No. 24 BYU will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also follow Colorado matches through live stats with links available at CUBuffs.com.
COOL CATS: Colorado faces the BYU Cougars for the eighth time in program history. The Cougars lead the rivalry, 5-2, all-time. The Buffs traveled to Provo, Utah, earlier this season and beat BYU in four sets, beating an AVCA top-15 team for the first time since Sept. 24, 2021, and delivering BYU’s first loss of its season (Sept. 25).
MILESTONE WATCH: Jr. MB Cayla Payne has 581 career kills, 19 away from 600. Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton has 1,424 digs, 76 away from 1,500. Jr. DS/L Peyton Neal has 947 digs, 53 away from 1,000.
MILESTONE CHECK: Jr. PIN Ana Burilovic reached 1,000 career kills, becoming the 17th Buff to do so. She also reached 500 career digs. R-Jr. S Rian Finley reached 200 career digs.
#3 I BELIEVE I CAN F(IN)L(E)Y: R-Jr. S Rian Finley spent the summer traveling all over Asia and some American territories. Not only that, she also flew a plane, bungee jumped and skydived in the off season!
#22 SISTER BY CHANCE: Sr. DS/L Sarah Morton’s big sister, Linda, played volleyball at Carthage College and is Morton’s biggest role model. Morton on her sister: “She has been my biggest role model in everything I do. Linda is the reason I started playing volleyball, and she has made me into who I am today. Without my big sissy, I would never be here and when I grow up, I want to be her.”
For more information on the Colorado volleyball team, please visit cubuffs.com/vb. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffsvb on Instagram, X, and Facebook.
Sports
Tulane hires new volleyball coach | Tulane
Tulane named Derek Schroeder its volleyball coach on Wednesday.
Schroeder, who is 279-234 in 17 years, spent the last three seasons at Jacksonville State after coaching Mercer for six years and Samford for eight, leading Samford to the NCAA tournament in 2011 and 2014. He guided Mercer to its first regular-season championships in 2020 and 2021, earning Southern Conference coach of the year honors in 2021.
He was not as successful at Jacksonville State, inheriting a program that had gone 65-15 the previous three seasons in the Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun before moving to Conference USA. The Gamecocks went 5-22 in 2023, 10-21 in 2024 and 14-15 in 2025.
Schroeder replaces Jordana Price, who was fired in November after going 40-77 overall and 15-56 in the American during a four-year tenure. Tulane’s last NCAA tournament appearance was in 2008.
Sports
Nebraska volleyball setter named finalist for prestigous award
Jan. 8, 2026, 6:31 a.m. CT
A Nebraska volleyball player has been named a finalist for another prestigious award. Setter Bergen Reilly, along with Olivia Babcock from Pittsburgh, Eva Hudson from Kentucky, and Mimi Colyer from Wisconsin, are the four finalists for the Class of 2026 Honda Sport Award for Volleyball.
Reilly had a tremendous 2025 season, helping the Huskers to a 33-1 record and a third straight Big Ten Championship. She averaged 10.47 assists per set and 2.70 digs per set with 73 kills, 67 blocks and 19 aces.
The Sioux Falls, S.D. native was a first-team AVCA All-American, AVCA Setter of the Year, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year, AVCA Region Player of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team.
The volleyball winner will become a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the Class of 2026 Honda Cup. The award will be presented live on Monday, July 27, at 6 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.
Sports
Vikings Begin ‘Process’, Open Indoor Season at Silver & Blue Invitational This Weekend
PORTLAND, Ore. — A new year brings with it a new season for the Portland State track & field program as the Vikings open their 2026 indoor season this Friday and Saturday at the Silver & Blue Invitational in Reno, Nev.
The season opener brings extra excitement for the Vikings, who enter their first track season under new head coach Joseph Blue. The Vikings’ new coach welcomes that excitement, though is quick to contextualize it as the first step in a long process for his team and his athletes.
“We’re just trying to get our feet wet. There are no expectations. I just want them to go out there and race hard, throw hard and execute the things that we’ve been working on,” Blue said of the team’s season opener.
It’ll be the first official action for the non-distance runners in the Viking program since last May’s Big Sky Outdoor Championships. The Vikings’ throwers, jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers worked with their new coaches during the fall. Blue said the team trained throughout October together, then three weeks in November.
The seven-week training period was shorter than Blue would have liked, but productive. The short period of training means the Vikings will be still looking to build through the early part of their season.
“The first half of the season will be us still practicing. As we get through the end of February and we get to outdoor, our team will get more whole. But as we start right now, we’re still in preseason mode,” Blue said.
Some of the Vikings will be ready to go from this weekend’s season opener. Blue said Daniel Coppedge, who broke the school records in the weight throw and hammer last indoor and outdoor season, respectively, should be ready to go.
Coppedge will compete in the weight throw Friday morning. He set the record in the event with a throw of 56-00.00 (17.07m) at the Riverfront Invitational last season, though that isn’t even a personal best for Coppedge. His personal best came when he was competing unattached at the PSU vs. UP Dual Meet where he threw 56-02.00 (17.11m).
Meanwhile, Blue called Tori Forst “the best athlete” across both the men’s and women’s teams at Portland State. Forst should be ready to make noise for the Vikings this weekend. She had her 2025 outdoor season shut down early due to injury, but before then, had entered the top 10 all-time in the indoor 60 meters when she finished in 7.54 seconds at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Forst also recorded an overall win in the 200 meters at the Oregon Preview during the outdoor season, finishing in a personal best of 24.40 seconds.
Forst is entered in the prelims of the women’s 60 meters Friday alongside teammates Sienna Rosario and Aida Wheat. Forst will also run the 200 meters Saturday with Rosario, Savannah Beasley and Ashley Peterson.
Some of the Vikings’ distance runners who had strong cross country seasons should also be ready to continue that this weekend. Emma Stolte ranks chief among those after she posted five top 10 finishes this past fall, including a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships to earn all-conference honors.
Stolte is entered in the women’s mile Friday alongside Libby Fox and Sam Sharp. She’ll double back in the 800 meters Saturday, an event in which she ranks eighth all-time at Portland State.
Amir Ahmed returns to the middle distances after running cross country in the fall. He’ll chase a school record in the 600 meters Saturday, an event in which he ranks third all-time after finishing in 1:20.85 at the UW Preview last season. Nate Boyer set the current 600-meter record at 1:19.48 in 2006.
Ahmed will also run in the 1,000 meters Friday. Fellow men’s distance runners Abdinajib Abade, Luke Gillingham and Farhan Ibrahim will also run in the mile Friday.
More Vikings will make either their season or career debuts this weekend. Blue cautioned all of them, no matter where they are in their training, to not overextend themselves.
“All your best PRs are going to happen when you were confident and relaxed. It’ll never happen by running as hard as you can or trying to throw as far as you can. That’s when bad habits creep in. A lot of our sport is reflex, muscle memory and reactive strength. That’s all it is. And mental. If you can do that and do what you trained, it’ll happen,” Blue said.
That can be tough to keep in mind during a season opener when athletes are eager to prove themselves. But no one hits their New Year’s resolutions by the second week of January. If you did, then you chose too easy of a resolution.
“I want them to stay in their process. Because [this meet] is not the result. I don’t care what they finish here. It’s cool to see the result, but that result is just part of the process for the year,” Blue said.
MEET INFO
Jan. 9-10 – Silver & Blue Invitational – Reno, Nev. (Reno Sparks Convention Center)
FOLLOW ALONG
Live Results
MEET SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 9
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
~11 a.m. – Men’s Weight Throw (Flight 1 of 1 – Coppedge, Green)
2 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Beasley)
2:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Prelims (Heat 1 of 2 – Johnson, Sweeney)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 1 of 3 – Forst; Heat 2 of 3 – Rosario, Wheat)
2:40 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Prelims (Heat 3 of 3 – Brost, Mcdonald)
2:55 p.m. – Women’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp, Stolte)
3:05 p.m. – Men’s Mile (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade, Gillingham, Ibrahim)
3:15 p.m. – Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:20 p.m. – Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles – Final
3:25 p.m. – Men’s 60 Meters – Final
3:30 p.m. – Women’s 60 Meters – Final
3:35 p.m. – Women’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Butterfield)
3:40 p.m. – Men’s 1,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
Saturday, Jan. 10
Time (PT) – Event (PSU Entries)
10 a.m. – Women’s Shot Put (Flight 1 of 1 – Fisher)
11 a.m. – Women’s 400 Meters (Heat 2 of 2 – Peterson)
11:15 a.m. – Men’s 400 Meters (Heat 1 of 3 – Johnson; Heat 2 of 3 – Payne; Heat 3 of 3 – Cadengo, Jones)
11:30 a.m. – Women’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Stolte)
11:35 a.m. – Men’s 800 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Abade)
11:40 a.m. – Women’s 600 Meters (Heat 3 of 3 – Butterfield)
11:50 a.m. – Men’s 600 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Ahmed)
11:55 a.m. – Women’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Forst; Heat 4 of 8 – Rosario; Heat 5 of 8 – Beasley; Heat 7 of 8 – Peterson)
~12 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump (Niyongere)
12:30 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters (Heat 2 of 8 – Cadengo, Sweeney; Heat 3 of 8 – Jones; Heat 4 of 8 – Payne; Heat 5 of 8 – Mcdonald; Heat 8 of 8 – Brost)
1 p.m. – Women’s 3,000 Meters (Heat 1 of 1 – Fox, Sharp)
1:20 p.m. – Men’s 3,000 Meters (Gillingham, Ibrahim)
Sports
Seremes named to The Bowerman watchlist
NEW ORLEANS– Junior triple jumper Jonathan Seremes was named to the 2026 preseason Bowerman watchlist Thursday afternoon. He is the 8th Texas Tech man to make the watchlist and first jumper to do so since Trey Culver in 2018.
Seremes is in his first season with Tech after transferring from Missouri where he only competed during the indoor season. Despite just one season with the Tigers, Seremes won the 2024 NCAA indoor triple jump crown. The France native leaped 17.04m (55-11), winning the competition by nearly two feet.
This past summer, he represented France at the World Championships where he finished 8th overall bounding 16.82m (55- 2 ¼). He holds a lifetime best jump of 17.08m (56- ½).
The Red Raiders kickoff the 2026 season next weekend hosting the annual Corky Classic Friday and Saturday inside the Sports Performance Center.
Sports
The 2026 Bowerman Watch List for men’s and women’s NCAA track and field
It’s time for a look at potential winners of the Bowerman, an annual award presented to the most outstanding athletes in collegiate track and field.
Here’s the latest on some of the best in DI track and field.
THE BOWERMAN: Complete history of the track and field honor
Watch lists from the season
Check out every 2026 watch list below.
Preseason watch list
The women’s preseason watch list was announced on Wednesday, Jan. 7, with the men’s preseason watch list announced on Thursday, Jan. 8.
| Gender | Athlete | School | Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| Women | Şilan Ayyildiz | Oregon | Mid-Distance |
| JaMeesia Ford+ | South Carolina | Sprints | |
| Grace Hartman* | NC State | Distance | |
| Jane Hedengren* | BYU | Distance | |
| Axelina Johansson | Nebraska | Throws | |
| Alyssa Jones* | Stanford | Jumps/Sprints | |
| Pamela Kosgei# | New Mexico | Distance | |
| Doris Lemngole! | Alabama | Distance | |
| Amanda Moll+ | Washington | Pole Vault | |
| Hana Moll+ | Washingotn | Pole Vault | |
| Men | Mykolas Alekna+ | Oregon | Discus |
| Peyton Bair | Oregon | Combined Events | |
| James Corrigan+ | BYU | Mid-Distance/Steeple | |
| Gary Martin | Virginia | Mid-Distance/Distance | |
| Ralford Mullings+ | Oklahoma | Throws | |
| Brian Musau+ | Oklahoma State | Distance | |
| Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan | Ole Miss | Throws | |
| Habtom Samuel | New Mexico | Distance | |
| Jonathan Seremes | Texas Tech | Jumps | |
| Ja’Kobe Tharp# | Auburn | Hurdles |
*Watch list career debut
+Returning semifinalist
#Returning finalist
! Returning winner
The following athletes received votes:
- Women
- Valentina Barrios Bornacelli, Missouri (Javelin)
- Indya Mayberry, TCU (Sprints)
- Madison Whyte, Southern California (Sprints)
- Men
- BJ Green, Oklahoma (Jumps)
- T’Mars McCallum, Tennessee (Sprints)
- Chinecherem Nnamdi, Texas A&M (Javelin)
- Samuel Ogazi, Alabama (Sprints)
- Tarsis Orogot, Alabama (Sprints)
- Aleksandr Solovev, Texas A&M (Pole Vault)
- JC Stevenson, Southern California (Sprints/Jumps)
- Tyrice Taylor, Arkansas (Mid-Distance)
PREDICTING: How the Bowerman watch lists predict the award’s final winner
2026 watch list dates
Below you’ll find all of the announced Bowerman watch list dates for 2026.
| Update | Women’s Date | Men’s Date |
|---|---|---|
| Preseason | Wednesday, Jan. 7 | Thursday, Jan. 8 |
| 1 | Wednesday, Feb. 4 | Thursday, Feb. 5 |
All dates subject to change
PAST BOWERMANS: 2025 – Jordan Anthony | 2025 – Doris Lemngole | 2024 – Leo Neugebauer | 2024 – Parker Valby | 2023 – Jaydon Hibbert | 2023 – Julien Alfred | 2022 – Trey Cunningham | 2022 – Abby Steiner
Date of the winner of the Bowerman
The 2025 winners will be announced at the 2025 USTFCCCA convention from December 14-17 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.
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