LATHAM, N.Y. – Juniors Savannah Owens (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) and Jillian Zukley (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland women’s indoor track & field team claimed the United East Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week awards as released by the league office Tuesday (Dec. 9).

Owens was named the United East Track Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career while Zukley garnered United East Field Athlete of the Week honors for the fifth time during her indoor career.

St. Mary’s College opened the 2025-26 campaign at the Christopher Newport University Holiday Open on Dec. 6.

Owens broke a school record in her return following a year away from the Seahawks indoor and outdoor track & field teams. The 5-5 sprinter took second in the 600m with a program record of 1:44.22, breaking the previous school record of 1:49.93 set by teammate Avery Arizzi ’27 on Dec. 2, 2023. She also placed third in the 800m in 2:35.81 while leading off the fourth-place 4x400m.

Following her performance, Owens leads the conference in the 800m while ranking 18th in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Zukley qualified for the 2026 All-Atlantic Region Track & Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships (Mar. 6-7) in the weight throw in the first indoor meet of the season. The 6-3 thrower opened her junior campaign with a bang as she captured the shot put with 11.67m. She then came in second in the weight throw with a school record 15.11m, knocking off her own record of 13.79m set on Jan. 31, 2025, at the Marlin Invitational.

Zukley currently leads the league in both events while ranking fourth in the Mid-Atlantic region in weight throw and sixth in shot put.

SMCM will be idle until the new year when St. Mary’s College travels to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. to compete in the Spartan Invitational hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas College. Action is slated to begin at 12 pm on Friday, January 9.

Purdue has added a young star to its 2026 roster via the transfer portal. The Boilermakers landed a commitment from former Georgia Tech outside hitter Mimi Mambu. She comes to West Lafayette with three years of eligibility remaining.

Mambu spent her freshman season with the Yellow Jackets and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. She averaged 2.923 kills per set and hit .155 for the year. The 6-foot outside hitter also totaled 48 blocks and averaged 1.067 digs per set.

“What a wonderful Christmas gift to get the commitment from a smart and dynamic student-athlete,” coach Dave Shondell said in a statement. “We’re excited to have this hard-hitting high-flyer join our team after such a strong first season at Georgia Tech where she helped lead them to an NCAA tournament appearance. We watched Mimi play in high school and knew she would be a special player. Mimi learned so much about our program from Kash [Akasha Anderson] and Isabelle Bardin who are good friends from the D.C. area.”

Shondell saw Mambu up close during the 2025 season. On Sept. 3, the Boilermakers hosted Georgia Tech in the Stacey Clark Classic. The Yellow Jackets won the match 3-1, and the freshman hitter ended the evening with 10 digs and seven kills.

Georgia Tech ended the year with a 16-14 record.

Mambu will likely fill a void left by Purdue senior Akasha Anderson, who proved to be one of the top hitters last season. After transferring in from Michigan State, the senior averaged 2.911 kills per set and had a .282 hitting percentage. She only got better as the season progressed.

Mambu will join a talented and experienced roster in West Lafayette. She joins All-Big Ten selections Kenna Wollard and Grace Heaney at the pin-hitter spots. She will also be playing alongside All-Big Ten setter Taylor Anderson and All-Big Ten honorable mention libero Ryan McAleer.

Purdue closed out the 2025 season with a 27-7 record and a trip to the Regional Final round of the NCAA Tournament.

Mambu had ups and downs

As any freshman might, Mambu had some highs and lows throughout her freshman campaign. She reached a double-digit kill total in 13 of Georgia Tech’s 30 matches.

Mambu also had some off days, though. On five occasions, she ended a match with a negative hit percentage. Three of those came against Louisville, Pitt, and Purdue, all of which made deep runs into the NCAA Tournament.

Mambu is a tremendous athlete with high-flying ability and a strong arm. The biggest focus for Shondell and the Boilermakers will be to develop some consistency, but Purdue’s coaching staff has proven it can correct some of those issues.

Plus, with a full year of college volleyball now under her belt, Mambu is likely to show major improvement from her freshman to sophomore season.

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PURDUE FRESHMAN HITS TRANSFER PORTAL: One of Purdue’s freshmen from the 2025 recruiting class entered the NCAA transfer portal and has already found a new home. CLICK HERE

Fourth Quarter

On second-and-nine, Bachmeier found Roberts in a tight window for a gain of 18. Damuni added four yards, and on third down, Roberts caught a 7-yard pass to move the chains. Bachmeier and Ryan connected for the seventh time, this time for 13 yards to pin BYU at the Yellow Jacket six-yard line. After Kingston recorded a four-yard carry, Nawahine took the direct snap and plowed into the end zone. Keeping the offense on the field to go for two, Bachmier rushed it into the end zone to cut the deficit to three.

BYU forced the game’s first three-and-out. Kingston returned the punt 34 yards to set BYU up at its 45.

Bachmeier pitched to Damuni for a gain of five on first down. The freshman running back gained one yard on the next play, but the Cougars were unable to convert on third-and-four, and Vander Haar and the punting unit returned to the field, resulting in the second three-and-out of the game.

An illegal snap penalty pushed Georgia Tech back to its four-yard line. On second-and-14, King hit Rutherford for a gain of 12, and then another illegal snap penalty was enforced on the Yellow Jackets to set up third-and-seven. Haynes got just short of the line of gain before Glasker and Tanner Wall tackled him to force a punt. Kingston returned the punt four yards and set BYU up at its own 30 with 5:44 on the clock.

Following two incomplete passes, Bachmeier found Kingston at the BYU 34, and he advanced to the 43-yard line to grab the first down. Phillips secured a 14-yard pass from Bachmeier, and then Kingston caught a 15-yard pass to cap three consecutive first downs. After an eight-yard pass to Ryan to the Georgia Tech 20, the running back room led the way, kick-started by Nawahine picking up nine yards with a hurdle over a defender. Bachmeier passed to Damuni for a gain of seven, and then the Providence, Utah product powered into the end zone for his first career touchdown. Alongside Ferrin’s extra point, the Cougars took the lead, 25-21 with two minutes left.

Ferrin’s kickoff was returned 13 yards to pin Georgia Tech at its 21. Nusi Taumoepeau and Lutui hurried King and his pass fell incomplete on first down. On the next play, King lost the ball on a low snap but recovered his fumble for a loss of five yards. On third-and-15, another pass fell incomplete, forcing fourth-and-15. On the play, King went deep to Rivers for a gain of 66 at the BYU 18 with 52 seconds on the clock. The defense held the Yellow Jackets to three-straight incomplete passes, setting up fourth down with 14 seconds remaining. King attempted to hit Haynes in the end zone but his pass was intercepted by Johnson to seal the Pop Tarts Bowl victory 25-21.

At the end of the season, after some of the adrenaline from the Texas A&M championship run had subsided, head coach Jamie Morrison revealed that a few players on his roster would have the opportunity to compete at the next level. While he didn’t name names, we had a pretty strong idea of which standout athletes he was referring to.

On Sunday morning, it was officially announced that senior middle blocker and 2025 NCAAVB Champion Ifenna Cos-Okpalla signed a professional contract to play with League One Volleyball (LOVB) Salt Lake. She joins senior opposite Logan Lednicky in the league, who recently signed with LOVB Houston. Cos-Okpalla was also drafted by MLV but ultimately chose to pursue her career with LOVB. We knew a move was coming soon after the news broke that she had signed with Valor Sports Agency just days before this announcement.