STANFORD, Calif. — No. 2 Stanford captured a conference-leading eight Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference honors in its inaugural season, the league announced Thursday.

The Cardinal led all conference opponents with four All-MPSF First Team selections, a new program record for first-team all-conference honorees. Stanford led all programs with a record-setting four All-MPSF First Team selections, complemented by two Second Team and two Freshman Team nods, recognizing six standout athletes.

Stanford’s eight total honors paced the league, ahead of UCLA (6), USC (5), California (4), and Grand Canyon (2).

Stanford MPSF All-Conference Honorees

Kelly Belardi • All-MPSF Second Team
Belardi earns her second career all-conference honor after being named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team in 2023. As one half of the MPSF Tournament Most Valuable Pair, Belardi partnered with Charlotta Bell to deliver a clutch three-set comeback on court three that secured Stanford’s first-ever conference title. She leads the team in wins with a 30-7 overall record, including a perfect 3-0 mark on court two (with Charlotta Bell and Babi Gubbins) and a 27-7 record on court three (with Avery Jackson, Bell, and Chloe Hoffman).

Charlotta Bell • All-MPSF Second Team • All-MPSF Freshman Team
Bell becomes just the fifth player in program history to earn both all-conference and freshman honors in her debut season. The Orinda, Calif. native compiled a 28-8 overall record in 2025 across four courts, including a 15-3 showing on court three with Belardi. Her 28 wins rank tied for the fourth-most in a single season in Stanford history.

Avery Jackson • All-MPSF First Team • All-MPSF Freshman TeamJackson joins Bell as only the sixth Cardinal to earn all-conference and freshman team honors in her first year. The AVCA Second Team All-American posted a 23-8 record, highlighted by 9-2 marks on both courts two and three with partners Brooke Rockwell and Kelly Belardi. She also recorded a 5-3 record on court one alongside Rockwell.

Brooke Rockwell • All-MPSF First Team
A two-time AVCA All-American, Rockwell earned her second straight all-conference first team selection. Partnered primarily with Jackson, Rockwell tallied a 14-6 record against top competition, including wins over pairs from USC, UCLA, Cal Poly, and Florida State. She finished the season 21-11, bringing her career win total to 47 through two standout campaigns.

Ruby Sorra • All-MPSF First Team
Sorra continued her ascension as one of the program’s elite, collecting her second consecutive all-conference honor. The 2025 AVCA First Team All-American went 25-10 on the year, primarily alongside Taylor Wilson. Their 18 wins as a duo this season elevated them to the winningest pair in program history with 43 victories over two seasons. As Stanford’s No. 1 pair, they notched signature wins over USC, Cal Poly, and Long Beach State.

Taylor Wilson • All-MPSF First Team 
As captain of the 2025 squad, she etched her name into the program’s record books as part of Stanford’s winningest pair in history, totaling 43 victories alongside partner Ruby Sorra over two seasons as a duo. Her 86 career wins rank tied-for-third all-time at Stanford, solidifying her legacy as one of the program’s most impactful players. Under Wilson’s leadership, the Cardinal heads to its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance with her in the lineup—and fifth straight overall.

Good morning! Here’s your Morning Minute, a quick look at the top stories making headlines across the Central Coast today.

• “Herc” the Hero: Mental health & service dogs on campus: One Cal Poly athlete is opening up about her mental health journey, and the four-legged friend helping her through it. Community Reporter Dylan Foreman spoke with Ella Connor, a Cal Poly beach volleyball player, just in time for Mental Health Month. He also looked into the rising need for service dogs here on the Central Coast.
• Live drill: Mass casualty exercise at Santa Maria airport: A full-scale mass casualty exercise is happening today at the Santa Maria Airport. The drill runs from 10 to 11 a.m. and brings together multiple local agencies, including the Santa Maria Fire Department, to train for large-scale emergency responses. This is all part of ongoing efforts to keep our communities safe and prepared.
• Fire season prep: EMT training in Paso Robles: Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services is hosting a Wildland EMT and Paramedic class today and tomorrow in the Montebello Oaks Open Space. Expect to see equipment and personnel on-site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as crews train for fire season with skills like land navigation and mapping.

Attention residents in the Five Cities area including: Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, and San Miguelito Water Company customers, a boil water notice is in place after routine testing found bacteria in the drinking water system, violating state health standards. Until further notice, people should use bottled water or boil tap water for at least one minute before drinking, cooking, or brushing teeth. If boiling isn’t possible, officials recommend disinfecting water with household bleach. The issue is expected to be resolved by Sunday, May 4, or sooner.

Jeff Bard now has permanent housing after waiting 15 years, a reality echoed across Santa Barbara County, where 11,000 people are on the waitlist for Section 8 vouchers, which is now closed due to a lack of funding. County officials say rising rents have created a $7 million shortfall, forcing them to issue vouchers only to emergency cases like domestic violence survivors, veterans, or foster youth. In neighboring San Luis Obispo County, the Housing Authority also can’t issue new vouchers despite federal funding remaining flat, as rising rents drive up costs. Both counties say the shortage of vouchers is straining resources for low-income residents and partner agencies trying to combat homelessness.

San Luis Obispo County is moving forward with a safety improvement project for Los Osos Valley Road, a key corridor connecting Los Osos to San Luis Obispo and Montaña de Oro State Park. The Los Osos Valley Road Corridor Concept Plan has been in development for over a year, with more than 4,000 public comments shaping a draft design focused on addressing speeding, improving bike and pedestrian safety, and adding sidewalks. Proposed changes include a roundabout at Foothill Boulevard and both dedicated and painted bike lanes. The Los Osos Community Advisory Council has requested more time to review the draft before it goes to the County Board of Supervisors. Funding is expected to come from a combination of state and federal grants.

AZUSA, Calif. — Dan Ploog has been named the new head coach of Azusa Pacific Women’s Basketball this afternoon.  Ploog, who has spent the past 18 seasons on staff under former head coach T.J. Hardeman becomes just the eighth head coach in program history.



“Dan has been an integral part of our women’s basketball success for nearly two decades, and we are excited to see him step into this new role,” said Azusa Pacific Director of Athletics Gary Pine. “His commitment to our mission, his understanding of what it takes to compete at a championship level, his high energy and engagement, and his deep love for our student-athletes make him the ideal person to lead our program into the future.”



During Ploog’s tenure as an assistant, APU has been a fixture on the national stage, reaching the postseason 12 times across the NAIA and NCAA Division II levels. The Cougars captured the 2011 NAIA national title, finished as the NAIA runner-up in 2010, and reached the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2019 and 2021. It was also twice the No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region Tournament (2016, 2018) during his time on staff.



“After leading the APU Women’s Basketball program for the last 18 years it excites me to know God has raised up Dan to be His next leader for the program. Dan has coached with me every year I have been here and I look forward to seeing him lead the program into new territory,” said former head coach T.J. Hardeman.



Before his coaching career, Ploog enjoyed a decorated collegiate playing career at Biola University, where he was a three-year starter and known as one of the toughest defenders in the Golden State Athletic Conference. He helped lead the Eagles to four straight NAIA Tournament appearances, including a Final Four berth in 2000. He set a school record for career games played (136, since broken) and averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds over his final three seasons.



“Azusa Pacific has been my home for the past 18 years, and it is truly an honor to lead this program,” Ploog said. “I am grateful for the foundation that Coach Hardeman built and the opportunity to continue investing in our incredible student-athletes both on and off the court.”



A graduate of La Habra High School in 1995, Ploog was a standout athlete in both basketball and water polo, earning prep All-American honors in the pool before choosing to pursue basketball at the collegiate level.



Ploog earned his bachelor’s degree in sports physiology from Biola in 2000. He and his wife Heidi, a former Biola basketball standout and the daughter of T.J.

Hardeman have been married for 24 years and live in Fullerton with their four sons: Vander, Hudson, Logan, and Lincoln.



Ploog succeeds T.J. Hardeman, who concluded a decorated 18-year tenure that featured over 429 career wins and a 2011 NAIA National Championship.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – After winning his sixth straight West Coast Conference Coach of the Year award on Wednesday, LMU Beach Volleyball head coach John Mayer was named the 2025 AVCA Coach of the Year, as announced by the organization on Thursday morning. In addition, LMU’s Chloe Hooker and Michelle Shaffer were named AVCA Second-Team All-Americans. 

Mayer led the Lions back into the NCAA Championship as a No. 4 seed after winning a sixth straight West Coast Conference Championship last week. LMU concluded the regular season with a record of 35-6, Mayer’s Lions enter the NCAA Tournament riding a seven-match winning streak. LMU boasts multiple wins over the top-ranked teams in the country according to the AVCA national polls in No. 1 TCU and No. 3 UCLA. Mayer becomes the second West Coast Conference head coach to win AVCA Coach of the Year (Nina Matthies, Pepperdine in 2013).

Hooker was announced yesterday as the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, as well as an All-WCC First-Team selection. Compiling a record of 28-10 on the courts this season, Hooker primarily teamed with Vilhelmiina Prihti on either the No. 1 or No. 2 court. She and Prihti garnered a win on April 11 over No. 1 TCU. Hooker often played on LMU’s second court also with Jaeya Brach and Anna Pelloia. Hooker and Pelloia boasted Conference Pair of the Week accolades once in 2025. Hooker becomes the fifth straight Lion to claim this award. 

Shaffer, who earned All-WCC First-Team honors, compiled a record of 20-16 in 2025, playing primarily on the No. 1 court with Vilhelmiina Prihti. The tandem went 13-12 on the top court. More recently, Shaffer has been teaming with either Anna Pelloia or Jaeya Brach on the No. 1 court, winning five of her last six matches heading into the NCAA Tournament. Shaffer had previously been named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and part of the Conference Pair of the Year in 2024. 

BVB5/1/2025 3:52 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal’s Top 2 Pairs Make Inaugural List

BERKELEY – Four members of the No. 10 California beach volleyball team were named to the inaugural All-MPSF team, the conference announced Thursday. Junior Portia Sherman and sophomore Emma Donley were named First Team All-MPSF while graduate student Sierra Caffo and junior Gia Fisher were named to the second team.
 
This is just the second time in Cal history that four Bears have made the all-conference list and the second time that there have been multiple first-team selections.
 
Sherman and Donley have played every match together as the Bears’ No. 1 pair and have enjoyed a historic season with a 27-7 overall record. As a pair they broke the all-time court-one wins record of 21 and did so in a single season. Their 27 wins ties the program’s single-season pairs record set by Grace Campbell and Maddie Micheletti in 2018.
 
The pair has 16 ranked wins this season, which includes three top-five wins and five top-ten wins. Sherman and Donley enter the postseason having won 15 of their last 18 matches which includes an 11-match winstreak that spanned from March 21 – April 13.
 
This all-conference nod comes just one day after the two were named AVCA First Team All-Americans, the first in program history, and three days after they were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team. This is the first all-conference selection for Sherman, while Donley was named Second Team All-Pac-12 and to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team last season.
 
Caffo and Fisher have played primarily in the second spot of the lineup this season. Caffo heads into the final weekend of her career with a 20-8 overall record and an 18-8 mark on court two, while Fisher is 24-8 this year with a 21-8 court-two record. Both Bears hit major career milestones this year with Caffo reaching 75 wins and Fisher hitting 50.
 
As a pair Caffo and Fisher have won 14 of their last 18 matches, 11 of which came against ranked opponents.  
 
This is the third straight year that Caffo has made an all-conference list and the first selection of Fisher’s career.