Jordan Larson and other Nebraska volleyball alums will make their return to the Bob Devaney Sports Center to attempt to steal a win away from the hometown Huskers.

Larson will lead a group of Nebraska volleyball alumnae against the 2025 Huskers in the inaugural Alumni Match on Saturday, Aug. 16 at 6 p.m. CDT in Lincoln at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The match will be a standard best-of-five format.

Joining Larson are Nebraska volleyball alums Kelly Hunter, Lauren Stivrins, Kenzie Maloney, Ally Batenhorst, and recent Nebraska graduates Lindsay Krause and Leyla Blackwell. The group includes multiple All-Americans, national champions, and Olympic medalists to compete against the current iteration of the Huskers, who finished in the national semifinals last year.

Larson leads the team as a three-time All-American during her Nebraska tenure from 2005-08 including a national championship in 2006. The outside hitter is a four-time Olympic medalist, and pushed Team USA to a gold medal in 2021 and competed in the Paris Olympics last summer. Her four Olympic medals are tied for the most all-time by a women’s volleyball player. The Hooper, Neb. native became a founding athlete for League One Volleyball Omaha after joining as an assistant coach for Nebraska for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Kelly Hunter, a current assistant coach for the Big Red, joins the alumni team after spending 11 of the 12 years with the Husker program as a player or coach. Hunter is a three-time All-American and two-time national champion and joined the coaching staff in 2019 as a graduate assistant and volunteer coach until being added to the staff in 2021. The 2017 Big Ten Setter of the Year was a first-team AVCA All-American her senior season, earning National Player of the Year honors from PrepVolleyball.com and VolleyMob.com.

Stivrins joins the alumni team as a three-time All-American and 2017 National Champion while at Nebraska, finishing her Husker tenure at fourth all-time with a .378 hitting percentage. The middle blocker tied an NCAA record with 24 career NCAA Tournament matches played, and was named a first-team All-Big Ten member for four straight years. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native now competes for LOVB Omaha with Larson.

Libero Kenzie Maloney returns to the Bob Devaney Sports Center after finishing her career as a third-team All-American, First Team All-Region, and an All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 2018. She averaged 4.03 digs per set in her final year in Lincoln, ending at No. 5 all-time in Nebraska’s digs list with 1,406 digs. She appeared in four straight NCAA Final Fours and finished with a 21-2 career record in NCAA Tournament matches. At the conclusion of her Nebraska tenure, the Kentucky native played in the most postseason sets and matches in Husker history.

Ally Batenhorst, a 2024 Nebraska graduate, played her first three collegiate seasons in Lincoln before concluding her college career at USC for her graduate season. Batenhorst was an All-Big Ten First Team selection for the Trojans after recording 2.25 kills per set and 52 blocks as a junior at Nebraska. The 2020-21 National Gatorade Player of the Year signed a professional contract with the Omaha Supernovas in Dec. 2024 after being selected No. 15 overall in the second round of the 2024 Professional Volleyball Federation Draft.

Omaha native Lindsay Krause returns to Lincoln after wrapping up a four-year run at Nebraska. Krause joined the Huskers after a standout prep career at Omaha Skutt Catholic, claiming the 2020 High School National Player of the Year by VolleyballMag.com. The 6-4 outside was an All-Big Ten Freshman team pick in 2021 and played in 102 matches over her four seasons, totaling 736 kills and 2.36 kills per set. After two national runner-up finishes and three Final Fours, Krause joined Batenhorst with the Supernovas after being taken No. 19 overall in the third round of the PVF Draft.

Leyla Blackwell rounds out the Nebraska alumni team after a one-year stint in Lincoln in 2024, aiding the Huskers to the 2024 Final Four. Blackwell appeared in 13 matches, averaging 2.35 kills per set on a .417 hitting percentage. The middle blocker spent three seasons at San Diego as a three-time All-WCC first-team honoree after transferring from Indiana. Blackwell was picked in the fourth round of the 2024 PVF Draft by the San Diego Mojo and appeared in 10 matches, including eight starts, this past season.

Other players and coaches joining the alumni team have not yet been announced. Nebraska volleyball returned a notable alum in Dani Busboom Kelly earlier this year, as the coach left Louisville to rejoin her alma mater following the retirement of John Cook in January.

Tickets are available at Huskers.com.

Nebraska Volleyball 2025 Schedule

Home matches are bolded. All times central.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

KTVB is a proud partner of Front Street Fights, electrifying mixed martial arts (MMA) featuring high-caliber professional fighters and up-and-coming amateurs.

WYNNE — The Wynne Rotary Club held its first meeting under new president Jeremy Bailey yesterday.

Bailey is the director of the Odell McCallum Community Center in Wynne and serves as a behavior intervention specialist at Wynne Intermediate School. He’s been a member of the Wynne Rotary Club since 2018.

Yesterday’s speaker was Garrett Morgan, administrator at CrossRidge Community Hospital. Morgan is the sergeant-at-arms for the club. He spoke about the variety of specialty clinics offered at CrossRidge through its affiliation with St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro.

Those clinics include cardiovascular, pulmonary, nephrology, wound care, gastrointestinal, and sports medicine. The sports medicine clinic is offered by Dr. Morgan Benefield, who is a Cross County native and graduate of Wynne High School.

Morgan noted that the local hospital also provides physical therapy and home health services. CrossRidge is supported by a 1-percent sales tax.

Morgan said the facility has placed a renewed emphasis on emergency care and preparedness in the aftermath of the March 2023 Wynne tornado. He said CrossRidge treated 45 patients in its emergency room following the storm due to injuries and other medical issues.

In six weeks, the fall sports season — and the 2025-26 athletic season — will begin in the Gainesville-area.Much of our content at the Gainesville Sun in the weeks leading up to kickoff will be looking ahead to the season. However, we want to honor the best of the best from the 2024-25 season before we officially turn the page.

This week, the Sun will be running polls to honor the best teams and athletes for the boys and girls sports in North-Central Florida. In case you missed it, we already released polls for the girls and boys team of the year. Voting is still open for both polls!

Next up is the girls athlete of the year. We have 16 nominees. These nominees came from our All-Area teams from the fall, winter and spring. But who was the best of these top athletes in their sport? We want to give you the chance to decide that.

Below is our nominees and the poll. It closes Sunday at 11:59 p.m., and you can vote as many times as you’d like. Share with friends and family and get to it!

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com

The White Hall School Board met Tuesday for their regular monthly meeting and Superintendent Gary Williams said each month the board focuses on a significant subject, then explained.

Williams went on to talk about the district’s teachers.

He said that even the kids who did not get a qualifying score benefitted from taking the classes.

A year ago in July Jacob Smithburg and his partner, Beth, moved to Rochester after looking for a state with “good vibes.” Today, he says, “We have been having such a fab time here in Minnesota.” For Smithburg, that includes his work as a program assistant at the Rochester Art Center.

After growing up in Iowa and being interested in theater and music, Smithburg earned an associate degree in animation, film and video effects. Then, he worked at a summer camp in California and was an intern at Disney World. “After Disney,” he says, “I earned a bachelors in cinema from the University of Iowa and plugged into the experimental theater and art installation scene at Iowa City.”

Among the many things he appreciates about work at RAC, Smithburg says, “Working here has allowed me to not be afraid to dress in my style. I have worked at jobs where you didn’t feel you could experiment with your style and be your true self, where you had to be a normy because people might comment. Here, people say, ‘Oh, what you’re wearing, that’s so fun, that’s you, that’s Jacob. It’s opened the door, made it wide open.”

Please describe your style?

Candied seahorse at an aquarium gift shop. Or a mix of that and a character from “Twin Peaks,” Dr. Jacoby, who would dress in a very flashy way with a lot of colors and weird outfits. That captures a lot of what my style has evolved into. I didn’t know about the show for a while, but when I saw it, I thought that character’s style is kind of me. And also a little bit of this comedian Chris Flemming who has very fun vibes.

Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin

Early evolution?

I was into theater at a young age and eventually would always try to go to school outfits with lots of color — wild for the Midwest. Then I think in high school I started wearing really weird colorful outfits like with tights under green pants and the pants rolled up.

And more recently?

Once COVID hit, I started experimenting a lot more with my style and thrifting. When I worked at the fabulous summer camp near Tahoe, I thrifted every weekend. That got me to where I am now.

What do you wear to work on a daily basis?

I’ve always dug the museum look, professional but silly and playful. Wide leg dress pants or fun jeans and something colorful on top, a shirt or a jacket but professional.

What do you hope your style says about you?

That I work in the creative field. That this guy is fun, that he’s silly, he’s playful but he’s still professional, and that his is a curated outfit not a hodgepodge of colors and textures.

Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin

Your most important wardrobe components?

Definitely pants. I think they really make an outfit. If you don’t have the right pants, the whole outfit can be ruined. If you don’t have the right pants, it’s a super bummer. … Then, also, turtlenecks and mock turtlenecks are a wardrobe staple of mine.

You’ve mentioned you love jackets …

I do. I have one that is very colorful and looks like a huge knitted jacket. It looks like something a character from the movie “Inside Out” would wear. Then I have others with fun, weird patterns and cool textures.

As for accessories?

I wear bracelets sometimes that are just Smart Wool sock band things. And sometimes I wear a watch, but just an Apple watch, and I only wear it with short sleeves which is not very often.

Anything surprising in your wardrobe?

I’d say either my “Star Trek: TNG” (“The Next Generation”) replica Lt. Commander Data uniform and my full-length hospital gown.

Footwear preferences?

I wear a lot of chunky sneakers, Hoka and New Balance, and then I have Merrell Hydro Mocs. They look like they are made out of bird bones. The structure is strange and they make a great camp shoe if you’re hanging out at the campsite.

Parting thoughts?

If you have even the smallest inkling or desire to try, you should. Being able to explore and experiment with your style not only opens your style sense but your true character, personality, your charisma.

Do you know someone who has unique style? Send nominations to

life@postbulletin.com

with “Your Style” in the subject line.

Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin

Joe Ahlquist / Post Bulletin