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Emma Raducanu on the brink of overtaking Katie Boutler to be British no.1 again in rankings

“I was happy with how I moved, how I extended the rallies from the first game, the first points and kind of just got in my opponent’s head.”Raducanu will play American world number four Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals after she beat Marta Kostyuk in straight sets. It was expected the two would be working […]

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Emma Raducanu on the brink of overtaking Katie Boutler to be British no.1 again in rankings ...


“I was happy with how I moved, how I extended the rallies from the first game, the first points and kind of just got in my opponent’s head.”Raducanu will play American world number four Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals after she beat Marta Kostyuk in straight sets.

Raducanu is on her best run since the US Open in 2021It was expected the two would be working together for at least a few months, but only lasted 14 days.
Raducanu is on her best run since the US Open in 2021Credit: Getty

It was expected the two would be working together for at least a few months, but only lasted 14 days.

Boulter could be set to lose her British No.1 tagCredit: Getty

It was expected the two would be working together for at least a few months, but only lasted 14 days.

Raducanu is looking for the eighth coach of her careerCredit: Getty

A possible semi-final with world number two Iga Swiatek would then follow, should the Pole overcome surprise quarter-finalist Alexandra Eala of the Philippines,

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“I just knew I had to dig every ball that I could and make it as physical as possible, because I backed myself in that regard.The extra ranking points would put her on 1397 points, overtaking Katie Boulter’s 1366 – which would also shoot Raducanu up into the top 40 in the world.

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Day 1 men’s water polo preliminary-round action

Preliminary Round Group Match Reports Match 4, Group C, BRAZIL 19 SINGAPORE 8 (4-0, 5-1, 6-3, 4-4) Image Source: Pedro Real (BRA)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics Brazil, who was always going to win, was on the front foot quickly, winning the first period 4-0 with a variety of goals and four separate shooters. Singapore could find no […]

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Preliminary Round Group Match Reports

Match 4, Group C, BRAZIL 19 SINGAPORE 8 (4-0, 5-1, 6-3, 4-4)


Image Source: Pedro Real (BRA)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Brazil, who was always going to win, was on the front foot quickly, winning the first period 4-0 with a variety of goals and four separate shooters. Singapore could find no way through. One of the best goals was by Luis Silva, backhanding a shot from two metres when smothered by defenders and his head was under the water. Two swift goals at the top of the second quarter stopped Singapore in its tracks, having to take a timeout. Logan Cabral scored from top left and Paulo Oliviera went on counter for 6-0 at 7:18. The timeout had limited success with Brazil slowing its shooting, however, Pedro Real and captain Gustavo Guimaraes gained their second goals, the latter from eight metres out. Wai Fong was pushed out to five metres at centre forward but still managed to turn and score Singapore’s first goal at 1:22. Brazil responded for 9-1 at the long break.

Guimaraes started the third period and long-standing team-mate Gustavo Coutinho scored consecutive goals as Brazil rose to 13-2. And then 15-3 as Jayden See from the deep right and Cayden Loh on extra rejuvenated the Singaporeans. A Brazilian pair moved the scoreline to 15-3 before Sanjiv Rajandra pulled the trigger from the top for 15-4 just four seconds from time after Singapore stole the ball. Rajandra started he final quarter on penalty and at 1:31 netted his third, also from the five-metre line.


Image Source: Lucas Farias (BRA) and Sanjiv Rajandra (SGP)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Match Heroes
Veterans Guimaraes and Coutinho topped the scoring with three apiece for Brazil. Rajandra also netted three for Singapore. The leading goalkeepers were on form with Joao Fernandes (BRA) and Lee Lee (SGP) both made eight saves before handing over duties after three periods.

Turning Point
Once the match reached 8-0 in favour of Brazil, the rest of the match was 11-8, showing how good Singapore could be with this sort of experience.

Stats Don’t Lie
Brazil converted four from eight and defended four from five on extra. On penalties, Brazil scored all three and Singapore three from five, Brazil stole six to four and shot 37 to 23.


Image Source: Jayden See (SGP)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Bottom Line
Brazil has the experience at this level and that showed. Size also made a difference.

What They Said

 

Match 3, Group D, CHINA 6 CROATIA 25 (1-7, 0-5, 4-7, 1-6)


Image Source: Chen Zhongxian (CHN)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Croatia warmed up for the harder matches with a solid showing against China. Croatia shot from outside with aplomb and China had to work to find space to get the ball close to players near the goal. It was fairly even early in the first quarter with Croatia easing to a 2-0 advantage before Wang Beiyi found the goal from two metres for 2-1. Goals were hard to come by after that as China could not find a way through. Croatia put away the next four as captain Marko Bijac stopped a Chinese penalty attempt at what could have been 6-2. Luka Bukic countered for the seventh goal and his third for the period. Zvonimir Butic scored the first two of the second quarter, followed by Loren Fatovic, Tin Brubnjak for his second and Konstantin Kharkov on counter, also for his second.

China improved muchly in the third period, having faith in its shooting. With Butic starting the scoring, goals were traded to 15-4 with Xie Zekai’s bouncer ending a 13 and a-half-minute drought. Franko Lazic and Fatovic pushed it out to 17-4 with Peng Jiahao scoring off a quick take-and-shoot on extra. Rino Buric scored his second of the period and Josip Vrlic ended all scoring from two metres for 19-5 at the last break. It was a 7-4 period.


Image Source: Croatian captain Mako Bijac/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Marko Zuvela made the fourth period his own with three goals as China was kept scoreless until Cai Yuhao converted a penalty foul, eight minutes after the last Chinese goal. Zuvela scored twice from outside and the second long shot probably came from the carpark. Bukic pummelled the Chinese goal for the sixth time — his second of the period. It was enough for a 25-6 victory

Match Heroes
Bukic
with his six goals, followed by Zuvela with four and triples to Buric and Butic. Bijac made nine saves before handing over the goalkeeping reins for the final quarter. Xie scored twice for China.

Turning Point
Moving from 2-1 to 13-1 and that scoreless second quarter was where Croatia gained the fulcrum to victory.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia converted three from five on extra and stopped seven from nine. China scored one from two on penalty and Croatia stole the ball 13 times to three. On overall shots, Croatia had 41 to 29.


Image Source: Franko Lazic (CRO)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Bottom Line
Croatia is world champion, Olympic silver medallist and finished fourth in the World Cup this year. Enough said.

What They Said

Zvonimir BUTIC (CRO) — Three Goals

On what it means for Croatia to start Croatia’s title defence with a big win:
“It’s expected. We are a better team and were prepared for it, and it ended very well.” 

On whether he feels pressure competing as the defending champion:
“Croatia has been at the top of water polo for more than 20 years, so we are born and raised with pressure. We feel it, but it’s normal for us.” 

On whether there are areas of team  improvement:
“Of course, there’s something to improve. But it’s just the beginning of the tournament and we want to be better and better from game to game. That’s how it’s supposed to be, and I hope that’s going to happen.”

On how Croatia prepared for the world championships:
“We went to Hong Kong seven days before the world championships to adapt to these conditions. Everything in Singapore is great, the venue is perfect. We are very satisfied and we hope that our performance will match the high level of this tournament.” 

Match 2, Group C, CANADA 9 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 18 (0-3, 2-4, 2-5, 5-6)


Image Source: Max Irving (USA)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

USA kept Canada at bay for more than 10 minutes as it went on the hunt for victory. It was not easy pickings as USA captain Max Irving found two minutes in on a drive down the right. Hannes Daube converted a penalty and Dylan Woodhead smashed in a shot off a cross pass to the deep left, 21 seconds from the buzzer. Goals were traded in the second quarter with USA leading the way at 4-0. Aleksa Gardijan blasted in a shot from the top right, replied by Ryder Dodd — the MVP at the recent junior world championships. Ali Oussodou converted a Canadian penalty before Ryan Ohl, also a member of the USA junior men’s team, and Irving on counter had the halftime score at 7-2.

David Lapins found himself free top left to score for Canada a minute into the third period. Jack Larsen finished some superb passing on extra, followed by a heavily guarded Ben Liechty scoring off the right-post position. Saveljic continued the centre-forward scoring and Ryder Dodd rifled one in from deep left to give USA an 11-3 advantage at halfway through the period. Reuel D’Souza bounced the ball in off the back of the goalkeeper’s heads and Chase Dodd scored off the right-post position for 12-4 at the final break.


Image Source: Ryder Dodd (USA) and Bogdan Djerkovic (CAN)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

The final quarter opened up with goals traded and a USA triple that had Irving adding two more to his tally. Canada bounced back into the match with four straight with Lapins and Oussadou scoring again to narrow the score to 16-9. USA hammered in the last two to double Canada’s score.

Match Heroes
Irving
with four goals for USA with Saveljic and Daube with three each. Goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg grabbed 10 saves. Oussadou topped Canada’s scoring with three goals. Lapins and D’Souza shot two each.

Turning Point
The two four-goal bursts in the first and third periods gave USA a more-than-adequate advantage.

Stats Don’t Lie
USA scored one from three on extra and Canada none from two. Both teams shot three penalty goals. USA stole the ball seven to four and both teams shots 31 times.


Image Source: Brody McKnight (CAN)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Bottom Line
In the battle for North America, USA was too good, being the Olympic bronze medallist. Canada performed well in spurts.

What They Said

Max IRVING (USA) — Captain

On the match:
“I think it was a good match. We came out, we played with good energy. Defence is definitely something that’s a priority for this team. For us to hold them to four goals through three quarters was good. I think for the most part, it’s a good foundation for us to build on.”

 On how he motivates his team before matches:
“We have all the motivation we need. The LA Olympics are coming up; that’s three years down the road. But we want to take every opportunity that we have to play high-level, international competition to use it and to get better as a group.”

On his performance and being named player of the match:
“I think it was good. Everything starts with our defence. I’m definitely going to want to build on that moving forward, and try not to get three exclusions in the next game. But it was a good start to the tournament.”

On whether he would do anything differently:
“Hindsight is 20/20, there are probably a million things I would do differently. But no, I think it’s good. I like the way that we started. We played with energy from the first whistle and we played good on defence.”

On how his team played:
“We’ve got a beautiful group. Dejan UDOVICIC is our head coach; he does an awesome job leading us. He just told us to go out there, play with confidence, play with energy, play with intensity, play with conviction, and just have a commitment to each other and commitment to the group. Play with attitude and passion. So, we’re really excited for every game we get to play at this world championships, and we know that we have a really special group.”

Ali OUSSADOU (CAN) — Three Goals

On the match:
“It’s a bit of a new group here that we have and we took our time to get in the game. For some guys like myself, it’s our first world championships. But I thought it went better as the match went on and we’re looking forward to the next game.”

On being his team’s top scorer with three goals:
“I’m happy, I’m just trying to help the team win in however, whatever way I can. And I guess today it was by scoring goals, so I’m happy to help the team power back in.” 

On lessons from the opening match:
“It’s experience. Every game, we learn new stuff. It’s good for the team to get games together and get experience, and I’m looking forward to the next game.” 

Match 1, Group A, SERBIA 27 SOUTH AFRICA 3 (8-0, 6-3, 4-0, 9-0)


Image Source: Viktor Rasovic (SRB)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Professional Serbia made the first step with an encouraging victory against an amateur side. It was a tough ask for the Africans against the Olympic champion, but they did manage to be a threat on a number of occasions. Serbia breezed through the first quarter with superstar and triple Olympic champion Dusan Mandic netting three of the first five with his wicked left arm. Captain Nikola Jaksic scored two of the first three. The second quarter was more interesting as South Africa found the goal three times with Brett Sneddon, cunningly turning at the left-post position to defeat Serbian goalkeeper Radoslav Filipovic. Calvin Kuperus snapped on a quick inbound pass as the goalie moved forward and Manqoba Bungane scored from wide left off a long cross pass, just managing to wedge the ball inside the left upright, eight seconds from halftime. Meantime, big centre forward Milos Cuk scored a pair —one from penalty — with Jaksic gaining his third.

Mandic added another two in a third period where it took six shots at goal before the first Serbian ball breached the defence. That was Vasilije Martinovic from a six-metre-foul shot. Jaksic snared his fourth (from six attempts), on penalty, while the South Africans were denied any such joy. Strangely, Mandic had one shot rejected. His 17-3 goal was from well outside, showing that he does not need to encroach another two metres when you have a cannon as potent as his. The fourth period also belonged to Serbia with Cuk screaming in an outside shot to add to his repertoire. Boris Vapenski added a centre-forward backhand to his first-quarter penalty strike and Nikola Murisic snared a pair for five in total. Viktor Rasovic scored twice in the closing minutes and Jaksic brought up his fourth from point blank.


Image Source: Manqoba Bungane (RSA)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Match Heroes
Mandic
, as expected, with his six goals, Murisic with five and Jaksic with four were the best for Serbia.

Turning Point
None in this match.

Stats Don’t Lie
Serbia went five from five on extra and denied South Africa its sole chance. Serbia dominated the penalties with four goals, made eight steals to four and shot 38 to 19.


Image Source: Boris Vapenski (SRB)/Istvan Derencsenyi/World Aquatics

Bottom Line
When you pit the Olympic champion with an amateur side, there can only be one result. Experience is everything.

What They Said

Dusan MANDIC (SRB) — Six Goals

 

On the match:

“It was a good opening for us. We know that we are a much stronger team than South Africa and we demonstrated this today in the pool. We are forgetting this and already focusing on our next opponent, which is Italy, and it’s going to be a tough game for sure.” 

 

On preparations for Singapore 2025:

“We went to Thailand before to try to prepare for the time difference. That’s about it. We trained with Australia, also.”

 

On ending a 10-year drought for the world title:

“I think we have less pressure now than we had in Paris. Now, after Paris, we want to continue the same way. We are not thinking about a world championship that we won 10 years ago, it’s not important. What’s important is now we are a compact team and we grow together. We’ve been through a lot of difficult times especially before Paris. Finally, we won the best possible medal in Paris with our third consecutive Olympic gold. We got our confidence, we got our strength, our belief in ourselves and we want to continue in this way.”

 

Dylan WATT (RSA) — Captain

 

On the match:

“I think we started off a little slow. A lot of new players in the team made debuts and the nerves got to us. The second and third periods I was happy with, we had a really competitive game in those periods. 

“Towards the end, there was a little bit of fatigue and a little bit of excitement. We were quite excited to be only 18-3 down coming to the last period. We were looking for big things and got a little too impatient in changing things up. But honestly, we can’t be too upset with the result from the first game of the tournament. We can only grow from here.” 

Progress Points

Group A: Serbia 3, Italy, Romania, South Africa 0.
Group B: Hungary, Spain, Australia, Japan.
Group C: United States of America 3, Brazil 3, Canada 0, Singapore 0.
Group D: Croatia 3, Greece, Montenegro, China 0.

Day 4 Schedule

Match 09. 09:00. Group C, United States of America v Brazil
Match 10. 10:35. Group A, South Africa v Romania
Match 11. 12:10. Group D, Greece v China
Match 12, 13:45, Group B, Japan v Hungary
Match 13. 16:00. Group B, Australia v Spain
Match 14. 17:35. Group D, Croatia v Montenegro
Match 15. 19:10. Group C, Singapore v Canada
Match 16. 20:45. Group A, Italy v Serbia





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College Catch-Up: Highlighting the 2024-2025 year for Gibson County graduates | Local Sports

Catching up with, and highlighting, a few of the graduates of Gibson County high schools that competed as a collegiate student-athlete in 2024-2025: Brady Allen (GSHS, Class of 2022) (University of Louisville – Football): Allen enters his third year at Louisville as one of six quarterbacks on the UL roster (as of July 8, 2025) […]

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Catching up with, and highlighting, a few of the graduates of Gibson County high schools that competed as a collegiate student-athlete in 2024-2025:

Brady Allen (GSHS, Class of 2022) (University of Louisville – Football): Allen enters his third year at Louisville as one of six quarterbacks on the UL roster (as of July 8, 2025) looking to gain an increased on-field role for the Cardinals this Fall…Entering Fall camp, preliminary reports indicate that Allen may be in line to serve as the Cardinals’ backup quarterback behind incoming transfer Miller Moss, who entered the UL program after transferring in from the University of Southern California…In 2024, Allen played against Austin Peay and completed 2-of-2 passes for 28 yards, and also saw time in UL’s regular-season finale against the University of Kentucky…In 2023, Allen appeared in one game and completed his only pass for seven yards against Murray State…As a freshman at Purdue University in 2022, he completed 1-of-3 passes for eight yards and made his lone on-field appearance for the Boilermakers against Indiana State before later transferring to Louisville…



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China bumps Canada 3-1 in women’s Volleyball Nations League

ARLINGTON — Life in the Volleyball Nations League continues to be long on lessons and short on victories for the Canadian women’s team. ARLINGTON — Life in the Volleyball Nations League continues to be long on lessons and short on victories for the Canadian women’s team. China, which entered Friday’s best-of-five match in seventh place, […]

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ARLINGTON — Life in the Volleyball Nations League continues to be long on lessons and short on victories for the Canadian women’s team.

ARLINGTON — Life in the Volleyball Nations League continues to be long on lessons and short on victories for the Canadian women’s team.

China, which entered Friday’s best-of-five match in seventh place, edged the 16th-place Canadians 25-22, 25-15, 22-25 and 25-23 at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Outside hitter Abagayle Guezen and opposite spiker Anna Smrek were Canada’s top scorers with 14 points each, while Yushan Zhuan led China with 21.

China led in attacks (59-51), ace serves (7-3), sets (130-126) and digs (97-96).

Canada made four fewer unforced errors (27-23) and had more blocks (8-4).

Canada will play the host United States on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2025.

The Canadian Press





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U.S. dunks Canada 18-9 in men’s water polo at World Aquatics Championships

SINGAPORE — The Canadian men’s water polo team was dunked 18-9 by the United States in the opening game of preliminary round action on Saturday at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The Americans held quarter leads of 3-0, 7-2 and 12-4. SINGAPORE — The Canadian men’s water polo team was dunked 18-9 by the […]

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SINGAPORE — The Canadian men’s water polo team was dunked 18-9 by the United States in the opening game of preliminary round action on Saturday at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. The Americans held quarter leads of 3-0, 7-2 and 12-4.

SINGAPORE — The Canadian men’s water polo team was dunked 18-9 by the United States in the opening game of preliminary round action on Saturday at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

The Americans held quarter leads of 3-0, 7-2 and 12-4.

Canada is playing in a four-team pool comprised of Brazil, Singapore and the U.S.

Canada’s next game is Monday against Singapore, while the United States plays Brazil on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2025.

The Canadian Press





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Arizona volleyball gets 2 big commitments for 2027

Arizona head volleyball coach Rita Stubbs landed two big commitments on Friday afternoon. A big name from Wildcat history and size in the middle joined the class of 2027 with the announcements of Nylah Bibby and Londyn Pope. The 6-foot-2 Pope plays a premium position at middle blocker. Arizona tries to get one from the […]

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Arizona head volleyball coach Rita Stubbs landed two big commitments on Friday afternoon. A big name from Wildcat history and size in the middle joined the class of 2027 with the announcements of Nylah Bibby and Londyn Pope.

The 6-foot-2 Pope plays a premium position at middle blocker. Arizona tries to get one from the transfer portal almost every year. They have been successful roughly 50 percent of the time. They will go with three this season instead of the four that Stubbs would prefer.

Stubbs is addressing the future of the position through the high school pipeline. She got a late addition to the 2026 class in Marina Vosloo. Pope will follow Vosloo in 2027.

Pope plays prep volleyball for V.R. Eaton High School in Fort Worth, Tex. She played club for TAV 15 Black, but moved to Dallas Premier 16 Black this year.

Over her first two years of high school volleyball, Pope has played 158 sets with 1.3 kills per set. She has a career hitting percentage of .244.

Her offensive stats jumped considerably between her freshman and sophomore seasons, going from 0.7 k/s her rookie year to 1.6 k/s in her second year. After playing just 50 sets as a freshman, she was on the court for 108 in 2024-25. On the downside, Pope’s hitting percentage dropped from .280 to .238.

Pope has been fairly consistent with her blocking numbers. Despite a jump in the number of sets she played, she went from 0.6 blocks per set as a freshman to 0.7 b/s as a sophomore. She had 16 solo blocks out of her 75 total blocks during her second season. She also had 41 blocking errors in her 108 sets last season.

She has had some good showings in this year’s club tournaments. USA Volleyball named her to the all-tournament team for the 16 Freedom group at the 2025 Girls Junior National Championship last week. Her team came in ranked ninth, but she helped lead them to a second-place finish in 16 Freedom.

Pope’s highlights from her time with TAV can be found on her HUDL page. More recent personal highlights are on her Sports Recruits profile. Team highlights for Dallas Premier from recent tournaments can be found on the club’s Sports Recruits page.

Bibby’s name is known to every Wildcat fan. Her father Mike Bibby helped lead the men’s basketball team to its only national title in 1997.

The younger Bibby started her high school career at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale but transferred to Scottsdale’s Saguaro High before her sophomore year. She plays club volleyball for Arizona Storm Elite, which regulary produces some of the best volleyball players in Arizona. Bibby plays alongside some of the top players in the country on the Arizona Storm Elite 16 Thunder roster.

While Bibby is listed as an outside hitter and opposite on the Storm’s roster, she also lists herself as a libero/defensive specialist elsewhere. With a listed height of just 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10, depending on the source, it’s open to debate whether she will be able to play at either pin at the Power 4 level. Her height would seem to make L/DS a more likely landing spot.

On the prep level, Bibby will be entering her second year at Saguaro but her third year of varsity volleyball. During her freshman season at Shadow Mountain, she played in 82 sets, averaging 2.8 kills per set on a .156 hitting percentage. She had 0.3 aces per set with 8.7 percent of her serves going for aces. She had a 90.1 serve percentage with 263 serve attempts.

On the defensive side of things, Bibby had 0.2 blocks per set and 2.5 digs per set as a freshman. On serve receive, she received serve 4.0 times per set with 0.3 reception errors per set.

Bibby did not play as many sets after transfering to Saguaro her sophomore year, but her stats improved. Her kills almost doubled to 5.0 per set. Just as important, she was more efficient with a .252 hitting percentage.

Her aces doubled to 0.6 per set and her ace rate shot up to 14.7 percent. The only negative movement came on her serve percentage, which dropped to 86.6 percent.

Bibby had 0.3 blocks per set in her second season, slightly better than her rookie year. Her digs were dramatically higher at 3.5 per set.

She received the ball more often as a sophomore with 5.4 receptions per set. Her reception errors also increased, going up to 0.4 per set.

Her father isn’t the only one in the family with college sports experience. Bibby’s older sister Janae Bibby played NCAA volleyball for one year at Division II Fresno Pacific in 2019.

Additional highlights can be found on Bibby’s HUDL profile.

Lead photo by Photo by Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Athletics





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Lainey Brumfield hired as Southwest volleyball assistant coach

Former William Carey Volleyball player Lainey Brumfield has been hired as the Southwest volleyball assistant coach. She will be working with head coach Chris Laird in the sport’s first season back on campus since the early 1970’s. Brumfield is no stranger to the sport, bringing nearly a decade of experience to Summit. The goal of […]

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Former William Carey Volleyball player Lainey Brumfield has been hired as the Southwest volleyball assistant coach.

She will be working with head coach Chris Laird in the sport’s first season back on campus since the early 1970’s.

Brumfield is no stranger to the sport, bringing nearly a decade of experience to Summit. The goal of being a coach in the college ranks is one that she has had on her radar for multiple years.

“It’s a big change for my life,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to be a collegiate coach for years now.”

The volleyball journey started for Brumfield, a native of Foxworth and an alum of West Marion High School, when she began playing the sport in middle school.

“I’ve been playing for eight years now,” she said. “When I was a sophomore in high school I tried out for a club team in Hattiesburg. Eventually I moved on to play for Matrix down on the Coast. The club years were my sophomore, junior and senior years in high school.”

During that time, Brumfield not only worked on her game but also met someone who would play a big role in her career.

“I actually met the coach that influenced me the most, Kelly Pitre,” she said. “She was my biggest influence as a coach. Someone I looked up to and who I wanted to be as a coach. She also helped me get in contact with a few colleges. Moving into my senior year I got an offer from (William) Carey to go play. It felt like home for me. I ended up going there playing indoor and beach.”

The want to coach for Brumfield came during her senior year in high school and by the next year, she was coaching club ball, a job she held throughout the next two years before spending the 2024 season at Petal Middle School.

Brumfield feels like her age and being able to relate more with the girls on the team is a big advantage for her.

“I feel like am very mature for my age,” she said. “I feel like with that I won’t get into a friendship with the girls and I’ll keep it professional but also I’ll be able to relate their current life events that they are going through because college can be a big change.”

Being a former student athlete herself, she understands the importance of academics and will help implement it on the team.

“At the end of the day, you are a student athlete and the student has to come first before the athletics,” she said. “Volleyball will not last forever. You have to have your degree to go further into life and into your future job. My goal is to make these girls ready for their future job and life.”

Coach Laird said that he is very happy to bring Brumfield on board adding that with her experience, she can be a huge help in pushing the renewed program it in the right direction.

“It is great that there is someone who played on the collegiate level both indoor and outdoor,” he said. “The thing that I love about Lainey is that she is super organized and she will relate well with our players. She has already been in the club season and realizes the importance of reaching out to club coaches as well as high school coaches to improve our recruiting area.

He also says that she brings both lead-by-example and vocal leadership qualities.

“We will sit down and and discuss what the program will look like, where it needs to go and then after that, I expect her to be vocal on the coaching staff as well as being on the court to demo some stuff.”



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