Sweet Briar College is proud to announce the return of volleyball for the 2025 season. The program will bring the College’s varsity sport offerings to 12 with Alejandro “AJ” Escobar, Jr. named head coach of the team.

Sweet Briar previously offered volleyball as a varsity sport from 1994-2010 and saw success on the court with three student-athletes named to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) All-Conference Team in 1995, 2001 and 2002. The Vixens will compete as an independent during the 2025 season before petitioning to join the ODAC in 2026.

“At Sweet Briar, we believe in turning challenges into opportunities,” said President Mary Pope M. Hutson ’83. “We are heartbroken for the St. Andrews community following the announcement of the University’s closing, but we are proud to be a teach-out partner and a place of hope and continuity for their young women who will transfer to Sweet Briar. Welcoming Coach Escobar and these students will strengthen our community and marks an exciting chapter in Vixen Athletics. Adding volleyball as one of our sports reflects Sweet Briar’s commitment to providing bold women with opportunities to lead, compete, and thrive.”

Escobar comes to Sweet Briar from St. Andrews University, and brings with him some of the university’s women’s volleyball team roster following the announcement of St. Andrews’ closure on May 5. Escobar gained coaching experience at Miami United Volleyball Club in Florida, Terra Environmental Research Institute, a high school in Miami that earned a district championship win, followed by his appointment at St. Andrews as coach to both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams. Escobar played volleyball at St. Andrews as a student.

“I am so grateful for what President Hutson has provided to me, especially after the unexpected closure of my alma mater,” said Coach Escobar. “I cannot wait to continue developing what I started at St. Andrews and to support women’s athletics at Sweet Briar College.”

You can find Vixens Volleyball on X (formerly Twitter) @SweetBriarVB and on Instagram @sbc_vball.

Visit sbc.edu/apply for more information for high school seniors interested in playing volleyball at Sweet Briar College beginning this coming academic year. 

MARTIN, Tenn. – The spring 2025 semester will go down as the best in the University of Tennessee at Martin athletic department’s academic history as the Skyhawks smashed records across the board.
              
UT Martin accounted for a 3.37 Grade Point Average, 290 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recipients (at least a 3.0 GPA) and 94 Skyhawks with a flawless 4.0 GPA. Each of those three totals are the new benchmark in department history as this is the 11^th consecutive semester that UT Martin student-athletes have produced at least a 3.20 GPA.
              
Since the AD Honor Roll program was initiated prior to the 2019-20 academic year, 3,101 Skyhawks have dialed up a spot on that prestigious list. The spring 2025 semester topped the previous record of 287 set during the fall 2024 semester.
              
UT Martin’s 3.37 Grade Point Average this spring bested the previous mark of 3.33 in both the fall 2024 and spring 2022 semesters. The 94 student-athletes with an unblemished 4.0 GPA was a massive improvement over the previous mark of 73, set in the fall 2024 term.
              
The Skyhawk equestrian program was responsible for the most student-athletes (14) with a perfect 4.0 GPA, followed by softball (13) and soccer (12). The softball team landed a whopping 68 percent of its roster on the 4.0 GPA list while UT Martin’s volleyball/beach volleyball and soccer programs each produced 43 percent of its rosters on the 4.0 GPA list. Overall, 17 of the Skyhawks’ 18 teams tallied at least one 4.0 GPA student-athlete.
              
The UT Martin football program had the most AD Honor Roll recipients (54), followed by equestrian (37) and rodeo (27). Both the Skyhawk equestrian and softball teams placed a remarkable 95 percent of their rosters on the AD Honor Roll while volleyball/beach volleyball reported 90 percent of their roster with at least 3.0 GPA’s. Overall, 17 of UT Martin’s 18 teams put at least 63 percent of their rosters on the AD Honor Roll list.
              
All but one Skyhawk sports program generated at least a 3.15 GPA in the spring 2025 semester as the lone remaining team accumulated a 2.93 GPA. The UT Martin softball team came through with the highest GPA (3.81) while equestrian (3.63), volleyball/beach volleyball (3.62), soccer (3.57) and golf (3.47) rounded out the top-five sport GPA’s.
              
Below is a list of Skyhawk AD Honor Roll recipients for the spring 2025 semester, sorted by sport. Those student-athletes with an asterisk recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
Football (54): Thomas Ansley*, Mitchell Appleton*, Bryce Bailey, Tah Mac Bright Banda, Jase Bauer, Keaton Brown, Julian Calvez, Anthony Carter, Joel Castleberry, Duston Chavis, Kaleb Costner, Tanner Crandall, Bryce Dailey, Jabaree Dawkins, Na’Drian Dizadare, Tyler Dostin, Christian Dowell, Dolapo Egunjobi, John Gentry, Javion Goins, Quincy Hamilton, Jai’Lun Hampton, Lanard Harris, Jayden House, Desmon James, Hayden King, Connon Littlefield, Aidan Maddox*, Ethan Maddox*, Burke Mickelsen, Jeff Miller, Nate Moak, Conner Mooney, Doug Newsome*, Alex Nolen, Colton Peoples, Sawyer Phipps, LaMarion Pierce, Keyshaun Pipkin, Stefan Ponder, George Psychoularis, Preston Puni*, Rashad Raymond, Chris Rhodes, AJ Robinson, Jr., Garrett Smith, Patrick Smith*,  Andrew Smithberger, Christian Stapleton, Jacob Stevenson, Drake Tabor, Josiah Tingley*, Cason Totten, Corey Yeoman
 
Equestrian (37): Gabby Adams, Lexi Bailey*, Reese Barrett, Annie Batsche, Elizabeth Becker*, Audrey Blase*, Stevie Brown, Payton Bundy, Claire Carpenter*, Kate Davis, Shelby Davis, Kathleen DeGenova, Sam Elliott, Riley Francis, Ruby Gunderson*, Riley Hayes, Lydia Jordan, Tess Kjellberg*, Lillian Laney*, Payton Lussen*, Emerson Maier, Aubrey Malone*, Brianna Marks*, Elise Mason, Mia McAfoos, Kate Mills, Audrey Morris, Ava Newsom*, Logan Putvinski*, Marley Rizzi, Madison Snyder, Zadie Stack*, Abby Tibbits, Bridget Vieau, Rileigh Weiss*, Ellie Wilburn, Olivia Wynn
 
Rodeo (27): Bentley Anthony, Rylan Austin, Noah Beshears, Shae Clever, Caleb Dunn, Riley Gossett, Garrett Houin, Lainey Hutchison, Shelby Kemper, Owen Larrick, Weston Lewis, Jordyn Litton, Josie Luttrell, Brooke Martin, Allie Maxwell*, Savannah Moran*, Tate Ondrik, Caysen Orman*, Leah Pitts, Canton Prentice*, Allie Sherman*, Seth Simpson, Cooper Stone, Drew Thomas, Rylee Wells, Anna Wilder, Kyndall Woltz
 
Baseball (24): Garner Anderson, Brock Arender, Jeb Bartle, Kaleb Baskin, Blaze Bell, Brody Capps, Houston Clark, Rett Edwards, Jalen Fithian, Gates Gerhart*, TJ Grines*, J. Henry Hobson, Silas Jones, Aidan Karns, Brandon King*, Tommy Koch*, Quin Long*, Frank Micallef, JP Nunn, Kevin Okins*, Shawn Perez*, Mason Shropshire, Jacob Sitton, Quincy Thornton
 
Soccer (23): Shayla Addington*, Allie Buchmann, Maren Cain*, Peyton Cook, Molly Corgan, Audrey Fuchs*, Parker Gelinas*, Ava Huntrods, Anna Østergaard Ibsen*, Brooke Kala*, Gretchen Marek, Abbie McHenry, Lorena Montesano, Caroline Moore*, Blanca Negrete, Izzy Patterson*, Millie Perry*, Nyeemah Prescod-Beckles, Makayla Robinson*, Ella Rucka, Joelle Stinson, Daksha Sutharshan*, Unni Wolf*
 
Volleyball/Beach Volleyball (19): Kayla Bryant, Sydney Eckhardt, Abby Freund*,  Maddy Gladson, Hannah Haislip*, Zara McCauley, Reagan McGee*, Dylan Mott*, Olivia O’Keefe, Makaelah Paulino, Kristin Phillips, Ryan Rednour*, MC Rehm, Riley Rushing*, Mia Saenz*, Dylan Sulcer*, Kylie Surratt, Amara Traiger*, Jenna Vallée
 
Softball (18): Kennedy Brown*, Kyrsten Brown*, Elly Eckrich*, Joleanna Fox, Ashtyn Green*, Kyla Harley*, Payton Harris*, Jordyn Hustey, Natalie Kreuziger, Avary Makarewicz*, Kaylin Reeves, Addie Roberts*, Alli Robinson*, Josie Sanders*, Ava Scott, Dylan Scott*, Rylee Tittle*, Carly Ward*
 
STUNT (17): Claudia Colston, Ellen Colston, Livia Comuzie, CeCelia Dollison, Emily Hartley, Natalie King*, Tembreanna Mahan, Emmy Melton, Mayce Mitchell, Ashley Myles, Kacey Reedy, Calli Beth Schlick, Braylee Smith, Ti’Aisia Taite, Emily Wilcher, Emily Wood, Ali Workman
 
Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field (17): Cam’ron Bonds, Tristen Bough*, Ethan Brinkley, Ridge Bruce, Maluke Cluver, Keagan Enicks*, Luke Johnson*, Ethan Knight, Marques Marshall II, Brady Millikin*, Angus Monro, Christian Patterson, Ben Ruscoe, Braxton Sharp, Sam Shuman, Samir Smith, David Stukey
 
Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field (13): Gabby Brown*, Janay Chapman*, Rita Eimer*, Alaina Gordon*, Holly Henderson, Abbie Lloyd, Kaitlyn Loyet, Bethany Mayers, Morgan Mitchell, Danielle Mudd*, Eliana Oquendo*, Maggie Roy, Lauren Sedberry, Reese Settle, Meg Wiginton*, JayleAna Wyatt
 
Women’s Basketball (13): Morgan Borgstadt, Anaya Brown, Norah Clark, Tia Hymon*, Mauryah Jones, Mikayla Lambert*, Shae Littleford*, Kaitlyn McCarn, Kenley McCarn*, Lexi Rubel*, Taylor Scohy*, Sophie Singleton, Abby Stephens
 
Men’s Basketball (12): Andrija Bukumirović*, Carlos Cortijo, Stefano Faloppa, Tarence Guinyard, AJ Hopkins, Lamine Niang, Filip Radaković*, Vladimer Salaridze, Afan Trnka, Damjan Vukčević*, Lucas Williams, Matija Žužić*
 
Golf (8): Luke Beadles, Luke Caldwell, Jaden Morrell, Grant Phillips, Jackson Twerdahl*, Drew Williams*, John-Gregory Wilson, Jonathan Xoinis*
 
Rifle (5): Aubrey Chenoweth, Rachel Haines*, Joey Kovach, Sadie Palfrey*, Alayna Walther 
 

VALLEY CITY, ND  (VCSUVikings.com)  Valley City State volleyball has released its fall schedule to mark the Vikings’ debut season in the Frontier Conference, head coach Michelle Meiklejohn announced.

The Vikings open the season at home on Aug. 16 against Dakota Wesleyan University. VCSU then travels to Sioux City, Iowa to face Morningside University in a non-conference game before competing at the Siouxland Invitational Aug. 22-23.

VCSU kicks off the Frontier Conference schedule on Sept. 3 when the Vikings host Mayville State. VCSU will play 22 games in the Frontier Conference season, including 11 home and 11 away contests. Frontier Conference member schools include Mayville State, Bismarck State, Dickinson State, Dakota State, Bellevue University, Montana Western, Montana Tech, Montana State University Northern, University of Providence, Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College.

The Vikings will recognize Faculty and Staff during its home game against Montana Western on Sept. 5. Parent’s Night is scheduled for Oct. 25 when VCSU hosts Rocky Mountain College and Senior Day will on Nov. 8 for its season finale against Dakota State.

The Frontier Conference Postseason Tournament is slated for Nov. 13-15 hosted by Carroll College in Helena, Mont.

ATLANTA – Stanford goalkeeper Caroline Birkel has been selected as one of 21 players to represent the USA at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica later this month.

The roster is made up of players born in 2006 and 2007, and current U.S. U-19 head coach Carrie Kveton will lead the squad before new U.S. U-20 WNT head coach Vicky Jepson takes over after the qualifying tournament.

Birkel, who enrolled early at Stanford and is entering her first season on The Farm in 2025, was one of the goalkeepers on the USA’s 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team and is the only player on this qualifying team from that squad.

The USA will take aim at one of four berths to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland and a record eighth Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship after dominant runs to the confederation crown in 2020 and 2022. Mexico won the title in 2023.

The USA will face Guyana on May 30 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local), Puerto Rico on June 1 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local) and host Costa Rica on June 3 (4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. local) in Group A play at the tournament, which will run from May 29-June 8 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The top four finishers in the tournament will advance to represent the region in Poland in the fall of next year.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship. The roster is almost evenly divided between birth years with 10 born in 2006 and 11 in 2007. 

Before heading to Costa Rica, the team will train in Florida for a week, beginning on May 22. 

2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship Roster by Position (College or Club; Hometown) 
Goalkeepers (3): Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.), Sonoma Kasica (Notre Dame; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kealey Titmuss (Penn State; Grand Blanc, Mich.)

Defenders (7): Aven Alvarez (UNC; New Hill, N.C.), Bella Ayscue (Penn State; Apex, N.C.), Edra Bello (San Diego Surf SC; San Diego, Calif.), Emma Johnson (Lexington Sporting Club – USL Super League; Greenfield, Ind.), Abby Mills (Notre Dame; Southlake, Texas), Leena Powell (Tudela FC; Culver City, Calif.), Katie Scott (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Fairview, Pa.)

Midfielders (6): Kennedy Fuller (Angel City FC – NWSL; Southlake, Texas), Peyton McGovern (Florida State; Bristow, Va.), Ashlyn Puerta (Sporting JAX – USL W-League; Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Grace Restovich (Notre Dame; St. Louis, Mo.), Kennedy Ring (World Class FC; East Greenbush, N.Y.) Linda Ullmark (UNC; Buffalo, N.Y.)

Forwards (5): Izzy Engle (Notre Dame; Edina, Minn.), Mary Long (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Mission Hills, Kan.), Chloe Ricketts (Washington Spirit – NWSL; Dexter, Mich.), Sealey Strawn (Dallas Trinity FC – USL Women’s Super League; Prosper, Texas), Mya Townes (Georgia; Aldie, Va.)

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The eight-team 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship will feature round-robin play within two groups of four teams each. After group play, the group winners and runners-up will advance to the semifinals and qualify for next year’s World Cup. For the first time, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature 24 nations, up from 16 in the previous eight editions of the tournament. Twelve nations contested the title in 2002 and 2004, when it was held as a U-19 event. The semifinals will be played on June 6 followed by the final on June 8. All matches will take place at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) Bantam and Juvenile baseball teams have completed their regular season games. Unfortunately, neither team was able to secure a win, but that doesn’t mean there are not bright spots to the season.

The Bantam team went 0-4, losing to West Island College, College Regina Assumpta, Loyola College, and Bialik High School, but they did earn all eight of their ethics points.

These points are awarded for sportsmanship and fair play – meaning that at time of writing, they could still qualify for the playoffs as one of the top two teams in their division if Lower Canada College and Selwyn House do not get to eight standings points through wins or fair play.

Lower Canada College currently has five points, three for a win and two for fair play, after playing only one game so far due to a rainout. Selwyn House has all of their ethics points in two games, but is so far winless.

Correction: A previous version of this story said the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team last won a league championship in 2016, which is not true. Watsonville won a league championship in 2022.

The historical run for the Watsonville boys’ volleyball team came to a crushing end following a loss to Alisal in the Central Coast Section postseason play-in match on May 8.  

Despite capturing the Pacific Coast Athletic League Cypress Division crown with a perfect 14-0 record in league play, the Wildcatz still had to claw their way in for a chance to qualify for the playoffs.    

They fell in three sets 25-16, 25-16, 25-18 to the Trojans—third place finishers in the PCAL Gabilan Division, which is two levels above the Cypress. 

“We worked so hard not to lose a single game, and be first within our division,” Watsonville senior and team captain Joshua Anaya said. “I think we should at least be considered to get into CCS rather than having to fight a team that’s third, not even the first [place] team in a different division.” 

Anaya and his fellow ‘Catz teammates put up a fight for most of the match, yet they were highly outmatched by a more seasoned Alisal squad that competed in the PCAL’s top tier this season. 

“The thing that makes it challenging is because a couple of us are young,” Anaya said. “The whole team for Aliso plays club, so it’s just a different tempo, different background to that.” 

Watsonville head coach Crystal Cornejo-Perez wasn’t too keen on having to play the Trojans, who had already swept the ‘Catz in three sets on March 11.  

“The boys definitely improved over the season, they did much better today,” she said. “I think we could have done better, but I also think it kind of sucks that we got set up with one of the top dogs in the toughest [division]. Just kind of felt they always try to shut the little ones out.”

The ‘Catz finished with a 15-9 overall record, including last week’s CCS play-in loss. It was a dramatic turnaround season for them after they finished with a 5-15 overall record in 2024, and placed fifth in the Mission Division with a 3-9 record in league play. 

This year they nearly swept through the Cypress Division by losing just five sets in league play, and en route to the program’s first league title since 2022 and third championship overall. 

“I wasn’t expecting much, however, I’m incredibly proud how far we’ve actually come,” Anaya said. “I think it’s a huge accomplishment coming from being a freshman going to CCS, and then finishing it off going to a play-in [match] senior year.” 

The closest match for them was a victory over Pajaro Valley in five 25-16, 25-12, 26-28, 22-25, 15-11 on April 28. Anaya had 15 kills and 16 digs that evening, while teammate junior Logan Franc finished with 20 kills and 11 digs.

“Repspectfully, the competition wasn’t as high as I expected,” Cornejo-Perez said. “Other schools were struggling with getting boys’ volleyball, so they had a lot of new players, as well. Luckily we had those experienced players that formed the little ones and taught them.”

However, the ‘Catz did finish 1-8 in non-league play with losses to formidable opponents such as Salians out of the PCAL Gabilan, and Mission Division champion Palma.

Alisal along with Palma each qualified and lost in the CCS playoffs that featured just three divisions: Open Division, D-I and D-II. Each one of those divisions was packed with even more challenging opponents from far and near. 

Perhaps it was the lack of experience, and strength of schedule, that caught up to this young group of ‘Catz. But either way, they should have a bright future ahead of them.

“It was rough from the start but it continued to go on, I think we built a family together,” Anaya said. “We were discouraged a little bit, however, each individual has grown so much. Overall, that was the important part of being able to play on this team, being together as one.” 

Anaya this season led the ‘Catz with 150 total kills and 43 served aces, and was second on the team with 112 digs, according to statistics on the Monterey Bay Preps website. Franc finished with a team-best 136 digs to go along with 40 aces and 131 kills, finishing just behind Anaya.

“As much as we joke around and everything, sometimes it’s time to be serious,” Anaya said. “However, we still have that mentality of we’re here for fun. We all hang out together, play video games. Just building that bond, knowing that we have each other’s backs.”

Other ‘Catz standouts this season included sophomore Ricardo Ramirez, who led the team with 251 assists, and senior Diego Hidalgo with 170 assists. Teammate senior Andres Cardenas was also a big contributor as he finished with 74 kills, 60 digs and 32 aces for Watsonville.

The rest of the group was made up of rising underclassmen in sophomores Edwin Cornejo and Danny Lopez, and freshmen Kaiden Peña and Khriss Reyes.  

“I felt it was a really young, inexperienced team, and I was really surprised with the outcome this year,” Cornejo-Perez said. “I was just gonna go with the flow, see what the season brought us. But the boys really impressed me, and they really took it home.”