Courtesy: Stanford Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO – Ryann Neushul was recognized with the most prestigious honor of her career on Saturday night, named the 2025 Peter J. Cutino Award recipient in a ceremony at The Olympic Club of San Francisco.

Presented annually to the most outstanding female collegiate water polo player in the nation as voted by Division I coaches, Neushul is the eighth player in school history to win the award. The Cardinal has been awarded 11 Cutino Award honors overall, with other honorees including Aria Fischer (2023), Makenzie Fischer (2019, 2022), Kiley Neushul (2012, 2015), Annika Dries (2011, 2014), Melissa Seidemann (2013), Jackie Frank (2003) and Brenda Villa (2002).

Neushul, who last month closed out a unique seven-year career which began as a freshman in 2019, became Stanford’s first four-time NCAA champion in school history (2019, 2022-23, 2025) following the Cardinal’s 11-7 victory over USC in the NCAA final on May 11.

One year after taking a leave of absence and redshirt year to train and compete with Team USA at the Paris Summer Olympics, Neushul returned for a seventh season and fueled the Cardinal’s 10^th NCAA championship in school history and third over the last four years.

Recognized as the ACWPC Player of the Year last week, Neushul is a four-time ACWPC All-American (2019, 2022-23, 2025) who started all 26 contests as a senior and led the Cardinal in multi-goal games (20) while ranking second in goals (60), assists (39) and shot attempts (105). Neushul departed The Farm with 228 career goals, ranking fifth all-time in school history.

Joining older sisters, Jamie and Kiley, as All-American standouts on The Farm, Neushul was also recognized as Stanford’s eighth MPSF Player of the Year while also earning all-conference accolades for the fourth time. Neushul became the second student-athlete in MPSF history to earn both a player of the year and newcomer of the year honor (2019), joining UCLA’s Maddie Musselman.

Neushul is a four-time NCAA All-Tournament Team selection and three-time MPSF All-Tournament team pick.

A three-time ACWPC All-Academic honoree and three-time MPSF All-Academic selection, Neushul is once again on track for more scholastic honors as she boasts a 3.78 GPA in human biology. She remains in the running for CSC Academic All-America honors, looking to become Stanford’s fourth all-time recipient.

Neushul also serves as a teaching assistant for an on-campus Spanish service learning course and participates in the Bridge Peer Counseling Center, Stanford’s student-run peer counseling center.

UCLA Athletics is synonymous with success.

Boasting 124 NCAA national championships, UCLA has some of the most memorable moments, teams and players in the history of collegiate athletics.

Headlining this mosaic of success is probably the most well-known coach of all time – John Wooden.

He won a record 10 national championships – including seven in a row – as head honcho of UCLA men’s basketball, all while mentoring greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton.

And his imprint on the UCLA campus is even greater.

Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success” adorns the walls of the student gym named after him. His iconic statue stands outside Pauley Pavilion – the arena forever memorializing his career and home to the court that commemorates him and his wife, Nell.

But while Wooden’s legacy stands the test of time, Pauley Pavilion is also home to UCLA’s winningest sports program.

Enter: men’s volleyball.

A juggernaut in the history of the sport, the men’s volleyball program leads all of UCLA Athletics with 21 national championships.

And for former Bruin outside hitter Ethan Champlin – who played at UCLA from 2021-2024 – winning is not only ingrained into the culture of Bruin volleyball but also curated through the deliberate development of its athletes.

“It can bring you to tears sometimes to think about the privilege and the experiences that you get to have with such a great group of guys that are not only just tremendous at their craft but your friends,” Champlin said. “I invited the whole team to my wedding because winning is such a bonding experience, and that’s what UCLA is. UCLA brings winners. They carry winners on their roster.”

Although the Bruins most recently fell in the national championship game to Long Beach State, their appearance marked three consecutive NCAA title appearances, with the first two resulting in Bruin championships.

Champlin – a three-time AVCA First Team All-American – was an integral part of the back-to-back championships, winning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award in 2024.

While Champlin spearheaded a squad that broke an almost 20-year national championship drought, it is the relationships he built with his teammates and the culture they established that he values most.

“To be able to have our team written in the record books for the national championships we won, especially after the drought that UCLA had had since 2006, it’s just a tremendous honor,” Champlin said. “There’s not a single person on the team that I wouldn’t have, that I would have traded to have a different teammate. They all brought very different personalities, character traits, skills, but every single one of them was valued.”

And while national glory illustrates the pedigree of a team, quality coaching can turn a great program into a legendary one.

Wooden passed the torch to the likes of Larry Brown and Jim Harrick. The former is a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member, and the latter is the only coach other than Wooden to capture a men’s basketball national title for UCLA.

Only three coaches have helmed the men’s volleyball program since the collegiate sport’s NCAA inception in 1970.

The newest of the bunch, coach John Hawks, finished his first year with a national title appearance this season. But in 2022, he also won AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year after leading the Bruins to the nation’s top hitting percentage with a .374 clip.

On the other end, Al Scates – the Wooden of UCLA men’s volleyball – led the program to 19 national championships, all while producing the next generation of volleyball greats, including UCLA’s second coach, John Speraw.

For junior libero Coleman McDonough, being able to continue Scates’ legacy is something he treasures.

“I’m a Pennsylvania kid, so getting recruited by UCLA – it’s definitely something you never thought would happen, especially coming from the storied legacy left behind by Al Scates and all that,” McDonough said. “It’s just great that you can contribute in any way possible to the legacy.”

Between Scates and Hawks is Speraw – a legend on the court as a player, on the bench as an assistant and as the head honcho for 12 years from 2013-2024.

Speraw’s trophy case holds 10 national championship trophies – two as a player, three as an assistant coach and five as a head coach – yet the scope of his impact on volleyball is arguably larger.

“In terms of volleyball, he was the greatest coach that I’ve ever had,” Champlin said. “I always felt like he had our team’s back. … I’d say that I was a pretty self-taught player, but the things that he said and the things that he taught me in terms of volleyball skills – I owe so much to him, and as a coach, he’s got a big reputation. He’s kind of a larger-than-life figure.”

Similarly to how Speraw molded the likes of Champlin, setter Micah Maʻa, outside hitter Garrett Muagututia and other current and future Olympians, Scates’ impact also stretched far beyond the walls of Pauley Pavilion.

Former Bruins not only line the rosters of men’s and women’s national and Olympic teams, but they also represent a significant part of the coaching staff.

Before Speraw’s coaching retirement this past year, he led the men’s Olympic team from 2013-2024, earning a bronze medal both in 2016 and 2024, while also taking gold at both the 2015 FIVB World Cup and 2014 FIVB World League. Speraw took on the position as CEO and president of USA Volleyball after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Likewise, Scates’ apprentices – Erik Sullivan, Brandon Taliaferro and Karch Kiraly – and Hawks all fill roles on United States national teams. Sullivan heads the women’s team, with Taliaferro taking an assistant role alongside him. Kiraly replaced Speraw to helm the men’s team, while Hawks took lead on the U21 national squad.

Despite their impact on the national and professional stages, sophomore outside hitter Luca Curci said UCLA volleyball alumni are still present in the current culture and locker room.

“They’re a big part of our team, for sure,” Curci said. “We’re always doing alumni nights after all games and stuff like that, doing events so we can all be close still, and they help us a lot with donations and stuff like that.”

But relationships are more valuable than trophies – exemplified by the camaraderie between Champlin and former Bruin outside hitter and teammate Grant Sloane, who served as a groomsman at Champlin’s wedding.

“He did everything he could to get me to come to UCLA, and that ended up being at the expense of his own playing time and his own glory, and I benefited from that more than I’ll ever know,” Champlin said. “And that also embodies my experience at UCLA and the selfless people that I had on the team who showed me humility that I could never have and selflessness that I wish I could have in my best moments.”

Although capturing championships forges core memories, McDonough said brotherhood lasts a lifetime.

“The biggest thing I’ve taken away is the relationships that you build at UCLA. The people here at the school make this place special, so having that brotherhood to have for your whole life is something that I’ll take away, more than just the national championships,” McDonough said.

App State Volleyball head coach Chad Sutton announced the schedule for the 2025 season, his first in charge of the Mountaineers.

This fall’s slate will feature a nonconference tournament, a pair of nonconference midweek matches and eight home conference matchups. The Mountaineers’ nonconference slate will feature clashes with a trio of ACC opponents and a clash with Big 10 contender Michigan State.

Season tickets are available to purchase and renew for $65. App State faculty and staff have the opportunity to redeem a discount for a $35 season ticket by calling the ticket office at 828-262-7733. Fans interested in courtside seats may also call the ticket office for availability.

​​”I am really excited for this schedule,” Sutton said. “We have a strong non conference slate composed of P4’s and high RPI mid-major opponents. I believe this will be critical to our development and help prepare us to compete in the Sun Belt, while pursuing our goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament.”

The Mountaineers will open non conference play at the College of Charleston Classic. App State will take on Mercer in that event on Aug. 29 before challenging the College of Charleston and Eastern Kentucky on Aug. 30.

The Black and Gold will open its home slate with a midweek clash against Elon on Sept. 2 in the Holmes Convocation Center. App State will take on VCU and Virginia in the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va. (Sept. 5-6) before heading down to Kennesaw, Ga., for the Kennesaw State Invitational (Sept. 12-13) to clash with Michigan State and Kennesaw State. On Sept. 16, App State will head to Chapel Hill for a midweek clash against North Carolina before hosting the Mountaineer Classic on Sept. 19-21 in Holmes. The tournament will feature a clash with Duke on Sept. 19 and a match against Davidson on Sept. 21.

App State’s conference slate will feature eight home matches, beginning with a pair of matches against James Madison on Sept. 26 and 27. The Mountaineers will travel to Lafayette, La., to challenge Louisiana on Oct. 3 and 4 before returning to the High Country to host Old Dominion on Oct. 10 and 11. After stops in Statesboro, Ga., and Conway, S.C., to take on Georgia Southern (Oct. 16 and 17) and Coastal Carolina (Oct. 24 and 25), the Mountaineers will return to Boone to host Georgia State on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. The regular season slate will wrap up with a pair of road matches against Marshall (Nov. 6 and 7) and a weekend in Boone against Troy (Nov. 14 and 15).

The Sun Belt Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 20-23 in Foley, Ala.

{Information provided by Appalachian State Athletics}

Men’s Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2025 – schedule, results and scores

All start times listed in local time

Preliminary round week 1 (11 – 15 June)

11 June 2025

Pool 1 in Quebec City, Canada (EDT, GMT-4)

• 11:00 – Bulgaria vs Italy
• 16:30 – Argentina vs France
• 20:00 – Germany vs Canada

Pool 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT, GMT-3)

• 14:00 – Ukraine vs USA
• 17:30 – Brazil vs Islamic Republic of Iran
• 21:00 – Slovenia vs Cuba

Pool 3 in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (CST, GMT+8)

• 13:30 – Poland vs Netherlands
• 17:00 – People’s Republic of China vs Japan
• 20:30 – Serbia vs Türkiye

12 June 2025

Pool 1 in Quebec City, Canada (EDT, GMT-4)

• 16:30 – Germany vs Italy
• 20:00 – Argentina vs Canada

Pool 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT, GMT-3)

• 17:30 – Brazil vs Cuba
• 21:00 – USA vs Islamic Republic of Iran

Pool 3 in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (CST, GMT+8)

• 17:00 – People’s Republic of China vs Serbia
• 20:30 – Poland vs Japan

13 June 2025

Pool 1 in Quebec City, Canada (EDT, GMT-4)

• 16:30 – Bulgaria vs Argentina
• 20:00 – France vs Italy

Pool 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT, GMT-3)

• 17:30 – Ukraine vs Cuba
• 21:00 – Islamic Republic of Iran vs Slovenia

Pool 3 in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (CST, GMT+8)

• 17:00 – Japan vs Serbia
• 20:30 – Netherlands vs Türkiye

14 June 2025

Pool 1 in Quebec City, Canada (EDT, GMT-4)

• 16:30 – Canada vs France
• 20:00 – Bulgaria vs Germany

Pool 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT, GMT-3)

• 10:00 – Ukraine vs Brazil
• 13:30 – USA vs Slovenia

Pool 3 in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (CST, GMT+8)

• 15:00 – People’s Republic of China vs Netherlands
• 19:00 – Türkiye vs Poland

15 June 2025

Pool 1 in Quebec City, Canada (EDT, GMT-4)

• 11:00 – Argentina vs Italy
• 14:30 – Germany vs France
• 18:00 – Bulgaria vs Canada

Pool 2 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (BRT, GMT-3)

• 10:00 – Brazil vs Slovenia
• 13:30 – Ukraine vs Islamic Republic of Iran
• 17:00 – Cuba vs USA

Pool 3 in Xi’an, People’s Republic of China (CST, GMT+8)

• 11:30 – Netherlands vs Japan
• 15:00 – People’s Republic of CHina vs Türkiye
• 19:00 – Poland vs Serbia

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics

SAN FRANCISCO — The Olympic Club announced late Saturday night that UCLA freshman attacker Ryder Dodd (Long Beach, Calif./JSerra Catholic HS) has been named the 2025 Peter J. Cutino Award winner. The Cutino Award is an iconic honor in NCAA water polo that recognizes the best men’s and women’s players each year.

Dodd became the first Bruin to claim the prize since attacker Nicolas Saveljic was awarded the trophy in 2021 for the 2020 season, which like the 2024 campaign, culminated with a National Championship win over USC. He is also just the fourth different Bruin and the fifth overall winner on the UCLA men’s side, joining Garret Danner who won the award in 2016, and Sean Kern, who claimed the title in 1998 and 1999, the first two Cutino Awards ever presented.

Dodd helped the Bruins (26-2) win the 2024 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, the 13th in UCLA’s storied history. Named a First-Team All-American in 2024, he scored twice in the NCAA Championship game, the Bruins’ fourth win of the season over the Trojans.

The win also marked the fifth NCAA Championship for UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright while in charge of the Men’s Water Polo team, with all five titles coming against USC. It is Wright’s ninth NCAA title overall, as he also won two as a player at UCLA (1999 and 2000), one last year with the women’s program (2024), and one more as an assistant coach with the women’s team in 2009.
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Dodd wrote himself into the MPSF record books this past season when he scored a league-record 102 goals. It was also a UCLA freshman record and the second-most goals scored in school history. He also added 32 assists to lead the MPSF in scoring with 134 points. He also led the MPSF in sprints won (46) while finishing second on the Bruin squad in steals (32) and field blocks (11), and third in drawn exclusions (30). Named the ACWPC National Player of the Year, he also was chosen as the MPSF Player and Newcomer of the Year, the first person in league history to earn both honors in the same season.

Dodd, who was named the MVP of the NCAA Championship, scored in all 28 games of his rookie season, with multiple goals in all but one. A four-time MPSF weekly award honoree, earning Delfina MPSF West Player of the Week and S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week twice each, he scored a career-best eight goals in an 18-12 win at then-No. 7 Pepperdine (Oct. 12). Dodd, the only freshman on the Delfina All-MPSF First Team, is UCLA’s sixth all-time MPSF Player of the Year recipient (Rafael Real Vergara-2023, Garrett Danner-2015-16, Scott Davidson-2009, Sean Kern-2000) and is the fourth Bruin to earn MPSF Newcomer of the Year (Ben Liechty-2023, Makoto Kenney-2020, Garrett Danner-2013).

The other two finalists on the men’s side included Max Miller (USC) and Mihailo Vukazic (Pacific).