The Association of Volleyball Professionals is returning to Virginia Beach for its second “Contender” event of the season, featuring some of beach volleyball’s rising stars.

The winners and runners-up in the $60,000 event at 12th Street and Atlantic Avenue will receive wild-card berths into the AVP’s Manhattan Beach Open in August.

Qualifying is set for 9 a.m. Friday, with the 24-team main draws to follow Saturday and Sunday.

Also this weekend in Virginia Beach is the AVP Juniors 4-Star Mid-Atlantic Championships.

The men’s top seeds are Derek Bradford of Porter Ranch, California, and Evan Cory of Metairie, Louisiana, while the women’s top seeds are Maya Gessner and Jacinda Ramirez.

Three men’s pairs have a local player.

**Shawn Yoder of Virginia Beach is playing alongside John Valeiras of Richmond.

**Brett Rosenmeier of Virginia Beach is partnered by Nick Drooker of Henrico.

**Ayden Keeter of Yorktown is playing with Carson Barnes of Ocean View, Delaware.

Colorado Springs, Colo. – A trio of field performers have been named the 2025 Mountain West Outdoor Track & Field Student-Athletes of the Year after a vote by the league’s head coaches. Air Force’s Texas Tanner earned the honor on the men’s side, while Colorado State’s Mya Lesnar and Fresno State’s Cierra Jackson were selected as co-recipients for the women.

The honor is awarded to the best male and female student-athlete(s) in the Conference following the conclusion of the outdoor season.

A native of Sheridan, Wyoming, Tanner earned first-team All-America honors in the hammer throw at the 2025 NCAA championship after finishing fourth with a throw of 75.22 meters, becoming the first Falcon in 60 years to secure All-America honors in a men’s throwing event. He added a 20^th-place finish and All-American Honorable Mention honors in the discus at the national meet.

The performance capped an outstanding year for the junior that saw him capture 2025 Mountain West titles and meet records in both the hammer throw (73.23m) and discus (63.59m), while setting the Conference’s all-time record in the hammer throw at 75.83 meters during the regular season. Tanner was named the MW Men’s Field Performer of the Meet for a second consecutive year and earned USTFCCCA Men’s Mountain Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year for the second time in as many seasons.

On the women’s side, both honorees came away with national titles at the 2025 NCAA championships.

Lesnar finished her stellar Ram career winning the shot put on her first attempt with a throw of 19.01 meters, becoming the first CSU thrower to win both an outdoor and indoor national title after her 2024 indoor shot put gold medal. Prior to the national championship, Lesnar picked up a second consecutive Mountain West shot put title at the 2025 Conference championship meet and set the Conference’s all-time record in the event in Fort Collins in May with a throw of 19.60 meters. The Alexandria, Minnesota, native was also named the 2025 USTFCCCA Women’s Mountain Region Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Jackson, a Chandler, Arizona native, made history for Fresno State, capturing the program’s first outdoor title and the Bulldogs’ first NCAA title in 26 years with her gold in the women’s discus. The senior’s opening throw of 65.82 meters set a national meet record and proved to be the winning throw, earning her first-team All-America honors. Jackson also added an eighth-place finish in the shot put (17.70m) to garner a second first-team nod in Eugene. At the 2025 Mountain West championships, she took silver in the both the hammer throw (65.50m) and shot put (17.77m), finishing on the podium in both events for a second a straight year.

Chaminade women’s volleyball coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke announced her nine-player recruiting class for the 2025 season on Wednesday.

Division I transfers Audrah Radford (6-2, outside hitter, Utah State) and Alizaysha Sopi (6-2, OH, Tennessee State) are among the group. Sopi is a Kapolei graduate.

The class includes three incoming freshmen from local high schools. They are Baldwin’s Lilinoe Paschoal (5-8, setter) and Imani-Maile Hargis (6-1, middle blocker), and Hanalani’s Aliyah Hofherr-Sanders (5-9 right-side hitter).

The other recruits are Anna Karasinska (6-3, MB, Nowa Ruda, Poland), Maylynn Mitchell (6-1, OH, Orange, Calif.), Beele Wieczorek (6-2 RSH, Wiesbaden, Germany) and Alexis “Lillie” Hinton (6-foot-2, OH, Spicewood, Texas).

Hinton graduated early from high school and played with the Silverswords beach volleyball team in the spring.

Moanalua’s Millare claims Gatorade honor

Moanalua’s James Millare was named the Gatorade Hawaii Boys Track & Field Player of the Year on Wednesday.

Millare, a junior, won the 800-, 1,500- and 3,000-meter events to help lead Na Menehune to the boys team title at the Island Movers/HHSAA State Championships in May at Kealakehe High School.

The Gatorade award recognizes excellence in athletics, academics and community service.

Millare, who has maintained a 3.41 GPA, has volunteered with his church community and has participated in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

Bronx, N.Y. – (June 26, 2025) – Coming off the team’s most successful season in program history, the four-time defending MAWPC champion Fordham Rams have released their 2025 schedule for the upcoming water polo season.   The schedule has the most challenging run to date for the Rams, featuring 13 contests against opponents that received votes in the final poll of 2024, including four that participated in the National Collegiate Championship.
 
Right out of the gate, Fordham will be in the Bruno Classic, August 30-31, taking on MIT and Harvard on day one in Providence, Rhode Island, while taking on Pacific and LIU on day two in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 
Week two will be a special one for the Rams at the Princeton Invitational, September 6-7.  Fordham will open Saturday’s action against the defending national champion, UCLA, followed by an exhibition contest against Ferencvaros (FTC) a Hungarian-based club team that recently won the Champions League.  Fordham then completes the weekend of competition on Sunday against Santa Clara.
 
After an off week, the Rams start MAWPC league play with three road contests, September 20-21.  Fordham plays at Mercyhurst on September 20^th, while matching up with Bucknell and Mt. St. Mary’s the following day at the Bison Invitational.
 
Starting on September 27^th, Fordham will have five straight home contests beginning with N.C.C. participant Princeton coming to the Messmore Aquatic Center for the start of a home-and-home series with the match at Princeton slated for November 1^st.  The Rams will also face Wagner later that day in a league match.  Fordham is also scheduled to host Iona on October 10^th, as well as MAWPC opponents Navy and George Washington on October 11^th.
 
The Rams then have their longest road trip of the season to the west coast from October 21-26.  The trip begins on October 21^st with a road game at Long Beach State, who the Rams defeated in last year’s N.C.C. quarterfinals.  Two days later, Fordham makes the trek to Berkeley for a highlight match-up against Cal on October 23^rd. 
 
Fordham will then participate in the annual Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament in Santa Clara, California.  On October 24^th, the Rams face UC Merced, while the following day will have another highlight match against fellow 2024 N.C.C. semifinalist Stanford on October 25^th.  The trip then concludes against San Jose State on October 26^th.
 
Following the second match with Princeton, the Rams then return to league play with road games at George Washington (Nov. 2), Navy (Nov. 2), and Wagner (Nov. 7).  Fordham then has their final four regular season games at home, starting with a tripleheader on November 8^th against Bucknell, Mt. St. Mary’s, and Mercyhurst to conclude MAWPC play.  The home finale will be on November 15^th against Brown.
 
The regular season leads to the 2025 MAWPC Championship, which will be held, November 21-23, at Fordham University’s Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center in the Bronx, as the Rams will look for their fifth consecutive championship and another N.C. Championship berth.
 
The N.C. Championship is set for December 5-7 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 26, 2025) —The U.S. Girls U19 National Team completed pool play undefeated after a 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-14, 27-25) victory over Puerto Rico on Thursday in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

The U.S. (3-0) will meet the winner of the Costa Rica-Dominican Republic match in the semifinals tomorrow, Friday, June 27, at 1:30 p.m. PT.

The U.S. held a double-digit advantage in kills (57-46) for the third consecutive match and finished with two more blocks (8-6). Puerto Rico led in aces 12-9, with half of them in the final set.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

Outside hitters Kari Knotts and Ireland Real finished with identical numbers with 19 points on 16 kills, a block and two aces. Knotts led the team with 10 digs and seven successful receptions, while Real added nine digs.

Middle blocker Taylor Harrington led all players with six blocks, adding six kills and an ace for 13 total points. Megan Hodges also reached double digits with 12 points on 11 kills and one ace.

Libero Cala Haffner and setter Marissa Jones each recorded eight digs with Hodges contributing seven.

“It was a hard-fought match, and I’m just so proud that my team showed up today,” Jones said. “We faced adversity, especially during the first set, but we all just came together, and individually everyone stepped up and gave it their all the whole entire match. We continue to trust our training and believe in our coaches. I’m so proud of the outcome, and we’re focusing on continuing to get better.”

Puerto Rico took a lead it never relinquished in the first set at 9-8. A Harrington kill, Hodges ace and Knotts kill late in the set brought the U.S. within two points, 22-20, before Puerto Rico scored the final three points. Knotts and Real each recorded four kills with Harrington scoring four points on two kills and two blocks.

A Kyla Williams ace put the U.S. ahead 5-1 to start the second set and force a quick timeout. The lead grew to six points, 9-3, before a 7-1 surge by Puerto Rico evened the set at 10. The U.S. called timeout and scored the next five points, scoring the first three on a Real kill and two Jones aces.

A Knotts kill put the U.S. up 19-16 but Puerto Rico scored the next three points to tie the set. The U.S. finished the set with a 6-1 run with Crooks scoring four points on kills, three of which were tooled off the block. Knotts also registered four kills in the set and Real, who ended the set on a kill, scored four points on three kills and an ace.

The U.S. led 10-8 in the third set before going on a 5-0 run that put them in control. Puerto Rico managed just six points the rest of the set as the U.S. took a 2-1 set lead. Hodges led all players with six kills and Knotts scored five points on three kills and two aces. Harrington added four points on two kills and a pair of blocks.

Both teams took advantage of a lengthy delay before the start of the fourth set to show off their dancing skills. Once play resumed, each team put together mini runs in the first half of the set. The U.S. used a 4-0 run to take a 13-10 lead and force a Puerto Rico time out.

Puerto Rico used its second 4-0 stretch of the set to take the lead, 17-16. Play continued to go back and forth for the remainder of the set with Puerto Rico earning set points at 25-24 and 26-25 before the U.S. scored the final three points, one on a Knotts kill and the last two on hitting errors. Real paced the U.S. with seven points on five kills, a block and an ace. Knotts totaled six points on five kills and a block.

2025 U.S. Girls U19 National Team for the NORCECA Pan American Cup
(Name, Position, Height, Birth Year, Hometown, High School, Region)

1 Taimane Ainu’u (S, 5-11, 2009, Kapolei, Hawaii, Iolani HS, Aloha)
2 Nejari Crooks (OPP, 6-1, 2009, High Point, N.C., Wesleyan Christian Academy, Carolina)
3 Cala Haffner (L, 5-8, 2009, Fort Wayne, Ind., Carroll HS, Hoosier)
4 Taylor Harrington (MB, 6-3, 2009, Arlington, Va., Wakefield HS, Chesapeake)
5 Olivia Henry (OH, 6-5, 2009, Bayside, N.Y., IMG Academy, Florida)
6 Megan Hodges (MB/OPP, 6-5, 2009, Ladera Ranch, Calif., San Juan Hills HS, Southern California)
7 Marissa Jones (S, 6-2, 2009, Atlanta, Ga., Woodward Academy, Southern)
8 Kari Knotts (OH, 6-3, 2010, Marietta, Ga., Hightower Trail MS, Southern)
11 Westley Matavao (OH, 6-0, 2009, Ontario, Calif., Mater Dei HS, Southern California)
13 Shayla Rautenberg (MB, 6-3, 2009, Pleasant Dale, Neb., Milford HS, Great Plains)
14 Ireland Real (OH, 6-4, 2009, San Clemente, Calif., Santa Margarita Catholic HS, Southern California)
18 Kyla Williams (MB, 6-4, 2009, Cleveland, Ohio, Gilmour Academy, Ohio Valley)

Alternates
9 Pulelehua Laikona (L, 5-8, 2009, Gilbert, Ariz., Mesa HS, Arizona)
10 Leilani Lamar (OH, 6-2, 2009, Tampa, Fla., Tampa Preparatory School, Florida)
12 McKenna McIntosh (OH, 6-1, 2009, Stockton, Calif., St. Mary’s HS, Northern California)
15 Josalyn Samuels (S, 6-1, 2009, Harrisburg, S.D., Harrisburg HS, North Country)
16 Marlee Steiner (MB, 6-4, 2009, St. Louis, Mo., Lindbergh HS, Gateway)
17 Caroline Ward (OPP, 6-0, 2009, Lizton, Ind., Tri-West Hendricks HS, Hoosier)
19 Shaye Witherspoon (OH, 6-3, 2009, Wildwood, Mo., Lafayette HS, Gateway)

Coaches
Head Coach: Jamie Morrison (Texas A&M)
Assistant Coach: Michelle Chatman Smith (LOVB)
Assistant Coach: Maggie Eppright (LOVB)
Performance Analyst: Michael Bouril (Mississippi State)
Athletic Trainer: Rebecca Himes (PVF)
Team Lead: Alex Purvey (NTDP)

2025 Girls U19 Pan American Cup Schedule
All times Pacific
All matches will be livestreamed on Volleyball Canada YouTube

June 24:  USA def. Venezuela, 3-0 (25-9, 25-23, 25-21)
June 25: USA def. Mexico, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-23)
June 26: USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-14, 27-25)
June 27: 1:30 p.m. USA vs. Costa Rica/Dominican Republic
June 28: Medal Match, TBA

HOFFMAN ESTATES – Canada dropped a 3-0 decision to the United States in Volleyball Nations League play on Thursday at the NOW Arena. 

All three sets were close, but the host side pulled out a 25-23, 25-22, 30-28 victory. Canada captain Fynn McCarthy had eight attacks, four blocks and an ace.

“Once we solidified our reception and service tonight, we were able to play at a much higher level and we put more pressure on them,” said Canada head coach Dan Lewis.

Canada is 14th in the 18-team preliminary standings. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025. 

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