Sophomore offensive line Sandro Malicevic (77) picks up wide receiver senior Cooper Willman after a touch down. Willman ran 1,324 total receiving yards. (File)
The male Panther of the Year is going to Cooper Willman from the football team.
The senior wide receiver from Sterling was named part of the 2024 First Team All-Big South/Ohio Valley Conference as both a wide receiver and an all-purpose player.
Willman started all 12 games and set a single game program record for receiving yards against Gardner Webb. Willman recorded 291 yards on 11 receptions with three touchdowns against the Runnin’ Bulldogs.
Willman became the 35th player in school history with 1,000 receiving yards with 1,324 total receiving yards, according to EIU Athletics.
Willman finished the year with eight touchdowns for 48 yards.
Senior forward Macy McGlone won the OVC Player of the Year award back to back years. (File)
The female Panther of the Year is going to Macy McGlone from the women’s basketball team.
The senior forward from Greenville, Wisconsin, won her second straight OVC Player of the Year award at the end of the regular season. McGlone is the tenth person in conference history to win back to back Player of the Year awards.
McGlone was also named part of the 2024-2025 All-OVC First Team.
Throughout the 2024-2025 season, McGlone started all 30 games, averaging 17.9 points, 11.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. McGlone ranked in sixth place in the NCAA in rebounds per game and 11th for double-doubles (18).
McGlone was named OVC Player of the Week six times during the regular season.
McGlone wrote her name in Eastern’s record books with 350 total rebounds (third), 58 blocks (third), 18 double-doubles (third) and 536 points (sixth). McGlone recorded 1,000 points at Eastern, making her the fourth Panther in program history to do so.
Softball co-head coaches Kristi and Dan Paulson talk brought the softball team to its second straight OVC regular season championship and second OVC tournament win in three years. (Patrick Schmitz)
The Panther coach of the Year is going to Dan and Kristi Paulson from the softball team.
Within their first year as co-head coaches for the Panthers, the Paulsons led the team to their second straight OVC regular season championship.
Eastern ended the regular season with a 31-19 record, securing a big win over the University of Illinois.
Saturday, the softball team won the OVC Tournament for the second time in three years.
The Paulsons brought former Parkland College players Alisha Fredrick and Bryanna French to the program.
Throughout the season, the Paulsons coached 2025 OVC co-Player of the Year Kendall Grover and 2025 Pitcher of the Year McKenzie Oslanzi.
Along with Grover and Oslanzi, three other players were named to the All-OVC First Team; Morgan Hance, Karson Davey and Karlie McKenzie.
Abbey Crain was named to to the All-OVC Second Team, and Hance and Abbi Hatton were named to the All-Newcomer Team.
Zaria Flippin can be reached at 581-2812 or at zhflippin@eiu.edu.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball season comes down to Kentucky vs. Texas A&M. The conference rivals will meet in the first all-SEC national championship game on Sunday, Dec. 21 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
Texas A&M is vying for its first championship after upsetting No. 1 overall seed Nebraska and Pitt in the Elite Eight and Final Four, respectively. Meanwhile, Kentucky is looking to win its second title and first since 2020 after beating Wisconsin in a five-set semifinal thriller.
It will be the 28th all-time meeting between the teams. The Wildcats hold a 17-10 advantage in the series, but the Aggies are 2-0 when the team’s meet on a neutral court.
Kentucky beat Texas A&M on Oct. 8 in College Station. The Aggies won the first set, but Wildcats rallied to win the last three for the victory.
When is Kentucky vs. Texas A&M volleyball?
No. 1 Kentucky (29-2) faces No. 3 Texas A&M (28-4) on Sunday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 p.m. ET at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kentucky vs. Texas A&M volleyball: Channel, streaming
Date: Sunday, Dec. 21
Time: 3:30 p.m ET (2:30 p.m. CT)
Location: T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Missouri)
Channel: ABC
Stream: ESPN+, Fubo
Stream to NCAA volleyball championship
MORE:The 11 best NCAA volleyball players in transfer portal
By now, almost everything that can be said about the NCAA women’s volleyball final has been said. The serve zones have been diagrammed. The rotations studied. Every star has been labeled and ranked and debated into exhaustion. What Sunday in Kansas City does is ask two teams that have spent the whole season proving themselves to do it again, once more, as if none of it counted yet.
It is No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Texas A&M, the first all-SEC championship match in Division I women’s volleyball history. Kentucky has been here before, winning the 2020 national title. Texas A&M has not.
2025 NCAA women’s volleyball championship
ABC is available for free over the air and also streams on ESPN Unlimited.
The Aggies bulldozed their way into the program’s first championship match by knocking out top overall seed Nebraska in five sets and then sweeping Pitt, another No. 1 seed, in the national semifinal. They arrive with a first-time finalist’s resume and are led by Jamie Morrison, who was just named the national coach of the year.
They’re also the harder team to know. You think you’ve seen their ceiling, and then they elevate. When the Aggies are in system, they can bury you before you’ve adjusted. When they’re not, they don’t panic. Texas A&M standout Logan Lednicky called the Aggies “the grittiest,” and they’ve played like it, especially during the late-set messiness that usually eats upstart teams. Clean volleyball doesn’t really exist in a title match, anyway.
Kentucky comes in with the steadier resume and scar tissue. The Wildcats survived Wisconsin in five sets in the semis. Kentucky’s Craig Skinner and Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield coached junior varsity volleyball together in Muncie, Ind., in 1990 and went undefeated. That history is part of how you get here. So is what happened Thursday, when Skinner’s team ended Sheffield’s season.
Here’s the boring truth of a championship: It usually comes down to first contact. If serve receive holds, the setter has options and the block can be manipulated. If serve receive cracks, the whole thing turns into emergency swings.
Notably, Kentucky beat Texas A&M 3-1 when they met during the regular season in early October. That matters as evidence that Kentucky can solve this puzzle. It does not matter as a prediction. Finals are their own species.
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The Kentucky Wildcats compete for a volleyball national championship this afternoon against Texas A&M. It’s Kentucky’s second appearance in the NCAA Volleyball National Championship and Texas A&M’s first appearance. It’s also the first time two SEC teams have competed for the national championship.
It’s been a fantastic postseason run for the Wildcats, going back to that thrilling win over Texas in the SEC Championship and all the way to that come-from-behind win over Wisconsin in the semifinals. Now, the Cats have a chance to top it off with a national championship.
Game time is set for 3:30 PM ET on ABC.
This will serve as today’s open thread, so make sure to come back here to talk about the game!
The SEC is stepping up its volleyball game.
She’s been a key piece for this team.
JQ wasted no time making his presence known.
Big performances from Quaintance and Lowe.
He certainly looks like a difference-maker moving forward.
Will Stein’s offense looked good last night.
Texas Tech vs Oregon is the most interesting to me. How about you?
Could you imagine how different things look?
Not a great Year 1 for Schottenheimer.
That’s a game Duke will wish they could have back.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee volleyball head coach Eve Rackham Watt announced the signing of outside hitter Nia Hall.
Hall spent the 2025 season at South Carolina after transferring from Cleveland State. At Cleveland State she was named a 2024 All-Horizon League First Team selection where she put up 397 kills and 143 digs. In her lone season with the Gamecocks, Hall recorded 273 kills and 89 digs during the 2025 campaign. Hall’s 273 led South Carolina in 2025 in both kills and kills per set (3.07).
The Lorain, Ohio native has played in 83 matches in her collegiate career, where she has posted 823 kills, 274 digs, 160 blocks over three seasons. Hall has reached double figure kills in 43 matches in her career. She owns five 20-plus kill performances in her career, and has racked up seven double-doubles.
Known for her defensive prowess as well, Hall has notched 80 or more digs in consecutive seasons. Hall set a career-high 143 in 2024 at Cleveland State, before helping solidify South Carolina’s backrow with 89 in 2025. Hall is also strong at the net, tallying 35-plus blocks in all three seasons. Hall totaled 35 blocks for South Carolina this past season, while setting a career-high in 2024 of 85.
In 2024, Hall helped lead Cleveland State to a Horizon League Championship and its first NCAA appearance since 2017. Before beginning her college career, Hall was a standout at Amherst Steele where she earned All-State, All-County, and All-Conference honors. Hall recorded 1,215 kills on a .365 hitting percentage.
Tennessee is coming off a 20-8 campaign in 2025 and its fifth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 20-win season marked the 26th in program history, and fourth under head coach Eve Rackham Watt. The Lady Vols finished with a 10-5 record in the SEC, earning the fourth seed in the SEC Tournament. The Big Orange has totaled six 10-plus win seasons in conference play under Rackham Watt.
FAYETTEVILLE — Since announcing his retirement as the University of Arkansas men’s track and field coach Nov. 5, Chris Bucknam has been on a farewell tour of sorts.
There was the last home meet, the last NCAA championship meet and the last day at the office on Dec. 12.
This week at the annual convention for the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association near Dallas, Bucknam took the stage to accept the John McDonnell Program of the Year Award for the last time Monday. Then on Thursday, Bucknam was able to experience one more thrill of victory as the Razorbacks’ head coach when former Arkansas sprinter Jordan Anthony won The Bowerman as the year’s top college track and field athlete.
“It’s the end of the road,” Bucknam said afterward. “This is the last last. … It’s a great way to go out.”
In 18 cross country and 17 track and field seasons at Arkansas, Bucknam’s teams won 2 national championships, 34 SEC championships, 5 McDonnell Program of the Year Awards and 3 Bowerman trophies. Hundreds of Razorbacks earned All-SEC and All-America honors during his tenure.
“There are a lot of people to think and a lot of people to be thankful for,” Bucknam said. “I just appreciate everybody’s effort. I feel like our program does a great job of bringing the best out of people.”
That was a note hit by Anthony during his acceptance speech Thursday night.
“Coach Buck, your championship pedigree speaks for itself,” Anthony said, “and I’m very thankful to have learned under your guidance.”
Bucknam will be succeeded as Arkansas’ track and field head coach by Doug Case, his longtime assistant who was recruited by Bucknam to Northern Iowa in the early 1980s. Bucknam plans to continue living in Fayetteville.
“I’m excited to see what comes next with Coach Case in his coaching era,” Bucknam said. “This is a great stepping off the stage kind of event for me and (I am) passing the baton.”
Matt Jones
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Matt Jones is the managing editor of WholeHogSports.com and hosts the WholeHogSports Daily Podcast. He is a member of the Football Writers Association of America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has a bachelor’s and master’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas.
The Kentucky Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
The Kentucky Wildcats celebrate after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in the Final Four.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Kentucky outside hitter Asia Thigpen (20) and middle blocker/right side Lizzie Carr (15) defend Wisconsin outside hitter Una Vajagic (1).
Kylie Graham, Imagn Images
Kentucky Wildcats middle blocker Lizzie Carr (15) hits the ball against Wisconsin Badgers outside hitter Una Vajagic (1) during the first set in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Kentucky Wildcats middle blocker Lizzie Carr (15) hits the ball during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Wisconsin Badgers outside hitter Mimi Colyer (15) passes the ball during the first set against the Kentucky Wildcats in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Kentucky Wildcats assistant coach Amaya Tillman watches the action during the first set against the Wisconsin Badgers in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Kelly Sheffield reacts during the first set against the Kentucky Wildcats in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Wisconsin Badgers outside hitter Mimi Colyer (15) hits the ball against Kentucky Wildcats outside hitter Asia Thigpen (20) and middle blocker Kennedy Washington (10) during the first set in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies opposite Logan Lednicky (9) celebrates after a point during the second set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Pittsburgh Panthers middle blocker Dalia Vîrlan(11) hugs Pittsburgh Panthers right-side hitter Olivia Babcock (5) following their loss to Texas A&M in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Kylie Graham, Imagn Images
The Texas A&M Aggies celebrate after defeating the passes the ball in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) hits the ball against Pittsburgh Panthers right side hitter Olivia Babcock (5) and middle blocker Bre Kelley (21) during the third set in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) gets ready to serve during the third set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
A general view of the court during the first set between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies opposite hitter Logan Lednicky (9) celebrates during the first set against Pitt State in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center.
Kylie Graham, Imagn Images
Pittsburgh Panthers right-side hitter Olivia Babcock (5) celebrates after scoring a point during the first set in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center.
Kylie Graham, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) and middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) defend Pittsburgh Panthers right-side hitter Olivia Babcock (5) during the second set in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center.
Kylie Graham, Imagn Images
Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Dan Fisher reacts after a point during the first set against the Texas A&M Aggies in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Pittsburgh Panthers right side hitter Olivia Babcock (5) hits the ball during the first set against the Texas A&M Aggies in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies libero/defensive specialist Ava Underwood (12) passes the ball during the first set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Dan Fisher talks to players during a timeout during the first set against the Texas A&M Aggies in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies head coach Jamie Morrison celebrates after a point during the first set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) hits the ball during the first set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
Texas A&M Aggies outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) hits the ball against Pittsburgh Panthers middle blocker Abbey Emch (20) and setter Brooke Mosher (17) during the first set in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
The Texas A&M Aggies celebrate after a point during the first set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
Jay Biggerstaff, Imagn Images
The Texas A&M Aggies celebrate after winning the first set against the Pittsburgh Panthers in a 2025 NCAA WomenÕs Volleyball Championship semifinal match at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. on Dec. 18, 2025.
