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The Beach regain the volleyball crown

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 1 seed Long Beach State men’s volleyball (30-3) swept the No. 3 seed University of California, Los Angeles Bruins (22-7) in a 2024 National Championship rematch, blocking a Bruin three-peat and taking back its spot at the top of the volleyball world. With the stadium on its feet and LBSU up […]

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4 weeks ago

May 13, 2025

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With the stadium on its feet and LBSU up 24-21 with a 2-0 set lead, one of LBSU’s heroes of the tournament, redshirt senior opposite Nato Dickinson, held the ball and took a deep breath at the service line.

Dickinson fired in a high-speed serve, too fast for UCLA to receive correctly, that was passed over to LBSU. With the ball getting passed to freshmen setter Moni Nikolov, as it does on most plays, he delivered the dagger into the heart of the UCLA to win the title only in the way he could, slamming it over on two.

“The feeling absolutely never gets old,” LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said. “I’m so proud of the guys and everything they did all season long.”

LBSU’s win blocked UCLA of its third National Championship in a row. Instead, The Beach won its fourth all-time and first since 2019.

With a packed Covelli Center, whose allegiance was split evenly between gold and blue, the match was started, but halted momentarily after the first point as Knipe challenged the ruling of a no-touch on Nikolov’s opening serve of the game.

The challenge was successful, adding to Nikolov’s NCAA single-season record 106 aces, and giving The Beach the momentum immediately.

In the ensuing plays, freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev picked up right where he left off on Saturday with two kills in The Beach’s first five points to put The Beach up 5-3.

Kandev ended the match with 13 kills while hitting an efficient .450. His rise to glory in the NCAA Tournament has been well-noted, and he came up large again in the final set.

“I always had to be ready, and I was waiting for an opportunity, and I took it,” Kandev said.

Freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev celebrates after a block in the third set of The Beach’s sweep of UCLA in the 2025 Men’s Volleyball National Championship at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, May 12. Kandev recorded four blocks in the sweep. Photo credit: Mark Siquig

An ace from redshirt junior opposite Skyler Varga sent the crowd into a frenzy and forced a UCLA timeout with LBSU leading 10-7.

Moments later, Varga came up large again as he floated from the back row for a thundering kill that caused him to fall to the floor and do push-ups in celebration.

Nikolov was having success deceiving the UCLA block and freeing up the high-flying LBSU attackers for one-on-one opportunities at the net with nine fist set assists. When he couldn’t set them up, he was scoring himself, adding six kills in the match.

After an ace from freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly cut The Beach’s lead to three at 16-13, The Beach’s block became virtually impenetrable from that point on, with three blocks to end the set and four in the set in total.

Fittingly, UCLA’s sixth attack error of the set ended the set 25-17 in favor of LBSU.

The second set gave the opposite narrative of the first, as it was now The Beach struggling with attacking errors, with five errors to the Bruins’ one, and the Bruins up 18-13 and in control.

This is when it all changed.

A service error from senior service substitute Ido David gave The Beach life down 18-14.

Suddenly, down 20-18, Nikolov stepped up to the service line, and all eyes were on the phenom.

Arguably the best server in the history of collegiate volleyball fired two aces to ignite the black and gold faithful and tie the match at 20.

“I just threw the ball and I knew that nobody can pass my serve,” Nikolov said. “When we need a serve, I’m the one that’s gonna get it there.”

Freshman setter Moni Nikolov skies for a serve in the second set of The Beach’s sweep of UCLA in the 2025 Men’s Volleyball National Championship. Nikolov recorded four aces to add to his NCAA-record total, ending the season with 106. Photo credit: Mark Siquig

The two volleyball powerhouses traded points until an attack error from Bruin junior outside hitter Zach Rama, followed by a Kandev kill, gave The Beach set up point 24-22.

The Bruins got one back, but senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven closed the set out with a deafening kill, completing the five-point comeback and claiming the set 25-23, going up 2-0.

Up 8-6 in the third set, Nikolov stepped up to the service line again, this time changing it up from his usual NCAA record-breaking speed for an ace that completely fooled the UCLA defense and sparked a three-point service run to put The Beach up 11-6.

Keeping the Bruins in the match was redshirt junior opposite hitter Cooper Robinson, who, with The Beach up 14-11, added his ninth kill of the match to bring them within two.

However, another Bruin service error stunted their momentum, and The Beach’s two cornerstones of the match took over: defense and Kandev.

A Kandev kill and two blocks put The Beach up 19-15, and it felt in the building as if The Beach were about to win it all.

The Bruins got within one at 21-20, but two kills by Kandev and a kill from redshirt senior opposite Nato Dickinson put The Beach one point away from glory.

Nikolov’s aforementioned game-winning kill will be etched in history and is the cherry on top of all of the hardware the man coined “The Bulgarian Prince” took home in his freshman season.

‘It’s the most impactful season by one player that’s happened in NCAA volleyball history, in my opinion,” Knipe said.

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Prep track: El Dorado athletes sign with colleges

Four El Dorado track and field athletes signed to compete at the collegiate level Friday afternoon at Wildcat Arena. Zyron Brock signed with Ouachita Baptist University. Brianna Ferrell signed with UA-Pine Bluff. Asia Caver and Zachary McMillon both signed with Southern Arkansas University. “We are very proud of the accomplishments of all four of those […]

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16 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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“We are very proud of the accomplishments of all four of those kids. I was able to set out four state championship trophies for the signing that was representative of each kid,” said El Dorado coach John Koonce. “We have had a lot of success as a program these four years and it’s because of kids like Zyron, Brianna, Asia and Zach. They have made us proud throughout their entire high school career. And I believe that they will continue to make our program, the community of El Dorado and their families proud as they continue their academic and athletic careers in college. OBU, SAU and UAPB just got better.”

Brock, Ferrell and Caver led the Lady Wildcats to the 5A State Championship. They were all members of the Meet of Champs and state championship 4×100 relay. Brock won the triple jump at the Meet of Champs and the long jump at the state meet.

McMillon competed on the boys’ team. Also a cross country runner, he finished fourth in the 1,600 at the 5A South Championships.

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Arrowhead wins back-to-back D1 titles

Highlights from 2025 state track and field meet in La Crosse Track and field athletes from across Wisconsin gather in La Crosse to compete at the 2025 WIAA state meet. Michael Whitlow, Zac Bellman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The Arrowhead Warhawks girls track and field team won their second consecutive Division 1 state title. Junior […]

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27 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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The Arrowhead Warhawks girls track and field team won their second consecutive Division 1 state title.
Junior Avery Bott led the Warhawks with top-three finishes in the 100m, 200m, and 400m races.
Elise Schroeder, the defending pole vault champion, won her second straight state title.

LA CROSSE — For Arrowhead girls track and field coach Bradley Clark, it’s simple.

Put the names on the sheet. The girls will take care of the rest.

“It’s just nice to watch them work,” Clark said. “I mean, people asked me, they’ve told me congratulations and I’m like, ‘They do all the work.’ I just write their names down and helped them with workouts. They put in all the work they all had the competitive drive to do what they did.”

For the second straight season, the Warhawks won the Division 1 state team track title with 51 total points to fend off a pesky Neenah bunch in search of its first team title in program history.

Arrowhead’s second straight title marked the first time since 2017 (Milwaukee King) that a D1 girls program won back-to-back titles. Fellow Classic 8 Conference member Muskego also won titles in 2019 and 2021, but the 2020 meet was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s the best,” Clark said on the back-to-back team title run. “That’s why you get into coaching. Seeing them be happy is all I need.”

The Warhawks scored points in seven total events over the weekend with 34 of their team points coming from stars Avery Bott in her triple sprint title quest and defending pole vault state champion and current statewide record holder Elise Schroeder, who won the state title for the second straight season.

“It’s amazing,” Bott said on being a part of the Warhawks program. “The team is great. The environment around everyone is just amazing. Everyone’s really supportive. I have some really great friends on the team that I did relays with in the past and some individual events, but it’s amazing to be a part of.”

Bott worked her way up the podium with a third-place finish in the 100, a runner-up finish in the 400 and then finally stood on the top step after winning the 200 that clinched the team crown for the Warhawks with one running event to go.

Along with Bott’s three top-three finishes, junior Emily Corteen picked up a pair of key points with a seventh-place finish in the pole vault with Schroeder in a meet where the point differential between champion and runner-up was just five points.

“The depth,” Clark said on what made the 2025 version of the Warhawks stand out. “A lot of our coaches pointed out that we were the only team across the state that scored in every event at sectionals. I think the depth is just there and we got people that are good at everything. It makes coaching easy sometimes.”

Schroeder, Josie Bularz, Giselle Huggett and Payton Eicher stood second on the podium in the 4×100-meter relay final, coming just .19 seconds short of dethroning conference rival Mukwonago as state champion. Eicher also contributed early on Day 2 with five key points of her own thanks to a fourth-place finish in the long jump finals that was won by Neenah’s Celia Gentile.

“We have so many juniors, which, I mean, helps a lot,” Schroeder said with a laugh. “We’re all in classes together, supporting each other. The seniors are so supportive of us as well. We always help the younger classmen and I think every single person helps them, showing them around and they even know stuff that we just don’t even need to tell them. They know what to do.”

The Arrowhead boys fell two points short of a fifth straight team title, but it’s clear Arrowhead’s dominance is stretching beyond boys coach Chris Herriot’s program. Each of the individual scorers for the Warhawks in their team title triumph are juniors, including the 4×100-meter relay quartet that won runner-up medals on Day 2.

“It’s unreal,” Schroeder said. “It’s like almost bittersweet because it’s junior year, you know, only one more year, hoping to maybe end it with another.”

When asked about a potential three-peat in 2026, Schroeder shot a smile, a laugh and simply said, “Maybe.”

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Sophia Malinoski closes Lincoln track and field career with second 800 state title | Sports

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38 minutes ago

June 8, 2025

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Track and Field: Area athletes litter Class 1A and Class 2A – Brainerd Dispatch

ST. MICHAEL — Pequot Lakes knows how to jump. The Patriots will send five different athletes in field events to the Class 2A State Track and Field meet June 11-12 at St. Michael-Albertville High School. Oliver McKenna, Bode Eggena and Becker Lipke all qualified for the high jump. McKenna won the section title by clearing […]

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1 hour ago

June 8, 2025

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ST. MICHAEL — Pequot Lakes knows how to jump.

The Patriots will send five different athletes in field events to the Class 2A State Track and Field meet June 11-12 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

Oliver McKenna, Bode Eggena and Becker Lipke all qualified for the high jump. McKenna won the section title by clearing 6-foot-3, while Eggena and Lipke cleared the state standard of 6-1.

Senior Reese Laposky returns to state in the long jump and adds the high jump to her list this year. Laposky cleared a state standard of 5-1 in the high jump and a state standard of 16-7.25 in the long jump. He placed 21st at state last year with a 16-2.25.

Grace Knutson also cleared the state standard of 5-1 in the high jump.

“Five out of our six high jumpers are going to the state track meet, which is pretty cool,” Pequot coach Brian Homan said. “Oliver is a young freshman who broke the section record and then Bode and Becker are both returning. Reese is another high jumper and also returns in the long jump. The trick for her will be managing her time as they both go on at the same time.”

On the track, Pequot’s Brooklin Hansen qualified for the 100-meter hurdles and three girls’ relay teams made it, too.

“Grace is a seventh grader, so she comes with very little experience,” Pequot coach Jeff Brever said. “We moved her up from junior high halfway through the year and she blossomed. Brooklin is a ninth grader and it’s the same concept, just try to get into the finals.”

Ashley Slaybaugh, Josie Taylor, Lila Nordby and Ava Merta make up the 4×100 relay team. Slaybaugh, Taylor and Merta and joined by Chelby Wothe for the 4×200 relay team. While Slaybaugh, Taylor and Wothe team with Carlie Eggert in the 4×400 relay.

“We have a lot of the same girls back and we are bringing the experience to state,” Brever said. “We need to touch up some things, but right now we are the third best in the state and we want to make the finals for our relays.”

The Little Falls Flyers will send five to state in Noah Cameron (300 hurdles), Elise Ballou (pole vault), Madeline Chisholm (high jump), Kobi Cameron (pole vault) and Malin Youngberg (3200 run).

Youngberg won the section title in the 3200 in 11:09.32.

Pierz’s Aiden Jones highlights the multiple area athletes in the Class 1A State Track and Field meet June 10-11 at St. Michael-Albertville High School.

Jones will compete in three events. He won the Section 5-1A title in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and teamed with Brayden Foust, Paul Nieman and Kyle Stangl to qualify in the 4×100.

Foust placed second in the 100 dash to reach state, while Kaleb Poser (300 hurdles) and Wyatt Betsinger (1600 run) also qualified.

Aitkin’s Isaiah Baker will compete in two events after winning the Section 7-1A title in the triple and high jumps.

Pillager’s Violette Metz advanced in three events by winning the Section 6-1A title in the 200 dash, 300 hurdles and teaming with Veronica Metz, Sophie Schlosser and McKenna Camacho in the 4×100 relay. Camacho qualified in the triple jump.

Staples-Motley’s Audrey Brownell is one of the favorites in the 1600 and 3200 runs at state.

“She’s going to be ready,” S-M head coach Bruce Fuhrman said. “I think she has a good chance. The one she really wants is the two-mile and she seems like she’s at full strength.”

S-M’s Avandre Brandt is back at state in the 200 dash and high jump. Sawyer Ferdon qualified in the triple and long jumps. Turner Beachy is a section champ in the pole vault, Noah Larson won the 110 hurdles and Adrian Gomez qualified in the shot put.

“I’m hoping Noah can make it out of the prelims,” Fuhrman said. “He should be in the hunt for a medal. If Turner can turn it up like he has, I think he has a chance of winning. Avandre’s best chance is going to be in the 200 and Sawyer has a chance to medal in the triple jump.”

Pillager’s Andrew Brown (100 dash) and Frank Brown (high jump) will compete along with the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams of Dawson Weihandl, Dru Hutchinson, Tyson Becker and Frank Brown.

“Andrew had a great showing at sections,” Pillager head coach Jim Bentson said. “He’s been consistently under 11 seconds all year. That leads into the relay teams and he and Tyson are inseparable. We moved Dawson from the 400, 200 to the 100, 200, so we had him coming off the blocks, which helped. Frank has always been consistent for us and he knows that we’re starting at six feet and he’s been there.”

Wadena-Deer Creek’s Amber Collins won the section title in the 400 dash to return. WDC’s Grant Nelson returns in the 800 run. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale’s Brady Rach qualified in the 800 and 1600 runs.

Callie Norman (triple jump) is the lone Pine River-Backus Tiger at state.

Crosby-Ironton’s AJ Westin made state in the 800 with a section title. C-I’s 4×100 relay of Evan Ryberg, Michael Anderson, Braylon Kannell and Jeremy Hanson placed second at sections to qualify.

Lucy Lewandowski returns to state in the pole vault. C-I’s 4×400 relay (Margaret Ringhand, Sammie Hachey, Anna Westin, Maria Ringhand) and 4×800 relay (Maria Ringhand, Madeline Lacerte, Margaret Ringhand, Westin) teams also qualified.

Aitkin’s Ashley Asmus (800 run) and Brita Westman (100 hurdles) reached state.

Pierz’s Quinn Gruber (800 run), Beverly Rentz (shot put) and Payton Stangl (discus) reached state along with the 4×100 (Avery Gruber, Claire Gruber, Aurora Walberg, Lydia Prokott) and 4×800 (Chloe Lochner, Morgan Litke, Sophie Leidenfrost, Quinn Gruber) relay teams.

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.

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Minor League Wrap

In a much-rumored move, the Cubs promoted right-hander Jostin Florentino to Low-A Myrtle Beach from the ACL Cubs. Left-hander Burl Carraway joins the ACL Cubs from the Development List. Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs were lightning-struck by the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 6-5. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All six Omaha runs came off of starter Peter […]

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1 hour ago

June 8, 2025

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In a much-rumored move, the Cubs promoted right-hander Jostin Florentino to Low-A Myrtle Beach from the ACL Cubs.

Left-hander Burl Carraway joins the ACL Cubs from the Development List.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were lightning-struck by the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals), 6-5.

All six Omaha runs came off of starter Peter Solomon, who gave up the six runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings. Solomon walked two and struck out two.

Lefty Riley Martin continued to make his case with a perfect inning in the bottom of the eighth. He struck out one. Martin has a 1.30 ERA with 42 strikeouts over 27.1 innings this year.

Iowa could only manage one hit and one unearned run over the first six innings against 45-year-old former Cub Rich Hill.

First baseman Carlos Pérez got Iowa to within a run with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth. It was his tenth home run this year. Pérez went 2 for 4 and scored twice.

Second baseman Ben Cowles had a two-run single in the seventh inning. He went 1 for 4.

Cowles two-run single.

The Pérez home run.

Knoxville Smokies

The Knoxville Smokies split a doubleheader to the Chattanooga Lookouts (Reds), losing game one 3-0 and winning the second one 4-3.

Nick Dean started game one and got the loss after giving up three runs on four hits over five innings. Dean struck out six and walked no one. Two of the three runs came on a home run in the fifth inning by Austin Hendrick.

The Smokies had just three singles and no walks in game one. In their defense, they faced Chase Burns, who was the second-overall pick in last year’s draft. Burns threw a seven-inning complete game.

Sam Armstrong started and won game one. He went 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. All three runs came on a home run in the sixth inning, after which both he and manager Lance Rymel were ejected from the game. Armstrong struck out four and walked no one.

A.J. Puckett took over after the ejection and went the final 1.2 innings for the save, allowing no runs and one hit. Puckett walked one and struck out two.

Second baseman Pedro Ramirez hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth, his second. Ramirez went 1 for 3.

Shortstop Eriandys Ramon drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single in his first Double-A game. Ramon went 1 for 2 and scored on the Ramirez home run.

Right fielder Parker Chavers was 2 for 3 with a double. He scored on the Ramon single.

Catcher Pablo Aliendo went 2 for 3.

Here’s some nice defense by Ramirez.

And here’s his home run.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Great Lakes Loons (Dodgers), losing the continuation of yesterday’s suspended game 2-1 and the regularly-scheduled game by the same 2-1 score.

Erian Rodriguez started game one yesterday and took the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits over 4.1 innings before the rains came. Rodriguez walked four and struck out four.

The game was 2-1 Loons when the rains came yesterday and that’s how it ended. South Bend’s only run came on a Carter Trice home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning. It was Trice’s third-straight game with a home run and second-straight one to lead off the bottom of the first. Trice went 1 for 4.

Ryan Gallagher gave South Bend a good chance to win in game two, but he took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits over five innings. Gallagher struck out seven and walked just one.

First baseman Brian Kalmer singled home right fielder Ivan Brethowr with two outs in the bottom of the seventh to prevent the shutout. Kalmer went 1 for 3 and Brethowr was 0 for 2 with a walk.

Center fielder Carter Trice went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were blasted by the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (White Sox), 4-0.

Jostin Florentino got the loss in his Pelicans debut, giving up three runs, two earned, on six hits over 4.2 innings. Florentino walked four and struck out four.

First baseman Cameron Sisneros went 2 for 4.

ACL Cubs

Beat the Guardians, 6-5.

DH Eli Lovich hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth. He was 2 for 4.