Sports

OU Softball

Published

7 months ago

May 23, 2025

What are Oklahoma players doing out there on the bases?

Is that a tribute to “Karate Kid” Daniel LaRusso’s match-clinching crane kick in the 1984 All-Valley Karate Championship?

Is it a new take on the classic yoga warrior pose?

Something from ballet?

Nope.

It’s a shoutout to OU’s national champion gymnastics squad: arms up in a victory pose, wrists bent, fingers flexed out.

Jordan Bowers or Faith Torrez or Audrey Davis would be proud.

Oklahoma slugger Ella Parker / OU Athletics

“At the beginning of the season, we love watching women’s sports in general, we love our gymnastics team,” said Sooners captain Nelly McEnroe-Marinas. “We would do that little thing for them. And then, I don’t know, just kind of make a joke out of it. Everything is funny, like to be loose, have fun, be free. We’ve been doing a lot of different celebrations, I would say.”

Patty Gasso’s players would flash the tribute any time some popped up at second base on a double, sometimes after a stolen base, once in a while on first after an important single.

“We love women’s sports and gymnastics is one of the top programs here,” said outfielder Abby Dayton. “We want to represent them well.”

Oklahoma first baseman Cydney Sanders / John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

That one OU national champion team is being honored by another who’s chasing their fifth consecutive national title and ninth overall is telling about the support that Sooner teams give one another.

“It’s respect — absolute respect for each other,” Gasso said this week as the No. 2 overall seed Sooners host Alabama in a Super Regional at Love’s Field.

“The day after the women’s gymnastics team won, they came onto our field with their trophy,” Gasso said. “Hugged some of our players, sitting in the stands, fans were around them. We were rooting, rooting for women’s basketball.

Gasso and the Oklahoma softball program have done as much for their sport as Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut basketball program or the US Women’s National soccer team.

Oklahoma gymnast Faith Torrez / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Such growth in mainstream popularity has helped clear the way for other phenomena like the Caitlin Clark Experience that swept the nation the last two years and continues in the WNBA.

As these fun moments and historic achievements have laid a pathway for iconic events, women’s sports have gained a powerful seat at the table of American television consumption, and it seems much of that success is rooted in this kind of cross-sport support.

“It’s just respect for women’s sports here and the elite level that we’re all trying to play, all of us, not just the ones named,” Gasso said. “It’s hard to live in this world of elite sport and hard to maintain it. There is a different level of respect that we have knowing the grind that it takes.”

Oklahoma, Alabama Familiar With Dramatic Postseason Battles
How Oklahoma’s Youth Has Become Its Strength
Oklahoma Blasts Its Way to Super Regionals

As women’s sports continue to make signifiant strides internally — like the NCAA Tournament giving its women’s teams the same access to quality food, hotel and training facilities as the men’s teams, or the USWNT fighting for equal pay despite their team drawing bigger crowds and TV ratings than the men — the popularity of women’s sports continues to rise.

Those things can go hand in hand, Gasso hinted this week.

With Alabama coming to town, she looked back at the 2012 national championship series in Oklahoma City, when the start of the final game was delayed nearly three hours by inclement weather but was eventually started and played late into the night despite a driving rain that affected pitchers’ ability to get the ball over the plate.

Alabama beat OU for its first national title.

“I just remember asking, ‘What are we doing?’ “ Gasso said. “And (the answer) was, ‘ESPN won’t come back tomorrow, so we’ve got to play it now.’ ESPN’s saying, ‘We didn’t say that.’ So I’m not getting a real answer.”

Gasso said officials “played it the right way” and insisted she’s not still complaining about it. But she still says it should have been handled differently.

“For me personally, I was disappointed that, if we would have played the next day, it would have been the most-watched female softball game ever and may still hold that because it was such a battle of elite players, elite pitching on both sides,” she said. “It was a tremendous matchup and a tremendous opportunity to bring more fans into the game and to put us in a better position versus a ball slipping out of your hand when you’re trying to pitch it.

“Back then, maybe people didn’t think we deserved better. Now, that would never happen today. It would not.”

Sports

Texas A&M volleyball advances to national championship with sweep of Pitt

Published

1 hour ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KBTX) – Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison and his squad have fought through the postseason for the ability to practice together one more time, he said.

This edition of Aggies will get the maximum number of practices a team can hold.

Thursday, third-seeded A&M swept No. 1 seed Pitt (29-27, 25-21, 25-20) to punch its first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament national title game inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.

The Aggies will face Southeastern Conference-mate Kentucky Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for a shot to hoist a national championship trophy.

“This is crazy,” middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “This is an absolute crazy experience. We have had faith in ourselves all year, from the first game of the season. We knew that we were capable of this, but now living it, like, ‘Wow.’ This is insane. It’s really cool.”

Outside hitter Kyndal Stowers paced the Aggies with 16 kills, followed by Logan Lednicky’s 14. Pitt’s Olivia Babcock was the match’s leading attacker with 22 kills.

A&M dominated the service line through the match, which included six service aces.

The Aggies went hit-for-hit with Pitt through an opening set that saw 17 ties and eight lead changes. Pitt weathered four Aggie set points, and had two of their own, before A&M finally put Set 1 away with a kill from Stowers.

Pitt put together an 8-0 run through the middle of the second set to take a 15-11 lead, but the Aggies immediately countered with their own 9-2 run to pull the match back in their favor. A 4-0 run ultimately put the set on ice, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

A&M has built upon the experiences of the season and this set is was no different. In the Aggies’ Elite Eight win over Nebraska, the Cornhuskers put together an 8-1 run through the middle of the marathon fourth set that the Aggies ultimately dropped. Thursday, they cut off the skid before it cost them a set.

“We were like, ‘Hey, we’re not doing that again,’” Stowers said. “’They’re going on a run right now. We’re going to recognize that, props to them for what they’re doing, but we are going to go respond and we’re not going to let that keep happening.”

A&M closed out the third set on a 5-1 run to claim the match.

The Aggies hit .382 to Pitt’s .344 in the match.

“I’m proud of our team just because we talk a lot about staying present and enjoying moments and I thought, in all of those moments, we enjoyed every single second of it,” Morrison said. “Every single time we were pushed, we talked a lot about responses, and we had a response and that’s all you can ask for in these moments.”

The Aggies will be out for revenge Sunday, as Kentucky is the only squad that downed the Aggies in SEC play this season in a 3-1 Wildcat win in Reed Arena. It will be the first time in the history of the tournament two SEC teams will face each other in the championship game.

“Y’all keep hearing, ‘Why not us?’” Lednicky said. “Like, literally, ‘Why not us?’ I think we are considered the underdog in a lot of moments, just because we haven’t been here before. But we know we have all the right pieces so, ‘Why not us?’”

KBTX reporter Dylan Chryst Watkiss contributed to this report from Kansas City, Mo.

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Sports

Two Rams Named to the CSC Academic All-District Team

Published

1 hour ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

The CSC Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes listed at the links above.

Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot.

For WSSU, Aria Caldwell and Zoe Chesson were named to the team.

Student-athletes selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists are denoted with an asterisk and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced Jan. 13, 2026.

The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA governance structure.

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Sports

Olivia Babcock Named Back-To-Back AVCA National Player of the Year

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

KANSAS CITY – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Olivia Babcock the 2025 AVCA National Player of the Year on Friday. Babcock becomes just the fifth player in the award’s history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons. Additionally, she was honored as the inaugural AVCA Rightside Hitter of the Year, an award introduced this season.

Babcock once again swept the sport’s top individual accolades in 2025, earning AVCA National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year and AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year honors. She is the only player in Pitt history to be named a three-time AVCA First Team All-American and was recently selected as the Pittsburgh Regional Most Outstanding Player after leading the Panthers to their fifth consecutive National Semifinal.

Earlier this season, Babcock set the program’s single-match kills record with 45 against North Carolina. She is the only player in NCAA volleyball this year to reach that mark and the first since Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson recorded 50 kills against UConn on Nov. 3, 2019.

Anchoring the Pitt offense, Babcock averaged personal-best marks of 5.17 kills per set and 2.09 digs per set. She earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors earlier this season and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week five times during the 2025 campaign.

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Sports

Men’s Volleyball Individual Match Tickets On Sale

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HONOLULU – Individual match tickets for the 2026 University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball season are currently on sale. Tickets may be purchased at www.etickethawaii.com or at the Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center box office (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.).

Season tickets are still on sale starting as low as $150. Click here to purchase season tickets.

In addition, several promotions are also available for individual match tickets.

Save & Serve Wednesdays: $5 Tickets available while supplies last
Military: 30% off all matches & 50% off on April 17^th match
Hawai’i Hero’s Night: 50% off for First Responders on January 8^th match
*All special offers are based on availability and only in select seating areas.

Link to purchase individual games online: https://hawaiiathletics.evenue.net/events/MVBI

Individual Ticket Prices:
Lower Level (only single seats available)
Lower Level Sideline – $25
Lower Level Baseline
Adult – $24
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $20
Youth (ages 4-High School) – $15

Upper Level Sideline
Adult – $20
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $15
Youth (ages 4-High School) – $10
Upper Level Baseline
Adult – $17
Senior citizen (65 and over) – $10
Youth (ages 4–High School) – $8

#HawaiiMVB

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Sports

Kalei Edson, Kamille Gibson Join Houston Volleyball

Published

2 hours ago

December 19, 2025

Your Sports Nation

HOUSTON – Junior setter Kalei Edson and junior outside hitter Kamille Gibson have signed to join Houston Volleyball for the 2026 season, Head Coach David Rehr announced Thursday.

“We are really excited to add two players that have played at a high level for two seasons,” Rehr said. “Kalei will compete as our setter while Kamille will make an impact on either pin. This is just the beginning for the 2026 volleyball team.”

KALEI EDSON | SETTER | JUNIOR | AUBURN
Edson arrives in Houston following two seasons with the Auburn Tigers. She played in all of the team’s 28 matches in 2025, contributing the second most assists on the team with 482, an average of 4.72 per set. Edson also added 177 digs, 19 aces and five double-doubles throughout the season. In 2024, she earned the SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Oct. 14 and excelled at the service line, leading her team with 30 aces at a rate of 0.32 aces per set.

Overall, Edson has 956 assists in 54 career matches, also recording 49 aces and 331 digs.

Edson collected numerous prep and club accolades, including USA Volleyball Junior National All-America and 2023 USAV GJNC All-Tournament Team honors. She was also a 3A All-State and All-South Region honoree and a PrepVolleyball First Team All-State selection. Ranked as the #9 overall prospect in Illinois, Edson was the #3 setter in the country. Across her prep career, she posted over 700 assists along with 800 kills, 100 aces and 100 blocks.

KAMILLE GIBSON | OUTSIDE HITTER | JUNIOR | OKLAHOMA
Gibson, a two-year contributor at Oklahoma after a season at Tennessee, brings a significant offensive mind to Houston while also being a prolific presence on defense. Across two seasons, she tallied 421 kills along with 97 blocks for 500.5 points. Primarily a right-side, Gibson averaged 2.29 kills per set while at Oklahoma.

Last season, Gibson posted 194 kills for a .387 kill percentage while adding 60 blocks. She played in 26 of the Sooner’s 27 matches and started in 16, missing just eight sets across the entire season.

A Crossroads, Texas, native, she prepped at Braswell High School while playing club for TAV. She finished her high school career with 1,161 kills, 500 digs and 137 blocks and was named to the District 5-6A first team in 2021 and to the second team in 2020.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Volleyball by providing NIL opportunities or by joining the Point Houston Club which provides financial support directly to Houston Volleyball for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarVB on X, formerly known as Twitter, and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team’s Facebook page at UHCougarVB. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at @UHCougarVB.

– UHCougars.com –

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