Sports
A crucial timeout helped St. Ignatius boys volleyball rally for OHSAA state title
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Trailing 7-0 in the fifth and final set of Saturday’s OHSAA boys volleyball Division I state title game, St. Ignatius head coach Dominic Adornato called a timeout to huddle his team together. Haunted by this very game one year before, in which his Wildcats fell in the championship game, Adornato wanted to […]
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Trailing 7-0 in the fifth and final set of Saturday’s OHSAA boys volleyball Division I state title game, St. Ignatius head coach Dominic Adornato called a timeout to huddle his team together.
Haunted by this very game one year before, in which his Wildcats fell in the championship game, Adornato wanted to look each player in the face to remind them that everything they had worked so hard for this season was still within reach.
As cheers started to pump inside the Pam Evans Smith Arena on the campus of Wittenberg University, from the Thomas Worthington fans across the court who could almost reach out and touch the state championship trophy, Adornato knew he had to address each of his players to raise their spirits back up.
Things were turning bleak for the Wildcats in a roller coaster of a title match. Everything that was working early in the game that gave the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage was suddenly different.
“I could sense the game slipping away a little bit, so I called a timeout to remind the guys about our mission and our goal,” Adornato said. “I calmed them down and said just to do what we talked about, what won the first two sets. It’s not over, because as far as I’m concerned, there’s still plenty of volleyball left to play.
“I pointed to each guy and I told them exactly what they needed to do. I made them look me in the eye because I felt I had to give them that confidence that they were slowly losing. To their credit, just like throughout the year, we believed in each other, we did it as a group. So that was my contribution.”
What happened next even Adornato couldn’t have seen coming.
The Wildcats ripped off an 8-0 run to flip the script back in their favor, now leading the first-to-15 set, 8-7.
“I would be lying to you if I said to you yes, (I saw that 8-0 coming),” Adornato said. “However, I knew we were going to come back and win. I didn’t expect eight straight points, but that definitely was the turning point of not only believing with that confidence, but showing it on the court, and I think that really rattled Thomas Worthington.”
Even with the lead, the match was far from over. The Wildcats needed to call on their first-team All-Ohio outside hitter Jack Ragon, who rose to the occasion with his team playing elevated around him.
Ragon played one of the best individual games ever in the OHSAA state tournament. His 24 kills were the high-water mark for the match, but it was his serving that disrupted his opponent so much with the game on the line.
Four of Ragon’s five aces came during the 8-0 run to force the Cardinals into timeouts to collect themselves.
“I give all the credit to Jack for getting all those hard serves in; he forced Thomas Worthington to take both of their timeouts on his serve alone, which really riled us up,” Adornato said. “To not lay off on his serve was huge. It’s always great to have a player like Jack. It’s very special and doesn’t happen every year. However, when it does, and with Jack’s character and the way he presents himself, that’s just the little extra.”
Ragon set the Wildcats up for victory by earning the go-ahead kill to push the score to 15-14. A return error by the Cardinals that sailed out of bounds was the final point the Wildcats needed to be crowned champions.
Relief and pure elation fell over the faces of the Wildcats players as they swarmed one another on their side to celebrate the marathon finish to their championship season.
On Friday, the Wildcats won their semifinal in five sets over St. Xavier, the top-ranked team in Ohio, according to MaxPreps. Saturday, the Wildcats were treated to five more sets to prove themselves worthy of the program’s first title in boys volleyball.
If anything, the five-set win over St. Xavier on Friday gave the Wildcats all the confidence they needed in a do-or-die fifth set on Saturday. Already notching the win over the Bombers, who defeated the Wildcats in the state title game last season, provided growth.
“Beating the presumed No. 1 team in the state, you just have that confidence, and it was our redemption tour,” Adornato said. “We needed to get that monkey off our back with Xavier, and I think that instilled in our guys’ confidence that we can win against a team like that.
“Then, going into the situation we kind of created ourselves with Worthington, where it went five sets, the boys had no fear. So, playing 10 sets in less than 24 hours and winning like that, I think if you ask anybody at the OHSAA, those are two of the top five matches they’ve ever seen in the past 5-10 years.
“The most memorable and most awesome part of this is that we had our goal and we were able to reach the goal. Before the match today, I told the guys, and I did this yesterday too, I want us to have pride in our job, have pride in our craft, and if we all do this together, then we’ll ride this ship to the finish line.”
Sports
David Sexton – Assistant Coach, Cross Country/Track & Field – Men’s Cross Country Coaches
Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Famer David Sexton joined the Bellarmine University cross country and track & field staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2024-25 season. Before embarking upon an illustrious career in law, Sexton was a 1979 graduate of Bellarmine and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982. A […]

Bellarmine Athletics Hall of Famer David Sexton joined the Bellarmine University cross country and track & field staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2024-25 season.
Before embarking upon an illustrious career in law, Sexton was a 1979 graduate of Bellarmine and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982. A program luminary in distance running, he was the Knights’ top men’s cross country runner and named Most Valuable Runner all four of his years at Bellarmine.
Sexton’s name remains prominent in the cross country record book. Upon his return to Bellarmine, he ranked eighth on both the 8k and 10k performance lists, held the 17th-best 8k time (24:46) in program history, which had stood as the top mark until 2015, and the 14th-best 10k time (31:51.3), which he delivered at the 1977 NCAA II Championships.
Sexton was recognized as an Academic All-American in 1978. He was honored with Bellarmine’s John T. Loftus Award in both 1978 and 1979 and the Fred J. Karem Scholastic Achievement Award in 1979.
Sexton obtained his J.D. Degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1982. He served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and, during his time there, served as the Director of the Criminal Appeals Division and the Director of the Prosecutors Advisory Council.
Additionally in his time in the attorney general’s office, Sexton served as a Supreme Court Fellow with the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington, DC. He left the attorney general’s office in 2003 to serve as an Assistant Jefferson County Attorney in the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office. In the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, he is the Director of the Appellate Division.
Sexton was recognized by the Jefferson County Attorney with a Special Recognition Award for his advocacy in the Kentucky Supreme Court. During the course of his career in government service, he’s argued numerous cases in the Kentucky Court of Appeals, the Kentucky Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Sexton’s wife, Mary Pat, is a 1982 Bellarmine graduate and the couple has two sons.
Sports
Hawai’i Places 79 Spring Student-Athletes On Academic All-Big West List
Story Links HONOLULU – A total of 79 University of Hawai’i student-athletes earned Academic All-Big West honors for the spring sports during the 2024 season. The sports included are baseball, beach volleyball, men’s golf, women’s golf, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s track and field, men’s volleyball, and women’s water polo. The […]

HONOLULU – A total of 79 University of Hawai’i student-athletes earned Academic All-Big West honors for the spring sports during the 2024 season. The sports included are baseball, beach volleyball, men’s golf, women’s golf, softball, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s track and field, men’s volleyball, and women’s water polo.
The track and field team had the most honorees with 14 followed by softball (13), baseball (10) and water polo (10).
To be eligible for the All-Academic team, student athletes must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average, complete one full year at the member institution prior to the season and compete in at least 50 percent of their team’s contests (baseball pitchers are exempt of participation standards, track and field must either compete in 50 percent or conference championship).
The following is a list of the spring honorees from UH teams:
Kyle Dobyns – Sociology
Jordan Donahue – Human Development & Family Studies
Hunter Faildo – Finance
Elijah Ickes – Exploratory
Matthew Miura – Sociology
Cory Ronan – Interdisciplinary Studies
Itsuki Takemoto – Exploratory
Zacary Tenn – Economics
Dylan Waite – Economics
Ben Zeigler-Namoa – Economics
Sydney Amiatu – Political Science
Sarah Burton – Pre-Psychology
Sophie Buschmann – Health & Exercise Science
Alana Embry – Psychology
Julia Lawrenz – Journalism
Caprice Lorenzo – Finance
Jesse Mann – Mechanical Engineering
Sydney Miller – Fashion Design & Merchandising
Kristen Serrano – Management
Anson Cabello – Exploratory Business
Josh Hayashida – Finance
Tyler Ogawa – Finance
Garrett Takeuchi – Finance
Dane Watanabe – Health & Exercise Science
James Whitworth – Finance
Varnika S. Achanta – Exploratory Business
Maline Kraus – Sociology
Wendy Song – Marketing
Emiko Sverduk – Pre-Psychology
Kellie Yamane – Accounting
Carys Murakami – Pre-Psychology
Jamie McGaughey – Exploratory
Amelia “Millie” Fidge – Health & Exercise Science
Maycen Gibbs – Health & Exercise Science
Larissa Goshi – Health & Exercise Science
Milan Ah Yat – Sociology
Ellyanna Cinzori – Marketing
Maya Ichimura – Chemistry
Cierra Yamamoto – Psychology
Liliana Thomas – Psychology
Izabella Martinez – History
Addison Kostrencich – Communication
Chloe Borges – Management
Diego Dalisay – Communication
Andy Hernandez – Electrical Engineering
Quinn Snyder – Economics
Sohta Urano – Finance
Hannah Galindo – Pre-Engineering
Nikola Homolkova – Educational Psychology
Joelle Lanz – Political Science & Comms.
Sheena Masuda – Senior Economics
Ana Vilcek – Psychology/Human Development & Family Studies
Grace Blanchette – Kinesiology & Rehab Science
Allison Bliss – Food Science & Human Nutrition
Ruby Brook – Biochemistry
Rose Forshaw – Earth Sciences
Greta Fraraccio – Finance
Helen Hoadley – Mechanical Engineering
Emilie Kirk Langschwager – Microbiology
Isabella Kneeshaw – Communication
Zola O’Donnell – Mathematics
Valo Sopoaga – Exploratory Health Sciences
Catherine Touchette – Junior Finance
Lilian Turban – Communication
Samaria Vital – Political Science
Tara Wyllie – Psychology
‘Eleu Choy – Civil Engineering
Kurt Nusterer – Finance
Kai Taylor – Sociology
Alia Burlock – Biology
Bernadette Doyle – Marketing Management
Tara Logan – Health & Exercise Science
Daisy Logtens – Health & Exercise Science
Raha Peiravani – Finance
Roni Perlman – Interdisciplinary Studies
Camille Radosavljevic – Finance
Esmee Roijen – Sociology & Political Science
Emilia Schorr – Biological Engineering
Jordan Wedderburn – Health & Exercise Science
#HawaiiAthletics
Sports
Founding CSUB track and field coach Charlie Craig is CSUB’s third inaugural Hall of Fame inductee
Charles “Charlie” Craig, who came to Cal State Bakersfield in 1971 and built the track and field program from scratch, developing a wealth of talented student-athletes in 31 seasons, was revealed on Wednesday night as the third member of the inaugural class of CSUB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025. A former standout sprinter and […]

Charles “Charlie” Craig, who came to Cal State Bakersfield in 1971 and built the track and field program from scratch, developing a wealth of talented student-athletes in 31 seasons, was revealed on Wednesday night as the third member of the inaugural class of CSUB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025.
A former standout sprinter and jumper at Fresno State who competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Trials finals in the triple jump, Craig’s coaching career started soon after as an assistant at Cal Berkeley.
Advertisement
Upon his arrival at CSUB, he was first hired as the university’s educational opportunity program director. In 1972, Craig started CSUB’s track program from the ground up — 10 athletes were on his initial team. He went on to coach 195 NCAA Division II All-Americans, 18 NCAA Division II national champions and two Olympic qualifiers.
In 2002, Craig was named NCAA Division II Track and Field Coach of the Year. He retired in 2004.
Craig’s success was recognized as his coaching skills paved the way for working with U.S. National Track and Field program. He was the USA Track and Field assistant coach for the 1991 world championships and at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Acknowledging his contributions to the sport, Craig was elected to the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.
Locally, Craig is a 1991 Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.
Advertisement
Craig joins two previously announced inaugural hall of fame inductees, three-time NCAA Division II female swimmer of the year Loni (Burton) Vander Kooi (2003-05), and CSUB’s founding athletics director Rudy Carvajal, who served in his role for 38 years (1972-2010).
Each night this week, through Friday, CSUB’s newest inductees are being unveiled first on the 6 p.m. KBAK and 10 p.m. KBFX newscasts by Sports Director Greg Kerr.
A formal induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25 in CSUB’s Icardo Center for the entire five-member class. Tickets are available online. For more information, contact CSUB Associate Athletics Director for Development Sarah Tuohy at stuohy@csub.edu
Sports
Illinois volleyball releases 2025 non-conference schedule
Hard to believe fall sports start next month. And on Wednesday, Illinois volleyball dropped its 2025 non-conference schedule. It features nine matches, including two at Huff Hall. It starts August. 29 against South Dakota State at Northern Iowa. Then there’s three road matches against Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and 2024 NCAA runner-up Louisville. Sept. 12-14 features […]

Hard to believe fall sports start next month.
And on Wednesday, Illinois volleyball dropped its 2025 non-conference schedule.
It features nine matches, including two at Huff Hall.
It starts August. 29 against South Dakota State at Northern Iowa.
Then there’s three road matches against Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and 2024 NCAA runner-up Louisville.
Sept. 12-14 features three matches in Normal against Cincinnati, Miami and Illinois State.
Illinois then gets to return home to face Iowa State and Eastern Illinois. The grueling Big Ten schedule will then commence.
It’s Chris Tamas’ ninth season in Champaign. Crazy. Feels like Hambly was just here. Illinois is coming off a first round exit in the NCAA Tournament.
Sports
Nevada AD Stephanie Rempe on new era of revenue sharing, future of Wolf Pack athletics
Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe will enter her fourth season leading Wolf Pack athletics this fall. Rempe recently sat down with Nevada Sports Net to talk about a variety of topics for our annual Wolf Pack Year In Review show. Among the topics were a recap of the 2024-25 athletic season, looking ahead to future […]

Nevada athletic director Stephanie Rempe will enter her fourth season leading Wolf Pack athletics this fall. Rempe recently sat down with Nevada Sports Net to talk about a variety of topics for our annual Wolf Pack Year In Review show. Among the topics were a recap of the 2024-25 athletic season, looking ahead to future facility projects, how revenue sharing will impact Nevada, staying competitive within the Mountain West, the future of college athletics and the upcoming Governor’s Dinner with Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault as this the keynote speaker. You can watch the full interview below.
Stephanie Rempe interview
0:24: Thoughts on 2024-25 athletic season
0:38: How facility improvements impact future of Nevada athletics
2:57: Indoor Fieldhouse project
4:52: House vs. NCAA settlement and revenue sharing
8:12: Future of college athletics
9:05: Staying competitive in the Mountain West
9:46: 56th annual Governor’s Dinner
12:40: 2025 football season tickets
13:38: First season of Jeff Choate era
14:14: Facility projects on horizon in 2025-26
15:55: Nevada’s future in the new-look MW
Sports
Nebraska volleyball sets line up for Big Ten Media Days
The Nebraska Cornhuskers have announced the scheduled attendees for the upcoming Big Ten Volleyball Media Days. Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly will be joined by senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick and junior outside hitter Harper Murray. Nebraska finished the 2024 season with a trip to the NCAA semi-finals and a share of the Big Ten […]

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have announced the scheduled attendees for the upcoming Big Ten Volleyball Media Days. Head coach Dani Busboom Kelly will be joined by senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick and junior outside hitter Harper Murray.
Nebraska finished the 2024 season with a trip to the NCAA semi-finals and a share of the Big Ten Championship. The season ended with a 33-3 record and a 19-1 conference mark.
Advertisement
The Huskers will open the 2025 volleyball season on Friday, Aug. 22, when Nebraska hosts Pittsburgh at the Pinnacle Bank Arena as part of the AVCA First Serve.
Big Ten Media Days will take place on July 28 and 29 in Chicago, IL.
Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Nebraska volleyball sets line up for Big Ten Media Days
-
College Sports3 weeks ago
IU basketball recruiting
-
Social Media3 weeks ago
Pune Athletes Make Global Mark at IRONMAN Hamburg and Brazil 2025
-
Health3 weeks ago
Gymnast MyKayla Skinner Claims Simone Biles 'Belittled and Ostracized' Her amid Riley …
-
Motorsports3 weeks ago
NASCAR Race Today: Mexico City start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV
-
Motorsports3 weeks ago
NASCAR in Mexico City: Where to watch, start time, stream, lineup, race preview for inaugural Viva Mexico 250
-
College Sports7 days ago
WAC to Rebrand to UAC, Add Five New Members in 2026
-
College Sports3 weeks ago
Livvy Dunne honors boyfriend Paul Skenes with twist on LSU jersey
-
High School Sports3 weeks ago
New Bedford top stories
-
Health3 weeks ago
Chicago Sky receive unfortunate reaction to 'mental health' statement with Angel Reese
-
Health3 weeks ago
Kyrie Irving's Strong Message Amid Men's Mental Health Awareness Month