Beach Volleyball legends and current political leaders packed the Charley Saikley Six Man Golden Masters team sponsored by AVL (women’s American Volleyball League) Manhattan Beach Coastas, Digsters and Ion. (Kneeling) Beach Volleyball Hall of Famers Singin Smith and Randy Stoklos, and (back row) El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel, Chris Holden, former Ram Brett Faryniarz, Hermosa Councilmember Dean Francois, “Voice of the Rams, and “emcee of the party that was the AVP” Sam “Rams’ House” Lagana, Kevin Sutton, Steve Ascheer, former AVP player Bruk Vandeweghe, Ion founder Dave Behar, Redondo Councilmember Brad Waller, Manhattan Councilmember and Joe Franklin. Not pictured: Beach Volleyball Hall of Famer Dane Selznick
by Paul Teetor
Luka Doncic will be a Laker for at least the next four seasons. And the Lakers will be Luka’s team for at least the next four years.
Consider his signing of a three-year contract extension for $165 million Saturday morning – the first day he could have signed it, under league rules – the first of many major accomplishments by the Lakers’ new owners. There had been plenty of people around the NBA who thought that Luka wanted to be an unrestricted free agent next summer so he could leave the Lakers, but that turned out to be unfounded speculation.
Now the Lakers are definitely Luka’s team, and he – and his wants and needs – are management’s highest priority. LeBron James will just have to accept the second-banana role – for the first time ever in his 22-year NBA career — or look for a face-saving way out of town.
A lot of dramatic things happened on the LA sports scene while All Ball was away at Pickleball camp this summer. The Dodgers showed their bi-polar nature – a 9-1 run in late June/early July followed by a 7-game losing streak in mid-July. But up or down on the field, they have remained in first place in the NL West for the entire season – so far.
And Shohei Ohtani kept belting homers – 38 at last count – to stay on track for matching or even surpassing last season’s total of 54 homers. And of course, he made his first pitching appearances in a year and a half. None of them went longer than a few innings, but still it was a promising start towards what the Dodgers will need from him come the playoffs in October.
The Clippers traded away Norman Powell – arguably their most valuable player last season – in return for former All-Star Bradley Beal and an under-achieving, over-rated power forward named John Collins.
All of these developments, however, are small potatoes compared to the Godzilla move of the summer: the $6 billion sale of the Lakers by Jerry Buss’ heirs to a group headed by Mark Walter, who is now the controlling owner of both the Dodgers and the Lakers.
Oh sure, the new owners told Jeanne Buss she could continue to call herself the President of the Lakers. And she will probably come into the El Segundo offices every day to answer the phones and polish the 17 championship trophies that are her father’s legacy.
But after more than a dozen years of front office ineptitude and incompetence, broken only by the Covid championship of 2020 that will always be tainted by the pandemic and all the craziness that went with it, the Lakers will now – hopefully — take on the same professionalism and far-sighted management style that has characterized the Dodgers for the last dozen years.
That new Lakers era started Saturday morning when the news broke that the franchise and Luka had come to an agreement on a contract extension on the first day Doncic was eligible to extend his deal after being traded to the Lakers on Feb. 1.
Luka’s extension is for three years and $165 million, with a player option for 2028-29. For the math challenged – like All Ball – that works out to an average of $55 million per year.
Not bad.
Under the terms of the new contract, the 26-year-old Slovenian superstar – he made the All-NBA first team five straight seasons — has a $45.9 million salary for the 2025-26 season. His $48.9 million player option for 2026-27 will be replaced with a $51 million salary, followed by $55.1 million in 2027-28 and $59.2 million in his player-option year.
The Lakers acquired Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in a stunning trade that sent 10-time all Star Anthony Davis to the Mavericks.
After being sidelined for his first week with the Lakers because of a strained left calf he suffered Dec. 25 while playing for the Mavericks, Doncic made his debut for the Lakers in a Feb. 10 home win over the Utah Jazz. He averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 28 regular-season games with the Lakers before the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a quick five games.
Doncic’s contract extension with the Lakers solidifies him as the face of the franchise. Already every move they made this summer has been designed to play to Doncic’s offensive strengths – elite shot-making and the best passing in LA since Magic Johnson was hooping it up – while masking his many weaknesses on defense.
They have made offseason roster upgrades with the additions of former number one overall pick center Deandre Ayton, a perfect fit for Luka’s lobs and a rim protector to boot; and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who will cover up a lot of Luka’s defensive mistakes.
Doncic has been heavily involved in the Lakers’ roster moves, helping recruit Ayton and Smart to the franchise after offseason buyouts with their previous teams. Smart said he was personally recruited by Luka to play for the Lakers, which was a good indicator that Luka was staying in LA. Why else would he work so hard to get Smart to come here?
In fact, everything Luka has said about his brief Lakers experience suggests that he plans to be with the franchise for the long haul. But at the very least the Lakers will have him until his age 30 season.
When asked during an interview that was recorded during the season and released in July what he hopes to be known for in Los Angeles, Doncic responded: “The guy who brought championships to the city, for sure.”
And the Lakers are expecting Doncic, who has been showing off an improved physique this summer, to be around for a while. The word from across the pond is that Luka has spent the summer getting into the best shape of his life, dropping from 260 pounds to 230 pounds – meaning he lost more than 10 % of his body weight. He was responding to Coach JJ Redick’s post-season comment that the first thing the Lakers needed to do for next season was to get in better shape. And since Luka was the only Laker who looked out of shape, he didn’t need to single Luka out. The media did it for him.
Three months later voila: there on the cover of the newest Men’s Health magazine is a slimmed-down Luka looking jacked, ripped and ready to roar at all the critics who said the Mavericks traded him because he is a fat, lazy drunk who cares more about partying than winning championships.
It won’t be long now before we can see the new Luka in action. The Lakers first pre-season game is less than eight weeks away – October 3 against the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers may not win the NBA title this year, but it’s shaping up as a must-see season. With Jeanne Buss out of the way and LeBron out of town, the Lake Show is back.
If it were up to head coach Charlie Wade, the University of Hawai‘i men’s volleyball team would never start its season this early.
The Rainbow Warriors, who began their preseason practices on Sunday, will officially begin their 2026 campaign on Friday against the New Jersey Institute of Technology. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center. Although the ‘Bows have routinely started their seasons on the first Friday of the year, that doesn’t mean Wade has to like it.
“I’ve advocated that the first match can’t be before (Martin Luther King Jr. Day),” Wade said on Monday. “Let them actually have a holiday and then come back and practice for a couple of weeks. But how it goes, everybody kind of ramps it up, practices for a few days and then starts playing.”
One of the few positives Wade sees in the compressed preseason schedule is the fact that the Rainbow Warriors are not in class yet, which allows them the time to focus on an intense schedule featuring two practices a day leading up to the opener.
Trips to the practice gym have been frequent in recent days. Inside of it is a collection of world-class athletes, a roster featuring players from seven different countries and four separate states. Although there’s only one senior among the 19 players, the Rainbow Warriors are a team with clear national championship expectations in 2026.
The Rainbow Warriors have played in four national championship matches under Wade, winning it all in 2021 and 2022. The ‘Bows went 27-6 in 2025 and were swept by UCLA in the national semifinals. In 2026, UH returns five of its seven starters in that semifinal match, not counting star opposite hitter Kristian Titriyski, who missed the last eight matches due to an ankle injury.
Despite its losses in personnel, the Rainbow Warriors have reloaded. After losing beloved assistant coach Milan Zarkovic to UCLA, Wade got Maui native and former Ball State head coach Donan Cruz to join the staff. Meanwhile, the void left by former starting libero ‘Eleu Choy will likely be filled by Canadian national teamer Quintin Greenidge, a newcomer in Mānoa who will have two years of college eligibility remaining.
When Grand Canyon University decided to immediately scrap its nationally ranked men’s volleyball program following the 2025 season to focus on other sports, the Rainbow Warriors were able to benefit by signing freshman All-American Trevell Jordan and former GCU commit Thatcher Fahlbusch. Jordan is competing for one of the two starting spots at middle blocker, along with Ofeck Hazan, Justin Todd, Alex Parks and 7-foot freshman Roman Payne.
“None of us saw it coming,” Jordan said of Grand Canyon punting on men’s volleyball. “The team and squad (at UH) has been really inviting. They’ve been working with me to get me more accommodated to here, as it’s a big move from where I originally was from.”
Jordan immediately became one of the most coveted players in the NCAA transfer portal upon entering. He was already familiar with a handful of players on the UH roster after playing with them on multiple United States national teams.
“He had offers to go to every top program in the country, and ironically, they were pushing him to make a fast decision, and they pushed him towards us,” Wade recalled. “I was the one saying, ‘Hey, I’m in for the long haul. I want you here. Take your time to figure it out.'”
Running the show for the Rainbow Warriors is Tread Rosenthal, the team’s 6-foot-11 setter who established himself as the team’s unquestioned leader as a sophomore in 2025.
“I think last year we showed that we had the potential to be the best team on any given night, but I think this year we need to be the best team every night no matter what,” Rosenthal said. “I think that just comes with working with together to get it more consistent.”
Added Wade: “It’s year three (for Rosenthal). It’s the payoff year, right? By the third year, you can see there’s just kind of a calm confidence to him that he’s kind of been there, done that. He clearly is the leader of the team. These are his guys. A lot of them are here because of him. Looking for even bigger and better things from him this year for sure.”
Hawai‘i will start off the year as the No. 2 team in the country following the release of the preseason AVCA poll, which had UCLA in the top spot. External expectations are high for the Rainbow Warriors, but internal expectations are higher.
“My freshman year, we didn’t go to the championship. My sophomore year, we lost in the the semis,” junior outside hitter Louis Sakanoko said. “We have to get the championship now. I feel like the whole team knows we could win the championship. We have the team for it, but now we need to be consistent enough to beat every single team every night. And we’re just really, really excited to prove that to everyone.
“We all want to win a national championship. That’s the goal. We won the Big West last year, that was wonderful for sure, but we want that big one.”
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
Setter: Madison Markwardt, Round Top-Carmine, soph.
Libero/Defensive Specialist: Ana Servin, Sulphur Bluff, sr.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Professional Volleyball League team Choco Mucho Flying Titans announced four addition to their team, Eya Laure, Jaila Atienza, Alina Bicar, and Caitlin Viray, for 2026 on Wednesday.
“The Choco Mucho Flying Titans welcome 4 new players to the team! They bring the grit, speed, and fire that will make every match unforgettable,” they wrote in their post.
This came after Royse Tubino, Bia General, Cherry Nunag, and Aduke Agunsanya ended their stint with the team. (Instagram/Choco Mucho Flying Titans)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – – Belmont University student-athletes recorded another remarkable semester in the classroom as 2025 fall semester grades were finalized last week.
For the 2025 fall semester, the departmental grade-point average (GPA) was 3.530, which marked the 56th consecutive semester that Belmont student-athletes have earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher. In addition, it was the 12th straight semester that the department GPA was over a 3.5.
“Our student-athletes continue to do an amazing job in the classroom,” said Scott Corley, Belmont’s Vice President/Director of Athletics. “That success is a credit to our student-athletes, coaches, and academic support staff who continue to maintain our department’s commitment to academic excellence.”
Highlights from the fall semester included:
64 percent of student-athletes achieved a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher
85 percent of student-athletes achieved a semester GPA of 3.0 of higher
15 percent of student-athletes earned a perfect 4.00 GPA
9 Bruin teams posted a team GPA of 3.5 or higher for the semester.
About Belmont University
Located two miles from downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University comprises nearly 9,000 students from every state and 33 countries. Nationally ranked and consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report for innovation in higher education, the University offers more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and eight doctoral degrees. With a focus on whole-person formation and data-informed social innovation, Belmont is committed to forming diverse leaders of character equipped to solve the world’s complex problems. For more information, visit www.belmont.edu.
After winning the women’s Volleyball Nations League and the FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship earlier in the year, Italy crowned a great season with the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship title. Turkiye reached a World Championship final for the first time in history and settled for silver, while Brazil completed the podium with bronze. The year’s top event was held in Thailand from August 22 to September 7.
The first World Championship under the new biennial cycle and with an expanded 32-team format marked a breakthrough moment for the sport, with unprecedented audiences across volleyball’s major markets. Volleyball World’s OTT platform, VBTV, added further momentum with more than 7 million views across the championship. The Italy v Brazil semifinal attracted 350 thousand viewers, while the final drew 250 thousand, underscoring the global appetite for premium volleyball coverage beyond traditional broadcast. Social media popularity of the competition was expressed in 7.8 thousand posts and 145 million impressions, as well as 48 million YouTube views.
The 32 participating teams were drawn into eight round-robin pools of four for the first phase of the competition. Reigning Paris 2024 Olympic champions Italy cruised through Pool B undefeated, dropping a set only in their match against Belgium. They went on to sweep their eighthfinal against Germany and their quarterfinal against Poland in straight sets. In a hard-fought semifinal against Brazil, the Italians came back from a set down twice before emerging with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 28-30, 25-22, 15-13) victory. The gold medal showdown in Bangkok was also pushed to five sets. This time Turkiye came back from a set down twice to get closer than ever to the world title, but the trophy went to Italy after they prevailed in the tie-breaker, 3-2 (25-23, 13-25, 26-24, 19-25, 15-8). It was the second world crown for Italy, after their 2002 triumph. They also won silver in 2018 and bronze in 2022.
“I still can’t believe it,” Italian super-star opposite Paola Egonu said after the gold medal match. “I’m really proud of the team and incredibly happy. This is a moment I’ll never forget. It’s probably the last time for some of our players, too, and my heart is full now.”
Turkiye also reached the final undefeated. They did not lose a single set in Pool E, shut out Slovenia in the eighthfinals and beat USA in four sets in the quarterfinals. Another four-set victory, a 3-1 (16-25, 25-17, 25-18, 27-25) comeback in the semifinal against Japan, propelled Turkiye to their first ever World Championship final and secured them their first ever World Championship medal.
2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship silver medalists Turkiye
Brazil also won Pool C unbeaten, but only after coming back from two sets down to reverse-sweep their match against France. After a four-set eighthfinal victory over the Dominican Republic and a tight straight-set quarterfinal against France, they lost narrowly to Italy in the semis, but bounced back in the third-place playoff against Japan. A nail-biting 3-2 (25-12, 25-17, 19-25, 27-29, 18-16) win added the sixth medal to their World Championship collection. Brazil now have four silvers and two bronzes.
2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship bronze medalists Brazil
Japan, USA, the Netherlands, Poland, France, China, Serbia, Belgium, Germany, Thailand, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Slovenia, Ukraine, Spain, Sweden, Kenya, Greece, Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Czechia, Colombia, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico, Egypt, Slovakia, Vietnam and Cameroon, in that order, took the places from fourth to 32nd in the final standings.
Italy’s 27-year-old setter Alessia Orro was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the World Championship. She also headlined the Dream Team, which featured opposite Melissa Vargas (Turkiye), outside hitters Mayu Ishikawa (Japan) and Gabriela Guimaraes (Brazil), middle blockers Anna Danesi (Italy) and Eda Erdem (Turkiye), and libero Monica De Gennaro (Italy).
The 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Dream Team
Click here for the official FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship website.
