LEXINGTON, Ky. – Four Missouri State beach volleyball pairs have earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top Flight Award, the organization announced on Friday. MoState’s regular pairs at Flight Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 were honored with the award.
The Top Flight program, now in its seventh year, recognizes beach pairs who compete in at least 15 matches together at a specific flight and win at least 75% of their matches. This year, 88 pairs representing 45 schools—from all three NCAA divisions, NAIA, and Two-Year Colleges—have earned Top Flight status. To qualify for the award, the team’s head coach must be an active AVCA member.
Missouri State is one of three Division I teams to win four AVCA Top Flight Awards, along with Chattanooga and Loyola Marymount. Overall, MoState is one of six schools nationally to win four awards. Carson Newman (DII), Fresno City College (Two-Year) and Santa Monica College (Two-Year) also won the honor on four flights.
Becca Bach and Allyson Larkin earned the award at Flight No. 1. The two boasted a record of 17-9 in 2025, which included a nine-match winning streak to start the season. Bach and Larkin only lost two sets during that stretch. The duo ended the season with a straight-set sweep over UAB’s three-time Conference USA Pair of the Week, Olivia Stant and Jasmine Haas, who each made the All-CUSA First Team. Bach was named to the All-CUSA Second Team on Thursday to become the first Missouri State student-athlete to make a CUSA all-conference team. She finished her career with 53 wins, the second-most in program history. Larkin sits at 42 career wins after her first two seasons, good for seventh all-time in team history.
Missouri State’s all-time winningest duo of MacKenzie Steele and Amanda Cleary earned the Top Flight Award for the first time at Flight No. 2. The two ended with a 17-8 record, including a 1-0 result in the Conference USA Tournament with their win over UAB’s Isabel Day and Azmabeth Infante. Steele and Cleary started the season 10-0 while only dropping two sets during that stretch. The 37 wins Steele and Cleary have amassed over the last two seasons are the most in team history, surpassing the previous record of 35 set by Grace Cook and Chloe Tome. Steele became the fourth Missouri State player to reach 50 career individual wins with the victory against UAB in the conference tournament.
Rylie Cepicky and Manuela Niemeyer also earned their first career AVCA Top Flight Awards with a team-best 20-6 record and a Flight No. 4 record of 20-5. The two became the fifth Missouri State pair to reach 20 wins in a single season. Cepicky and Niemeyer also started the season on a 10-match winning streak and had a separate stretch of seven straight wins to start the season as winners of 17 out of 18 matches. Cepicky was named to the CUSA All-Freshman team on Thursday. Her 20 wins are the second most by a MoState freshman in team history. Niemeyer also won her 50th career match during the conference tournament, the third Bears player to reach that milestone.
Lastly, Missouri State earned a Top Flight Award at No. 5 for the second straight year. Olivia Rattler and Erin Eschleman received the honor with a 16-9 record together. The two started their time together on a six-match winning streak, then later won seven consecutive matches spanning from late March to mid-April. Rattler went 19-9 as an individual, including going 3-0 to start the season with Riley Drew at Flight No. 5. Rattler became the first Bears player to reach 50 career wins at the start of the season and finished her beach volleyball career with a program record 61 career victories. Eschleman is the first player in team history to win the AVCA Top Flight Award twice. She won it last season at Flight No. 3 alongside then-senior Olivia Muriel when the pair went 24-7.
Missouri State beach volleyball went 18-10 in 2025 to complete its eighth year as a program and second as a Conference USA affiliate. The Bears advanced to the second day of the CUSA Tournament in Louisiana for the second straight season.
The Tully girls volleyball team enters the rankings after defeating Christian Brothers Academy and Fabius-Pompey over the last week. (Anthony Caimano | Contributing photographer)(Anthony Caimano | Contributing photographer)
Syracuse, N.Y. — As we approach the midway point of the winter girls volleyball regular season, two new teams climbed into the latest syracuse.com rankings.
Tully enters the rankings after defeating Christian Brothers Academy and Fabius-Pompey since last week’s rankings and Cooperstown rounds out the top 10 after defeating Sauquoit Valley last week.
The top eight spots of the rankings remained unchanged. There is, however, an upcoming matchup between Little Falls and Canastota that could mix things up.
Syracuse.com’s girls winter volleyball rankings will run every Thursday through the end of sectionals.
Here’s how the teams land this week.
I’m the managing producer for high school sports coverage at syracuse.com. I’ve been covering Section III athletics for nearly a decade. I graduated from Utica University in 2017 and bring a unique perspective…
The college volleyball offseason has only just officially begun, but moves are already being made.
Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner kicked things off by signing an All-American honorable mention for next season’s group. UK announced the addition of Notre Dame outside hitter Morgan Gaerte through the transfer portal on Wednesday morning. A 6-foot-5 native of Indiana, Gaerte was named a 2025 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention and a First Team All-ACC performer. She’ll help ease the loss of Eva Hudson — the lone senior on Kentucky’s national runner-up team this past season — on the outside.
Gaerte, who will have two years of eligibility remaining with the Wildcats, set a Notre Dame record last season with 4.64 kills per set (13th nationally). She’ll be expected to play on the opposite side of All-American outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye for the ‘Cats in 2026. Skinner is already reloading.
Gaerte was a rare star for Notre Dame volleyball. A team captain, she started all 28 matches in 2025 as a sophomore for the Fighting Irish, finishing the year with 497 kills, the third-most ever in a season in Notre Dame history and the most since Christy Peters in 1997. Her First Team All-ACC nod was the first by a Notre Dame player since 2020. She reached 20 or more kills in 11 matches, also a program record for one season.
But where the transfer portal can give, it can also take. Kentucky lost a piece of this past season’s roster when redshirt sophomore middle blocker Brooke Bultema announced on Wednesday her intentions to transfer out of Lexington. After a redshirt freshman campaign in 2024 that saw her named to the SEC All-Freshman Team, Bultema did not see as much playing time in 2025 as she would have hoped for.
She likely won’t be the last outgoing transfer for Kentucky, either. Skinner is expected to return eight of his top nine rotation players from last season (barring an unexpected transfer), with the only departure being Hudson to graduation. And now that Gaerte is in the fold, the top half of the roster is in good shape once again. Don’t be shocked if other current Wildcats deeper on the bench elect to look elsewhere in the coming days/weeks.
Skinner shows love to the BBN
Coming off a disappointing loss in the national championship match to Texas A&M, Craig Skinner reminded us all how truly magical the 2025 campaign still was. Kentucky won its ninth straight SEC Championship, won the SEC Tournament, finished with 30 wins on the season, and went perfect (15-0) during conference play. UK made just the program’s second-ever national title match and first since winning it all in 2020 along the way.
Skinner sent out a few social media posts on Wednesday morning, thanking the Big Blue Nation for all their support throughout the season. He says over 38,000 total fans showed up to home matches inside Memorial Coliseum in 2025, where the ‘Cats did not drop a single match.
Man. What a ride! This team rejuvenated my fire for coaching and my love for this incredible fan base. Over 38,000 of you came through the turnstiles at HMC and led us to an undefeated home record and a Lexington Regional Championship! pic.twitter.com/Xw7aBDBN4E
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ST. MARY’S CITY, Md. – Four members of the St. Mary’s College of Maryland volleyball team were honored by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) as members of the CSC Academic All-District® Team, the organization announced in a release Tuesday (Dec. 16).
Senior Julia Bobrowski (California, Md./Leonardtown), juniors Camilla Galeano (Germantown, Md./Damascus) and Lauren Panageotou (Baltimore, Md./Mercy), and sophomore Stella Marrero (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Christian Life) all earned the award for the 2025 season.
Bobrowski is the lone repeat selection.
The 2025 Academic All-District® 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 volleyball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA.
Outstanding student-athletes are nominated for Academic All-District® recognition by communications directors and must have a minimum 3.50 GPA plus meet high athletic standards.
Bobrowski owns a 3.74 GPA as a sociology major and business administration minor for her second straight Academic All-District award. The 5-6 outside hitter ranked sixth in the United East Conference with 55 service aces and 14th with 0.52 aces per set. She was named to the United East All-Sportsmanship Team (Nov. 24).
Galeano, a computer science major with a 3.87 GPA, tied for 14th in the conference with 42 service aces while tying for 17th with 0.49 aces per set. The 5-4 setter led the Seahawks with 402 assists while registering 20-plus assists five times this season.
A psychology major and educational studies minor, Panageotou boasts a 3.7 GPA. The 5-10 setter was second on the team with 291 assists while adding 101 digs, 12 service aces, and six kills in 30 matches.
Marrero picked up her first Academic All-District award with 3.96 GPA as a neuroscience and psychology double major and biology minor. The 5-7 defensive specialist ranked 10th in the United East with 303 digs while sitting 20th with 2.78 digs per set. She was also second on the team with 45 service aces.
St. Mary’s College (17-15, 8-2 UEC) captured the program’s first-ever conference tournament championship title by taking the 2025 United East tournament crown with a 3-2 road win over top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg. The Seahawks also gained the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Tournament.
Wellsboro junior Madison Cruttenden was recently named to the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association’s, PVCA, Class 2A All-State team.
Cruttenden was one of three NTL and District IV volleyballers (Aryana Andrus and Alli Bailey from Troy) to make the team.
Cruttenden received 536 serves, made 37 assists and had 341 digs this season. She also scored 163 points to go along with 54 aces.
Over the course of her career she has made 1,197 receptions, 56 assists, 784 digs, 407 points (112 aces) and 6 kills.
“This is a well-deserved honor for Maddy,” head coach Darci Pollock said. “She has been a consistent back row player for us the past two seasons. She continues to work hard in the off season. I’m very proud of her work ethic and dedication to the team!”
Cruttenden is the ninth Wellsboro player to earn a spot on the PCVA All-State team. Cruttenden joins Carrie Gorda, Rachel Patt, Hannah Zuchowski, Kirsten Florio, Caitlyn Callahan, Megan Starkweather, Paige Logsdon and Lexi Urena.
All-RRV Volleyball 2025: A golden finish: Trinity Christian Academy’s Pyeatt walks off as state champion and All-RRV Volleyball Co-Offensive Player of the Year | Free
The 118th Millrose Games women’s 3000 meters on Feb. 1, 2026, at the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory will feature a showdown between NCAA distance running’s top stars Doris Lemngole and Jane Hedengren, along with 2025 runner-up Josette Andrews.
Lemngole, competing for Alabama, holds the NCAA championship and record in the 3000m steeplechase. The Kenya native won the steeplechase at the Lausanne Diamond League and finished fourth at the World Championships before claiming her second straight NCAA cross country title — her fifth NCAA championship overall. The junior received the 2025 Bowerman Award last week, recognizing her as collegiate track and field’s top athlete.
“I am excited and looking forward to competing at the Millrose Games, especially given its prestige and historic significance,” said Lemngole in a release by the meeting this week.. “It is a great opportunity!”
Read More: Julien Alfred Among Sprinters Confirmed For 2025 Millrose Games
Hedengren broke every American high school distance record from 1500m through 5000m before enrolling at BYU. The freshman went unbeaten in cross country until finishing second to Lemngole at nationals, then shattered the NCAA 5000m record with a 14:44.79 clocking in her indoor debut.
Both runners will chase Katelyn Tuohy’s NCAA 3000m record of 8:35.20, established at the 2023 Millrose Games.
Andrews, from Tenafly, N.J., finished sixth in the 5000m at the 2025 World Championships and has top-five showings at World Indoor Championships and the Diamond League Final.
Several Other 118th Millrose Games Confirmations
The World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meet will also feature Grant Fisher, Cole Hocker, Elle St. Pierre, Jess Hull, Nikki Hiltz, Joe Kovacs, Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler, Cameron Myers, Julien Alfred, Devynne Charlton and Danielle Williams.
Tickets are available at millrosegames.org. More than 85 percent of seats have sold.
