LEXINGTON, Ky. – James Madison junior outside hitter Kennedy Louisell was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Wednesday, Dec. 17.
 
Louisell’s selection marks the fourth for a JMU player in program history and first since Sophie Davis was also named an honorable mention selection following the 2023 season.
 
The outside hitter and 2025 Sun Belt Player of the Year joins Davis (2023), M’Kaela White (2018), and Janey Goodman (2016) as players to be honored by the AVCA. Louisell was the only Sun Belt player to be named an All-American.
 
Louisell finished the 2025 season with 605 kills, the most for a JMU player in the Division I era (1986-present). The outside hitter also set a record with her average of 4.80 kills per set, with her kill and kills per set marks both ranking among the nation’s best.
 
The native of Grand Rapids, Mich., had double-digit kills in all 31 matches, including 12 with 20 or more kills and two with 30 or more.
 
Against Georgia State on Oct. 4, Louisell finished with 37 kills, breaking the program single-match record which had stood for over 40 years. Three weeks later against Georgia Southern, she broke her own record, finishing with 38 kills and 20 digs in a five-set win over the Eagles.
 
She remains the only player in the sport with at least 35 kills and 20 digs in the same match this season.
 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 3 seed Texas A&M volleyball team faces No. 1 seed Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament Final Four Thursday evening at the T-Mobile Center with first serve set for 5:30 p.m.
 

The Aggies punched their first ticket to the national semifinals following a pair of five set victories at the Lincoln Regional. They faced No. 2 seed Louisville in the Sweet 16, reverse sweeping the Cardinals to secure the program’s third Elite Eight berth. They followed that up the next day handing the undefeated No. 1 overall seed Nebraska Cornhuskers their first loss of the season and first home loss since 2022 to go further than any team in Texas A&M history had gone.
 
In the opening contest of the regional the Aggies embodied their team saying, ‘grit’, as they came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Louisville. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla set the tone for the weekend, blocking a program postseason record 12 swings in the match. Offensively, three Aggies hit double-digit kills paced by Logan Lednicky’s 20 and followed by Kyndal Stowers and Emily Hellmuth who added 17 and 12, respectively.
 

Following that up two days later, the Maroon & White took down the top-ranked Cornhuskers marking the second time in program history they had defeated the nation’s best and first time in 30 years. In what was an instant classic, Texas A&M secured the victory thanks to a complete team performance which included team postseason records in kills (75), blocks (17) and aces (9).
 
The Matchup
Thursday’s matchup versus Pittsburgh will be the seventh all-time meeting between the programs. The Panthers hold an advantage in the series at 4-2, but that margin shrink by one when they face off on a neutral court to 3-2. Pittsburgh claimed the most recent matchup between the teams, winning in three sets in 2022.
 

Texas A&M holds the slight advantage in games played on a neutral court this year at 4-1 compared to the Panthers’ 3-1. When playing away from in totality the Aggies boast a 16-3 record, while Pittsburgh is 13-4.
 

Looking at the stat sheet, the Maroon & White lead Pittsburgh in three of the seven team statistical categories including kills per set, assists per set and digs per set, while the Panthers leads in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces per set and blocks per set.
 
Tracks and Trends
Logan Lednicky has recorded double-digit kills in her last 21 matches and passed Hollann Hans for the rally-scoring kills record and ranks third overall in career kills at Texas A&M.
 
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla has logged five or more blocks in her last five games and is six blocks away from tying the program record for career blocks of 562. She is also one block from the single season record.
 
The Aggies have recorded 10 or more blocks as a team in five-consecutive games.
 
Streaming & Stats
Fans can watch the match on the ESPN and follow stats on 12thman.com.
 
Follow the Aggies
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball saw three athletes earn All-America honors on Wednesday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced.

Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford was named a First Team All-American for the second-straight season, first with Texas. Stafford led the Longhorns this season in kills (516), service aces (33) and points (580.5). After 30 matches, Stafford averaged 4.69 kills per set and hit for .360. On top of her offense, the AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist added 52 blocks and a team-leading 11 solo blocks.

Her 516 kills in her first year as a Longhorn is the sixth-most in a single season in UT history, while her 4.69 kills per set ranks eighth. Stafford later climbed to No. 5 on the Individual Match Records list with 32 kills.

Freshman Cari Spears was named a Third Team All-American after starting all 30 matches as a rightside. The Frisco, Texas native was named the SEC Freshman of the Week five times, was a two-time SEC player of the Week and AVCA Player of the Week once. It was the first time in two years a freshman earned the weekly honor. Spears ended the year with the second-most kills on the team (358) and combined for 3.25 kills per set and hit .295.

Senior libero Emma Halter earned Honorable Mention in her final year as a Longhorn. Halter ended the season with 396 digs, 167 assists and 24 service aces. In four years, Halter totaled 1,307 digs – the eighth-most in Texas history for an individual’s career. She also broke the Texas record in digs in a three-set match against Florida A&M with 25.

Wednesday’s honors gave the Longhorns their 62^nd All-American and 115^th honor.

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Four members of the NC State volleyball team earned Academic All-District Honors as announced by College Sport Communicators (formerly known as CoSIDA) Tuesday afternoon.
 
The award recognizes student-athletes for their performance in the classroom in addition to on the court. To qualify, one must have a grade point average of 3.5 and be at least a sophomore both academically and athletically.
 
Lily Cropper, Sydney Daniels, and Elaisa Villar earn the honor for the first time in their career while Courtney Bryant earns it for the second year in a row.
 
Bryant is the first student-athlete to earn the honor consecutively since Brie Merriweather did so in 2012 and 2013.
 
Cropper, Villar and Byrant appeared in all al 30 matches for the Wolfpack this season, while stuffing the stat sheet for their respective positions.
 
Daniels also appeared in all 30 matches for the Pack as a defensive specialist and wore the libero jersey for eight of those matches.
 

 
GRAPEVINE, Texas – Baylor’s first-ever finalist for college track & field’s most prestigious honor, reigning NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles champion Nathaniel Ezekiel will join the two other male finalists and three female semifinalists for The Bowerman Presentation on Thursday at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.
 
Hosted by ESPN broadcaster and former University of Indiana runner Larra Overton, The Bowerman Presentation will be streamed live by RunnerSpace beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the red-carpet entrance to the Grapevine Ballroom. The Bowerman is given annually to the top collegiate track and field men’s and women’s athlete of the year.
 
A nine-time All-American and six-time Big 12 champion, Ezekiel capped off his collegiate career by winning the NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles title with a school-record time of 47.49. He also broke the school indoor mark in the 400 meters (44.74), winning the silver medal at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Ezekiel, who represented his native Nigeria at the 2024 Olympics in the 400 hurdles, turned pro this summer and finished fourth at the World Track and Field Championships with a Nigerian-record time of 47.11.
 
The other male finalists are Ja’Kobe Tharp from Auburn, who won NCAA championships in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 110-meter hurdles; and Arkansas sprinter Jordan Anthony, who swept NCAA titles in the indoor 60 meters and outdoor 100 meters.
 
On the women’s side, the finalists are distance runner Pamela Kosgei from New Mexico, 3,000-meter steeplechaser Doris Lemngole from Alabama and 400-meter hurdler Savannah Sutherland from Michigan. Five of the six schools have finalists for the first time in their programs’ history.
 
Last year’s winners were University of Texas decathlete Leo Neugebauer and record-setting distance runner Parker Valby from Florida.

The RunnerSpace live stream is available at:  https://the-bowerman-presentation.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=14920&do=videos&video_id=436664

 

For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all year long, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.

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