León, Mexico – Norah Sis and Ava Martin combined for 20 kills and four aces as the U.S. Women’s U23 National Team dominated Suriname, 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-7) at the 2025 NORCECA Women’s U23 Pan American Cup on Monday in León, Mexico.
The U.S. outscored Suriname 75-30 and hit .521 (43 kills and only six errors in 71 total attacks). Suriname finished with more hitting errors (17) than kills (15). The U.S. registered the only five blocks in the match and 10 of the 11 aces.
Setter Caroline Kerr ran the nearly unstoppable U.S. offense while scoring five points on one kill, one block and a match-high three aces. Libero Emmy Klika totaled 18 digs and 12 successful receptions.
The top five scorers in the match were from the U.S., with each totaling at least nine points. Outside hitter Norah Sis hit .600 with 13 kills and only one error in 20 attacks, adding two aces for 15 points. Middle blocker Cara Cresse also reached double digits with 11 points on nine kills and two blocks.
Middle blocker Raven Colvin (five kills with two blocks an aces), outside hitter Ava Martin (seven kills and two aces) and opposite Lauren Rumel (eight kills and an ace) all totaled nine points.
A Cresse kill on a slide gave the U.S. an 8-3 lead early in the match. The U.S., which went on a 9-2 run for a 17-5 lead, took its biggest lead on the final point on an ace by Martin. Rumel recorded five kills with Sis (four kills) and Martin (three kills in addition to her ace) adding four points.
Suriname took its first leads of the match 2-1 and 3-2 in the second set. The U.S. scored five consecutive points, culminating with a Sis kill on a back row attack, to prompt a timeout. After the teams split the next 10 points, the U.S. went on a 5-1 run to take a 16-9 lead on a Rumel ace.
The lead reached double digits, 20-10, on a Kerr kill and moved to 11 (23-12) on a Kerr service ace. Colvin ended the set by putting a ball down after an overpass on one of the longer rallies of the contest. Sis produced five kills, Cresse scored five points on four kills and a block, and Colvin finished with four points on three kills and a block.
Two Kerr aces and a Colvin block led the U.S. to a 6-0 start to the third set. After Suriname put together three consecutive points for the first time in the match, the U.S. went on another 6-0 run that included a pair of aces by Sis.
Leading 16-5, the U.S. scored seven consecutive points and nine of the last 11 to close out the match. Sis led the way with six points on four kills and two aces.
Last season at Creighton, Sis and Martin were one of the most formidable outside hitting tandems in the nation to help the Bluejays finish 32-3 and reach its first Elite Eight since 2016. Both women were unanimous All-BIG EAST selections and named AVCA All-Americans in 2024. Martin will return for her senior year in August looking to help Creighton win a 12th consecutive BIG EAST Conference title, while Sis won the Pro Volleyball Federation title with the Orlando Valkyries in May and looks to carry that momentum into her second professional season next spring.
Creighton has had several women play internationally with USA Volleyball in recent seasons, as Brittany Witt (Thailand), Jaali Winters (Croatia), Taryn Kloth (China) and Sis (Mexico) have all represented Team USA at one time or another in the past decade. Sis was part of back-to-back gold medal-winning teams at the U21 Women’s NORCECA Pan American Cup, while Kloth became Creighton’s first female student-athlete to compete in the Olympics last summer when she tied for ninth in Beach Volleyball along with partner Kristen Nuss.
The United States is seeking its record eighth gold medal all-time in the event, and first since 2019. The Americans were runner-up in 2024 to Argentina and placed third in 2023, 2022 and 201.
The U.S. (2-0) concludes pool play against Costa Rica tomorrow, Tuesday, July 29, at 5 p.m. CT.
Setter: Madison Markwardt, Round Top-Carmine, soph.
Libero/Defensive Specialist: Ana Servin, Sulphur Bluff, sr.
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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.
Jasper Samuelson and Emmett Schumann on their way to first and third-place finishes in the freshman-sophomore 600-meter run.
A small crew represented Bonac boys indoor track at a crossover meet at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood on Dec. 21, but the track and field athletes who did compete turned in impressive performances.
Coach Kevin Barry said only half of the team was able to participate because of winter recess and illnesses. At least seven runners were out with the flu.
The highlight came from Eduardo Calle, who became the first Bonac long jumper to break 20 feet in 15 years, with a leap of 20 feet 1 inch — good for third place.
“This is his second winter track season,” Barry said. “He jumped 19 feet 1 inch last year and has been improving every meet so far. Twenty feet was the goal for him going into the season. Now he has new goals to set.”
Jasper Samuelson and Emmett Schumann finished first and third over all in the freshman-sophomore 600-meter run, with times of 1:31.89 and 1:36.41. Samuelson also won the 300-meter dash immediately afterward in 40.38 seconds. Samuelson is now the fastest sophomore in Suffolk County, while Schumann is the second fastest freshman, both in the 600-meter distance.
Sean Perez, a senior, finished the 1,000-meter run in 2:50 — good for fifth place.
Coach Barry called his athletes “very dedicated and hard-working,” and said they’ll keep at it over winter recess. “As a team, we are hoping to get some good work done during the holiday break and survive the flu that is going around to set us up for the big meets coming in January.”
