Earning it, not expecting it

Opportunity, however, was never confused with entitlement.

Haneline arrived on campus knowing nothing would be handed to her. Preseason practices were six-hour days, constant competition and physical and mental fatigue that tests even veteran players.

“I told myself it was okay if I didn’t play,” she said. “But my mindset was that I was going to do everything I possibly could to earn it.”

That meant winning positional battles, taking care of her body, eating right, lifting, getting sleep and showing up every day with purpose. Slowly, confidence replaced doubt.

“I think it was early in non-conference play when I realized, ‘Okay, I can do this,’” she said. “Once we started seeing how the lineup was shaping up, I felt it.”

A big reason for that confidence stood right next to her.

Learning from the best

As a freshman middle blocker, Haneline spent countless hours alongside senior standout Ady O’Grady, soaking in advice and modeling her approach.

“I stuck by her side a lot,” Haneline said. “I wanted to learn everything I could from her. Watching her, asking questions, trying to be like her.”

The mentorship left a lasting imprint.

“I told my coaches I want to be the next Ady,” she said. “I want freshmen coming in to look up to me the way I looked up to her.”

That leadership mindset has already shown itself, especially during moments when USC Upstate leaned heavily on its freshman class.

A freshman trio making history

There were nights this season when the Spartans featured three freshmen across the front row, with another freshman anchoring the back line at libero.

“One game, we were all up there, and I said in the huddle, ‘Okay, freshmen, we got this,’” Haneline said, laughing. “We’d say little things to each other on the net, just funny freshman comments.”

That trust paid off. USC Upstate finished 14-14 and saw three freshmen make program history. Outside hitter Summer Kohler earned Second Team All-Big South honors. Haneline and libero Sophia Overholt both collected Honorable Mention All-Big South nods. All three landed on the league’s All-Freshman Team, the most in a single season in program history.

For Haneline, the numbers backed up the accolades. She appeared in all 27 matches and 105 sets, ranking third on the team with 260 kills and second with a .245 hitting efficiency. She added 80 total blocks, including 10 solo stops, and recorded double-digit kills in 11 matches.

Her freshman résumé continues a trend of excellence that began long before she arrived in Spartanburg.

Built before she arrived

At Crest High School in Shelby, Haneline helped the Chargers to 63 wins and four playoff appearances. Over her prep career, she totaled 1,259 kills, 554 digs, 214 blocks and 167 service aces while posting a .306 hitting percentage. She was a three-time All-Conference selection, a two-time All-Region honoree and an AVCA Watchlist athlete.

Club volleyball further sharpened her edge, including a third-place finish in the Premier Division at AAU Nationals.

Still, college volleyball required growth. Injuries forced Haneline to spend time at right side, giving her a new perspective on efficiency and shot selection.

“It helped me realize the difference between being a middle and being on the pin,” she said. “As a middle, it’s quick and done. On the right side, you’re not getting a kill every swing. You have to be smart.”

That adaptability is shaping her focus heading into spring and beyond. Blocking. Efficiency. Finding every possible way to help the team.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt track and field continues its indoor season at Kentucky’s Rod McCravy Memorial Track & Field Meet at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

The last time out
• Before the winter break, the Vandy hosted the Winter Commodore Challenge where student-athletes recorded 10 marks ranking in the program’s all-time top 10
• In her first-ever collegiate meet, Cali Bryant won the high jump, clearing 1.74 meters. The mark is tied for sixth in Vanderbilt history
• In the 60-meter hurdles final, all three Commodores, Devyn Parham, Santana Spearman and Taylor McKinnon, registered personal-best marks and improved their standings in the Vandy record books
• The Dores also found success in the triple jump as all three student-athletes, Pryncess Jackson, Anaya Webster and Anya Carey, PRed with marks ranking top 10 in school history

Dores in the rankings
• Seven Commodores are currently ranked top 25 in the NCAA in their respective events
• All seven student-athletes are also top 10 in the SEC
• Parham, Spearman and McKinnon are No. 5, 6 and 8, respectively, in the NCAA in the 60-meter hurdles
• Bryant’s 1.74-meter high jump mark is ranked fourth in the conference

Record watch
• Active student-athletes hold school records in two individual events and own 29 marks ranking in the program’s all-time top 10
• At the 2025 SEC Indoor Championships, the distance medley relay team of Audrey Allman, Allyria McBride, Ellie Wolski and Julia Rosenberg broke the school record and scored in the event at the conference championship for the second consecutive year
• McBride is ranked second in program history in the 300 and 600 meters, while Bria Bennis and Marta Sivina are the No. 2-ranked Dores in their respective events, the 5,000 meters and pentathlon

Keeping up with the Commodores
Action at the Rod McCravy Memorial Track & Field Meet will get underway Friday at 11 a.m. CT. Live results will be available online.

Fans can follow Vanderbilt track and field on Facebook, Instagram and X at @VandyXCTrack.

Rania Chimonides is one of three newcomers joining Cal volleyball in the spring.

VB1/8/2026 1:03 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Middle Blocker From UNC Wilmington Played On Cyprus’ National Team

The California volleyball team announced the addition of 6-foot-3 middle blocker transfer Rania Chimonides to its 2026 squad on Thursday. Chimonides, a native of Nicosia, Cyprus, who spent her freshman season at UNC Wilmington, posted six blocks in the Seahawks’ 2025 opener against Lindenwood. She was a member of Cyprus’ national team in 2025 after three seasons on the national U18 squad, competing in the 2024 European Championship tournament.
 
Chimonides helped her squad to a silver medal at the 2025 Olympics of European Small States, two years after she was named Best Blocker at the 2023 European Nations U18 tournament. Prior to joining UNC Wilmington, she played club ball for Anorthosis Famagusta.
 
“We are excited to welcome Rania to our team,” head coach Jen Malcom said. “She brings great international experience where she is one of the top blockers. I am looking forward to seeing Rania and (assistant coach) Alyssa (Andreno) work together and develop her skillset even more over the next three years. We were looking for a middle that had a few years of eligibility to spread out our depth and prepare for the next wave of middles to come. Rania will be a great role model and leader with the next group – she is super passionate about the game of volleyball and wants to play at the next level.”
 
Upon her arrival at Cal in the spring, Chimonides will join a middle blocker unit that also includes rising seniors Sawyer Thomsen and Ashleigh Woodruff. She will major in political economy at Cal.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal volleyball, please follow the Bears on X (@CalVolleyball), Instagram (@calvolleyball), Facebook (Cal Volleyball) and TikTok (@calbearsvb).
 

Meet: Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational

Location: Yoeman Fieldhouse | Houston, Texas

Watch | Stats

The competition: Houston (Host), Huston-Tillotson, Jacksonville College, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Rice (Men), Sam Houston, St. Thomas (TX), Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Texas A&M Kingsville, Texas Southern, UTRGV

Burnt Orange in Houston: Texas newcomers Iana Ahetz-Etcheber, Caroline Peterson, Jonathan Hertwig-Odegaard, Brandon Gorski, Mia Perez, Ava Gilley, Isabel Conde de Frankenberg will all make their track and field debuts for the horns. Internationals Ahetz-Etcheber and Herwtig-Odegaard will look to follow recent success at Texas as the newest multis on campus.

Osawese Agbonkonkon, Sam Abati, Bella Coscetti, Sophia Kowalski, Grace Kowalski and Gia Kurp will return to competition for the Horns.

Returners: Texas returns six men and three women who were named to USTFCCCA First Team All-Americans. Kody Blackwood, Xavier Butler and John Rutledge are two-time First Team honorees from last season who will lead the Longhorns in their senior seasons. Kendrick Smallwood also returns as one of the top short sprinters in the NCAA. On the women’s side, the Longhorns return sprinters Carleta Bernard, Holly Okuku and Ramiah Elliott as the long All-Americans.

How to follow:

• Fans can also follow @TexasTFXC for live updates of the meet on Twitter/X
• The meet will be streamed on the Houston Athletics YouTube page.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University volleyball coach Jen Greeny has announced the addition of Saar Bertels, an outside hitter from Eppegem, Belgium, to join the team in the fall of 2026.
 
“Saar will give us an immediate all-around presence that will continue to make West Virginia volleyball better. She can attack well from multiple positions, giving us flexibility in our offense that we always train in our gym and look for when evaluating players, “Greeny said. “Saar is experienced with high level volleyball in Europe. To earn the achievements she did in the European Championships is no small feat. It was also very significant to us that she helped lead Belgium to a finish never attained before in the history of Belgium volleyball – a third-place finish behind European and world volleyball powers Turkey and Italy.”
 
“Saar naturally embodies our five values,” Greeny continued. “We could tell that right away. She will fit well into our team culture. She chose us over three Top 25 teams, four NCAA Tournament teams, and three B1G Ten teams. Saar will continue to move this program forward and we are so excited she is one of us.”
 
Bertels competes for Asterix AVO Beveren under coach Kris Vansnick, one of the top professional programs in the Belgian Liga A. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter has been a member of the Belgian National Team system for five years, representing her country at every youth age group since U16.
 
Internationally, she competed with the Belgian Senior National Team in the Volleyball Nations League, one of the highest-level international competitions in the sport. Bertels helped lead Belgium to a third-place finish at the 2024 CEV U20 European Championships, marking the nation’s first top-three result at a junior continental event. She was named the tournament’s Best Scorer and Best Spiker after totaling 287 points and averaging 3.99 points per set.
 
At the professional level, Bertels has appeared in the CEV Champions League twice, gaining experience against elite European clubs. Her club career includes multiple domestic titles, including the Belgian SuperCup, Belgian Cup, BeNe Cup, and the Belgian Liga A championship. She has competed in the CEV Cup and BeNe League, contributing to Asterix’s consistent presence in European competition.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUVolleyball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

FRÝDEK-MÍSTEK, Czech Republic (January 8, 2025) – North Alabama Volleyball’s Jolana Smidlova is continuing her career in the sport after signing a professional contract with Czech club TJ Sokol Frýdek-Místek.

Smidlova returns home to join the club, which is in the midst of the season in Czech Republic’s Women’s Volleyball Extraliga. TJ Sokol Frýdek-Místek was founded in 1978 and based in the city of Frýdek-Místek.

Since the Extraliga’s inception in 1992, the club has seen success during the 2003-04 and 2014-15 seasons with third-place finishes. The team is currently ninth in the Extraliga standings as of Jan. 8, 2026.

The Letovice native spent three season at Tulsa before playing her senior season with the Lions in 2025. Smidlova appeared in eight matches and tallied season totals of 20 kills, 12 blocks and seven digs. In 69 career collegiate matches, her totals include 205 kills, 70 blocks, 56 digs and one service ace.

“I’ve traveled the world for this game, but nothing beats the feeling of returning to your home country,” said Smidlova. “I’m beyond excited to pick up where I left off and play for the people who have been in my corner since day one.”

This marks the second time under UNA head coach Tristan Johnson that a player has gone to the professional ranks. Former standout Anna Katherine Griggs became the first under Johnson to sign a professional contract, joining French club Racing Club de Cannes for the 2024-25 season.

“We are very excited for Jolana and this opportunity for her to continue her career professionally, said Johnson. “Jolana is a highly competitive person and has a very high level of commitment to the game and performing at her best. This is also a great day for our program as we have another former student-athlete pursue their passion of being a professional athlete.  We are so proud of Jolana and excited to follow her career moving forward.”

For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.