LONG BEACH – The Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 are set to showcase Long Beach, the vibrant coastal city in south-eastern Los Angeles County with a rich sports and cultural history, that will host 11 events.

Beach volleyball, water polo, sailing and sport climbing are among the popular competitions that will take place in “the LBC” and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city is ready for its moment in the global spotlight.

“Long Beach is a great American city, and many folks may not know about it,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity to really come out of the shadows a bit. We’re a top-40 city in the United States by population. We’re larger than Miami. We’re larger than St. Louis and New Orleans.

“We have a great, iconic coastline… and the beautiful nine miles of California coast.”

Long Beach is likely familiar to music lovers around the world due to its frequent mention in the songs of hip-hop legend and Team USA hype man Snoop Dogg.

The city has also punched above its weight when it comes to producing sports stars.

Tennis icon Billie Jean King, three-time Olympic beach volleyball champion Misty May-Treanor and 2012 Olympic gold medalist and NBA star Russell Westbrook all hail from the city.

Long Beach’s Woodrow Wilson High School has had an alumni represented in every Summer Games the US has participated in since 1952. Long Beach State University, meanwhile, has consistently churned out Olympic volleyball, swimming and water polo standouts.

The 2028 Games will mark the third time Long Beach has played a part in an Olympics.

Marine Stadium was originally built to stage rowing events at the 1932 Games and will do so again nearly a century later with rowing and canoe sprint taking place at the first-ever manmade rowing course.

Sailing will be held off Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier in Belmont Shore as the city’s waterfront once again hosts the event after also doing so in 1984, the last time LA hosted the Games.

Hosting large-scale events is nothing new to the city, Richardson added.

The Long Beach Grand Prix, the city’s beloved “200-mile-per-hour beach party”, drew over 200,000 attendees for its 50th anniversary in April in the shadow of the Long Beach Convention Centre and Long Beach Arena, which will both be utilised in 2028.

The 60th edition of the popular Congressional Cup regatta was held off Veteran Memorial Pier last weekend in Long Beach’s signature sea breeze.

“These are iconic, historic, world-class venues, and we can’t wait to put them on display for the entire world,” Richardson said.

Olympic organisers LA28 have clustered venues together across the sprawling Los Angeles region and Richardson added that fans will have options when it comes to how they move between the six Olympic venues in Long Beach.

“You can Circuit,” he said, referring to the city’s free electric vehicle service.

“Or walk or scooter or bike across all the venues on our nine miles of coastline.

“And while they’re there, they’ll see the investments that we made into our beach, into our coastline, some of the best beach concessions in America where you can have a hot dog or you can have a tomahawk steak and a martini.

“That’s the experience that we’ve put together and developed here in Long Beach, and we can’t wait to show it to the world.” REUTERS

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SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

DIVISION 1

Pool Play (Round 2 of 3)

Pool A

#8 San Clemente at #1 Mira Costa

#5 Beckman at #4 Corona del Mar

Pool B

#7 Redondo Union at #2 Huntington Beach

#6 Newport Harbor at #3 Loyola, Wednesday

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted)

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION 2

Mater Dei at Edison

El Segundo at St. Francis

Burbank Burroughs at St. Margaret’s

Santa Margarita at Peninsula

DIVISION 3

Los Alamitos at Tesoro

North Torrance at San Marino

Warren at Santa Monica

Orange Lutheran at Mission Viejo

DIVISION 4

Westlake at Corona Santiago

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame at Santa Barbara

Dos Pueblos at Crean Lutheran

Sage Hill at Royal

DIVISION 5

Oak Park at Newbury Park

Esperanza at Wiseburn Da Vinci

Kennedy at California

Rancho Alamitos at Vista Murrieta

DIVISION 6

Rio Hondo Prep at Quartz Hill, 7 p.m.

Oxford Academy at Village Christian

OC Pacifica Christian at Laguna Blanca

El Toro at Yucaipa

DIVISION 7

Brea Olinda at Lakewood

La Serna at San Jacinto

San Gabriel Academy at Jurupa Valley

Brentwood vs. Hawthorne MSA at Bud Carson Middle School

DIVISION 8

Carpinteria at Lancaster Desert Christian, 4 p.m.

Katella at Southlands Christian

Channel Islands vs. Wildwood at Crossroads

Alta Loma at Avalon

DIVISION 9

Heritage vs. CAMS at McBride School, Long Beach

San Jacinto Valley at Firebaugh

Whittier Christian at Downey Calvary Chapel, 5 p.m.

Beverly Hills at Yeshiva, 6:30 p.m.

Note: Division 1 pool play (third round), semifinals in Divisions 2-9 May 10; Finals in all divisions May 16 or 17.

As the 2024-25 academic year comes to a close, so do the final matches for LMU’s spring sports. The women’s water polo team will begin competition in the NCAA Championships against University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Friday, May 9, while the baseball team wraps up their regular season against Pepperdine University on Saturday, May 17. As spring sports finish up and fall sports begin looking forward to next semester, there is a lot to celebrate from LMU Athletics’ 2024-25 season. From history-making wins to record-shattering achievements, the stars came out to shine on the Bluff all year long. Let’s dive deeper into the standout teams and players of the 2024-25 season:

Women’s soccer

The first official game of LMU’s fall 2024 season was a women’s soccer match against University of California, Santa Barbara on Thursday, August 15. The Lions came out of the gate hot, winning 2-0 and setting the tone for what would be a monumental turnaround season.

In just his third season in charge, head coach Chris Chamides led the Lions to an 11-5-2 final record on the year, their first winning season since 2017. This led to Chamides taking home the West Coast Conference (WCC) Coach of the Year award in the process.

Senior forward Kylie Dobbs, who led the team in 11 goals and 4 assists, was named to the All-WCC First Team. Graduate student Jennessa Groves found herself on the All-WCC Second Team after a career-high 9 goals in the season. Stellar seasons from these two, along with breakout performances across the team, helped the Lions to one of their most successful seasons ever — which included a historic win against top-ranked Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday, October 19. Just three years ago, in 2021, the Lions didn’t win a game all season. Now, they go into the 2025 season with a newfound confidence and the mentality that they can win any game, serving as a true testament to the turnaround of this program.

Women’s volleyball

The 2024 LMU women’s volleyball team had a historic season, with 25 wins on the year. That is the most wins the team has had in a single season since the squad went 26-7 in 2003. The Lions capped their historic regular season off with a WCC title and a berth to the NCAA Tournament as a seven-seed. There, they won their opening round match against the University of Washington before losing to the 2-seed Stanford University Cardinals.

Despite the disappointment of the loss, LMU exceeded their expectations of the year, and it came as no surprise when the awards started rolling in at the top of 2025. The WCC All-Conference Teams practically looked just like the Lions roster. Senior Sam Hastings, graduate student Paige Flickinger, senior Mia Schafer, and senior Sophia Meyers were all named to the All-Conference First Team after dominant seasons. Graduate student Jiana Lawson made the second team, graduate student Kalani Hayes was an honorable mention and Marlee Arrington made her way onto the all-freshman team. In just his second season as head coach, Trent Kersten joined Chamides as yet another WCC Coach of the Year for the Lions in 2024. Kersten’s recognition was the first in program history since head coach Steve Stratos won the award in 1996.

Women’s beach volleyball

LMU beach volleyball had their most successful season in program history and one of, if not the most, successful seasons in the school’s entire athletic history. The Lions went 38-7 on the year, reached as high as No. 2 in the regular season rankings, won several matches against top-ranked teams and capped it off with their sixth straight WCC title, all of which are now program records.

As a result, LMU was an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and ultimately ranked the fourth overall seed by the committee headed in. On Friday, May 2, LMU began their run at the championship with a 3-0 sweep of Florida Atlantic University. This win set up a highly anticipated rematch against the University of Southern California (USC). Earlier in the year, the Lions defeated USC in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Classic to earn the program’s first win against USC, who was No.1 at the time. Before that, LMU and USC had faced off in the NCAA tournament in 2023 and 2024, where both of the Lions’ seasons ended at the hands of the Trojans in heartbreaking fashion.

The 2025 Lions came into the quarterfinal match on Saturday, May 3, with vengeance on their minds. They were determined to write a different story this season and defeated USC, 3-1, to advance to the semifinals later that same day. It was a legendary win for the squad, but the top seed in the nation, UCLA, awaited them next, so the celebration would have to wait. Just hours later, in a nationally televised game, after going down two sets to zero, the Lions stormed back to defeat the number one ranked Bruins and advance to the first National Championship game in program history.

Players, staff and fans stormed the beach as the Lions scored the clinching point to send home UCLA in a moment of pure jubilation. The next morning, facing powerhouse program Texas Christian University (TCU) for all the marbles, the Lions battled their hearts out but came up just short, losing 3-2.

It wasn’t the outcome the team wanted, but heads were held high as the Lions walked off the courts in the Gulf Shores of Alabama. Heads were raised even higher when they made their return home to campus later that night, where students, friends and family gathered outside their home courts to show the team some much-deserved love.

This team joins an elite club, becoming the second LMU sport ever to make it to a national championship game in University history — the first ever being the 2004 women’s water polo team. Earlier this week, head coach John Mayer became the first LMU coach to win the elusive AVCA Head Coach of the Year award, further adding to the legacy of this 2025 women’s beach volleyball team.

This is the opinion of Evan Smith (’26), a journalism major from Los Angeles. Send comments and feedback to editor@theloyolan.com. Follow @LALoyolan on Instagram, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

For the first time all season, the Granby boys volleyball team dropped consecutive matches as the Rams fell 3-1 to Sci-Tech on Monday evening. The first two sets were as close as it gets, but Granby couldn’t sustain its strong play for the entirety of the contest – losing 26-24, 24-26, 25-18, 25-19.

Braeden Gallagher had eight kills, six digs and two aces, Brandon Chatel blocked five shots at the net while adding four digs and a pair of aces, Daniel Santiago put down seven kills while Nathan Walsh recorded 22 assists for Granby. Richard Sweet added five kills as well.

Holyoke 3, Ludlow 1 — After losing five straight, the Purple Knights picked up a second straight victory on Monday evening thanks to a four-set victory over the Lions in Holyoke.

Holyoke returns to the court on Wednesday to take on Granby for the second time in three matches. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Weekend results

Softball

Wachusett 6, Hampshire 2 — The Raiders suffered their first loss of the season, but it came against one of the best teams in the state. Wachusett is currently No. 2 in the MIAA Division 1 power rankings.

Hampshire held its own against the Mountaineers, nearly matching their total in hits (6-5), but they couldn’t muster enough offense to improve to 14-0. Kalin Dubay recorded two hits and came around to score on a CC Thayer double while Ryanne Dubay and Lucy Trombley each hit safely for the Raiders.

Dubay struck out nine in her seven innings in the circle, and only three of Wachusett’s six runs were earned to Dubay. Hampshire uncharacteristically made three errors in the field.

Boys lacrosse

Amherst 14, South Hadley 6 — Seven different ‘Canes players scored goals on Friday, with Tri Nguyen (three goals, two assists) and Silas Hazen (three goals, two assists) leading the charge in Amherst’s second win over the Tigers this season.

Tre Bowman notched two goals and a dime, Brian Cruz put up two goals and two assists and Sawyer Ferro buried a pair for the ‘Canes. Jason Kim made 10 saves in goal.

Girls lacrosse

Belchertown 9, Hampshire 8 — For the first time this season, the Orioles picked one up in the win column. Belchertown entered Saturday’s contest with the Raiders at 0-10, but they did just enough to squeeze by with a one-goal win.

Lia Pikul (five), McKenzie LePage (three) and Aubrey McCain (one) combined to score the Orioles’ goals in the victory.

Northampton 12, Agawam 4 — Makayla Fydenkevez and Teagan McDonald filled Agawam’s net a combined eight times (four goals each) to push the Blue Devils to their third win in a row. Imanni Power-Greene added a hat trick for Northampton, who led 6-3 at halftime.

Agawam was held to one goal in the second half as Blue Devils goalie Ainsley Dawson concluded with nine saves.

Youth baseball

Northampton 13, Palmer 7 (14U) — Palmer got on the board with two unearned runs in the top of the first, but the Blue Devils came roaring back and took the lead after Alex Visentin-Laing and Bradyn Rios singled, Oliver Yau hit an RBI double to center field, Dylan Lawrence-Riddell grounded out (RBI) and Miller Cobrich ripped an RBI single down the left field line. They never trailed the rest of the way in Sunday’s win.

Northampton added to its early lead in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three more runs to make the score 7-2. Timely hitting and heads up base running earned Northampton four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth. Maceo Nteta grabbed the win for the Blue Devils, as he surrendered one hit and two runs over two innings – striking out three and walking two. 

Northampton accumulated 14 hits in the game. Piotrowski collected three hits from the lead-off spot while Elias Almeida, Yau, Tait Kennedy and Laing each recorded two hits for the Blue Devils. Piotrowski and Lawrence-Riddell (one hit) drove in two runs apiece for Northampton.

Northampton 22, Granby 6 (14U) — Bradyn Rios collected four hits and three RBIs in four at bats as Northampton defeated Granby on Friday. Rios tripled in the first inning, singled in the second inning, doubled in the third and singled again in the fifth. The Blue Devils jumped out to the lead in the top of the first frame after Iggy Piotrowski singled and Rios tripled him in. An error scored another run, Dylan Lawrence-Riddell doubled to plate a run, Miller Cobrich doubled, scoring two runs, and Alex Laing singled to score a pair.

Northampton piled up 16 hits in the game. Yau drove the middle of the lineup, leading Blue Devils with four RBIs as part of his 3-for-4 day. Piotrowski and Laing each collected multiple hits, and seven Northampton players had two or more RBIs.

Lawrence-Riddell earned the win for the Blue Devils, surrendering zero hits and one run (no earned) over one inning, striking out two. Piotrowski, Tait Kennedy, Nteta and Elliott Frankl each threw one inning for the Blue Devils in relief.