In Cochabamba, Bolivia, a group of women skateboarders are changing attitudes toward Indigenous traditions one kickflip at a time. Donning customary Quechuan garments like brimmed sombreros and colorful polleras—wide skirts commonly worn by Andean women—the Imillaskate collective combines a contemporary sport with time-honored cholita heritage.
Colossal readers might recognize some of the women of Imillaskate from Celia D. Luna’s marvelous series of photographs, Cholitas Bravas. A new short documentary directed by Rebecca Basaure and Mariano Carranza and produced by NOWNESS highlights the group’s style and dedication to the community. The film traces the stories of members of Imillaskate, the collective’s mission to construct a skatepark, and their visits to local schools that emphasize self-affirmation and empowerment through skateboarding.
Until fairly recently, Quechuan and Aymara women were derogatorily called “cholitas” and were actively ostracized from society. Known for their long braids, bowler hats, and full skirts—a hybridization of styles resulting from Spanish influence during the Inquisition—the style evolved into a look brimming with Indigenous cultural and lineal pride.
Deysī, an Imillaskate co-founder and award-winning skater, describes how surprised her mother was when she first dressed as a cholita. She continues:
Some people in my generation are embarrassed to wear pollera because the pollera highlight your features—your Indigenous features—highlight what we are as Indigenous people, as the daughters of women of polleras. It’s a part of my family legacy. And without family, I’m nobody.
The inspiring documentary also touches on gender inequalities in Bolivian society, as Imillaskate members share how important mutual support has been through major life transitions like motherhood and the loss of loved ones. “We rely on each other, just as others rely on us,” says another co-founder, Ellī. “Because we, as Indigenous people—as Quechuas—we have a collective mindset.”
NOWNESS creates videos that celebrate art, food, travel, fashion, and more. Watch the entire film on YouTube.
The Wisconsin Badgers wore black for a reason on Sunday: they went to a Texas Funeral.
The No. 3 Badgers upset the No. 1 Texas Longhorns 3-1 on Sunday, sending them to the Final Four against the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats in an impressive win.
Wisconsin, facing the team that swept them earlier in the season, came ready to play. Falling behind 10-7 in the first set, the Badgers went on a four-point run before the two sides engaged in a back-and-forth battle, with neither side leading by more than two before Wisconsin had a monster end to the set.
Leading 18-17, the Badgers had an impressive 6-0 run thanks to a trio of Texas attack errors, a Mimi Colyer kill, a Kristen Simon service ace, and a Carter Booth kill. The Longhorns tried to mount a comeback, scoring five straight points, but Colyer got the set-winning kill, and Wisconsin started up 1-0.
The Badgers got off to a good start in the second half, starting off with a 10-6 lead. After the Longhorns went on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to one, the Badgers controlled the remainder of the set, starting with a 3-0 run of their own. From there, Wisconsin led by at least three for the rest of the set, with Carter Booth and Mimi Colyer having a flurry of kills, and they ultimately took the second set 25-21 to go up 2-0.
But, the work wasn’t done just there. The Longhorns were still a big threat, and they showed that in the third set, taking an early 8-6 lead after going on a 4-1 run. Wisconsin fought back with a 4-1 run of their own moments later, retaking the lead 12-11, with Colyer recording four straight kills.
However, a five-point Texas run right after proved to be the difference in the set, as the Longhorns took a 16-12 lead and never relinquished it, despite Wisconsin fighting to cut the deficit to one at 20-19. Texas closed out the set on a 5-1 run, taking the third set and we had a ballgame.
Things did not look good at the start of the fourth set, as the Longhorns started the set on a 4-0 run, picking up where they left off in the third set. That’s when the tables turned. Wisconsin completely flipped the script on a 13-4 run to take a five-point lead, with reserve Trinity Shadd-Ceres having two clutch back-to-back kills.
Moments later, that lead was extended to 18-11, thanks to a Colyer kill and two more attack errors from Texas. The Longhorns had a four-point run, but the deficit was too much to overcome, as the Badgers closed the set on a 6-3 run to win the fourth set 25-19 and take the match.
Colyer had another impressive game, following her 27-kill performance against Stanford with a 23-kill performance on Sunday. Una Vajagic came up huge in the end, getting 15 kills while hitting .458, while Booth had 11 kills of her own.
Elsewhere, Charlie Fuerbringer followed her 61-assist game on Friday with 57 assists on Sunday, while Alicia Andrew had a team-high five blocks. Wisconsin had 25 attack errors and 10 service errors, but they were still too much for Texas to handle.
Now, they’re heading back to the Final Four, with the Kentucky Wildcats up next on Thursday.
CLEVELAND, Ohio—Six members of the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team have earned spots on the Mid-American Conference (MAC) All-Academic team following the 2025 season.
The Huskies volleyball team has had six or more honorees on the Academic All-MAC in each of the last ten seasons.
The Academic All-MAC honor is awarded to a student-athlete who has excelled in both athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests in that sport.
A total of 78 athletes from around the conference were honored.
Stay up-to-date with Huskie volleyball all-year long! Follow us on Twitter/X at @NIUVolleyball, on Facebook at NIU Volleyball, and on Instagram at @NIUVolley.
LOGAN, Utah – Utah State track and field senior Javin Richards has been named the America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, Dec. 14. The award is voted on by a state-wide media panel.
With their sponsorship of the student-athlete of the week, America First Credit Union donates funds directly to support student-athlete scholarships.
Richards broke the Utah State record in the indoor heptathlon, taking second place at the BYU December Invitational last week. His overall score of 5,536 points bested John Strang’s performance from 2009 and improved on his previous best of 5,330 points that had ranked second all-time. The Perry, Ohio, native set personal bests in the 60 meters, long jump, shot put and 1,000 meters en route to his record-setting performance. Richards currently ranks ninth in the country in the event.
Fans can follow the Utah State track and field programs on X at USUTF_XC, on Facebook at USUTrack and on Instagram at USUTF_XC. Aggies fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on X at USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.
Nominees from other sports for USU Student-Athlete of the Week included: MEN’S BASKETBALL – Senior forward Garry Clark (St. Louis, Missouri) helped Utah State to an 83-78 neutral-site victory over Illinois State at the Delta Center on Saturday. Against the Redbirds, Clark scored 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, including seven offensive boards, to go along with two assists and two steals in 25 minutes off the bench. Clark shot 7-of-8 from the floor, 0-of-1 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the win.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL – Junior guard Aaliyah Gayles (Las Vegas, Nevada) led Utah State with 18 points and a career-high nine rebounds in its 80-73 home win against Idaho. Gayles went a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, including 4-of-4 in the fourth quarter, as she scored eight points in the final frame to help clinch the win. Gayles also added two steals and one assist in the victory.
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD – Freshman Adia Ross (Tokyo, Japan) broke the Utah State record in the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.48 at the BYU December Invitational last week. In her first-ever indoor 60-meter competition, she bested the previous school record of 7.49, which was set in 1987 by Lola Ogunde, to place fourth in the event finals.
2025-26 America First Credit Union USU Student-Athlete of the Week Winners
LAGOA, Portugal – Georgia cross country freshmen Kristers Kudlis and Anastasia Nilsson competed alongside Bulldog signees Bertold Kalász and Alex Lennon at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships early Sunday morning.
Nilsson was the first Georgia athlete to compete, racing in the Women’s U20 competition (4450m). She crossed the finish line at 15:56 to place 33rd overall, scoring third for Sweden and helping the team to a third-place team finish with 44 points.
Meanwhile in the Men’s U20 race (4450m), Georgia had three representatives, all of which finished within the top-30.
Signee Lennon led the group with a 15th place finish at 13:37. His performance served as the second-best scoring effort for Great Britain and Northern Ireland that helped the team to a second-place finish with 45 points.
Fellow signee Kalász also delivered an impressive effort with a 13:38 to place 17th overall. Kalász was the first finisher across the line for team Hungary in the competition.
Kudlis finished 29th place crossing the finish line at 13:54, which was first for team Latvia.
News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.
The NCAA women’s volleyball tournament will go on without the sport’s highest-spending team, after undefeated Nebraska, the event’s top overall seed, was stunned by Texas A&M in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Nebraska was 33-0 heading into the game and is also the sport’s financial powerhouse. The university spent $5.91 million on its women’s volleyball team in the 2023-24 season, the most of any program in the country, according to Sportico’s College Sports Finances Database. Nebraska is the only public FBS school to spend more on women’s volleyball than women’s basketball, and first-year head coach Dani Busboom Kelly earned a base salary of $700,000 this season.
The team also brought in $2.57 million in ticketing revenue, which is the third-highest for any women’s sports team at a public FBS school, trailing only Iowa’s and UConn’s women’s basketball teams. The Aggies, for contrast, made just $288,000 from ticket sales.
Women’s volleyball has taken off in recent years, with top college programs spending more and multiple pro leagues raising millions to get off the ground. Average viewership for the 2025 college regular season on ESPN was up 36% year-over-year. Nebraska, which drew 92,003 fans to a game at Memorial Stadium in 2023, has been a big part of the sport’s success.
Texas A&M is no slouch when it comes to volleyball spending, though, ranking in the top 10 in budget each of the past four years and seventh at $3.75 million in the most recent season for which data is available. On the other side of the bracket, Wisconsin is the No. 3 highest-spending program in the nation at $4.68 million and will face Kentucky, whose $3.21 million in expenses ranked 11th. The fourth semifinalist, Pittsburgh, is public but does not provide its financial details via open records requests.
The semifinals and final will be played on Thursday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 21, respectively, at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, less than a four-hour drive from Lincoln, Neb.
