Trevell Jordan couldn’t have been happier with where he was.

The Mesa, Ariz., native was a roughly 30-minute drive from home at nearby Grand Canyon University, playing volleyball as a freshman for a school that was coming off an appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships.

Jordan started 21 matches before missing the last four with an injury and was named to the All-MPSF Freshman Team. The Lopes were eliminated in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament, but despite an 18-10 season, the plan was to run it back.

“We were a really young team, so we were pumped for the upcoming season,” Jordan said. “We had already made a bunch of plans of all the things we were going to do together to get ready.”

One meeting that came on a couple of hours’ notice and lasted all of five minutes changed everything.

“It came out of the blue, on one Sunday morning, where our coach texted our group chat and (wrote) the (athletics director) wants to meet with you guys,” Jordan recalled. “This was over the summer and half our team already left for home and we got to the meeting thinking it was going to be about what it was going to be like next year with the coaches. The AD walked in, said we are cutting your program, and we got two questions off before she booked it out of the room. It was quick.”

Suddenly, Jordan had to find somewhere else to play volleyball. He had chosen Grand Canyon because it was so close to home.

Never did he ever think his next journey would take him to an island six hours away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“It was a big move to come across the ocean over here,” Jordan said.

Ultimately it was his connections to a bunch of players on the team that led to the 6-foot-10 sophomore middle blocker joining the Rainbow Warriors in the fall.

He knew sophomore hitter Finn Kearney, who grew up in nearby Phoenix, and also played with setter Tread Rosenthal, Justin Todd and opposite Kainoa Wade with Team USA.

Jordan was on the United States U21 team that won a bronze medal for the first time ever at the FIVB World Championships in China in August with Wade and Rosenthal.

“It was a really cool experience and achievement, especially for me. I didn’t make the first two USA teams. I was on the alternate roster, sadly, but I think that lit a fire underneath me for this last one,” Jordan said. “It really brought a better version out of me getting cut from those other two tryouts, and when I went in there, I went in with the mentality of, ‘I want to play.’”

That’s the same mentality Jordan is bringing into the practice gym at UH as he tries to crack the starting lineup on a loaded Hawaii team ranked No. 2 in the country in the preseason AVCA rankings entering today’s home opener against New Jersey Institute of Technology at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Hawaii lost Kurt Nusterer — who had one year left of eligibility but left to pursue a major career opportunity — in the middle but returns sophomore Ofeck Hazan. UH also landed a 7-foot freshman in Roman Payne and has Justin Todd, another Team USA alum who can play both on the outside and in the middle.

Jordan landed in Hawaii for the first time in August when he came to start school.

Off the court, the biggest difference was getting used to the palm trees and the tropical climate after spending his whole life growing up in the desert.

On the court, Jordan is used to playing with some of the best players in the country in his experiences with the USA team.

Compared to his one year at Grand Canyon, the major difference is the daily grind that comes in the practice gym.

“We’re all talented and there is for sure a standard that has been set to the highest bar that we have,” Jordan said. “And that’s why you have to come into the gym every day to compete. There’s always going to be someone better than you, so that’s why you want to play to the best of your ability every day in the gym and get as much out of each other as you can.”

TREVELL JORDAN

6-10, Soph., Middle Blocker

All-MPSF Freshman Team (at Grand Canyon)

Hit .889 for Team USA to win bronze at FIVB World Championships

DeLand won its sixth consecutive district title and made the furthest postseason run in the Volusia-Flagler area in 2025.

The Bulldogs advanced to the Region 1-7A semifinals but had to play Winter Park, the No. 1 team in Florida. DeLand’s season came to an end there, but it was still a successful campaign for one of the area’s perennial powers.

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) — Blue Bell/Texas Sports Writers Association Class 2A all-state volleyball team, distributed by The Associated Press:

FIRST TEAM

Middle Blockers: Kellen Weaver, Beckville, sr.; Camryn Powers, Crawford, jr.; Kennedy Slay, Tioga, jr.

Outside Hitters: Shaylee McKown, Iola, jr.; Keegan Kleiber, Mumford; Rayna Sadler, Leon, jr.

Setter: Rylee Goodney, Iola, sr.

Libero/Defensive Specialist: Averi Bolgiano, Crawford, jr.

Player of the year: McKown, Iola

Coach of the year: Jamie McDougald, Iola

SECOND TEAM

Middle Blockers: Jacie Boles, North Hopkins, jr.; Sy Parker, Nocona; Channing Horne, Leon, jr.

Outside Hitters: Macey Hoelscher, North Hopkins, jr.; Cami Hoyle, Iola, jr.; Ava Johnson, Nocona, sr.

Setter: Landry Zapalac, Schulenburg, sr.

Libero/Defensive Specialist: Jenna Guentert, Schulenburg, soph.

THIRD TEAM

Middle Blockers: Katherine Lindemann, Garrison, jr.; Tatum Miller, Crawford; Camdyn Owen, Italy, sr.

Outside Hitters: Aubrie Kabisch, Nocona, sr.; Katelin Sullivan, Flatonia; Haylee Vacek, Schulenburg, jr.

Setter: Ainsley Anderson, Crawford, soph.

Libero/Defensive Specialist: Ava Bessette, Iola, sr.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The 2025 Marion County girls volleyball season was one to remember. We saw breakout performances from outside hitters all over the Ocala area. The Trinity Catholic Celtics went undefeated in the county while fielding one of the program’s most talented rosters. Forest made history with its ninth county title in a row under head coach Jim Collins.

The season was much more than those leading lines. We saw scores of volleyball players give their all in hopes of having the best season of their careers. Now that the ball is no longer in play, the Star-Banner is ready to unveil the latest edition of all-Marion County volleyball players.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – It’s not uncommon for athletes to transfer schools in this era of collegiate sports.

However, for new University of Hawaii middle blocker Trevell Jordan, it wasn’t a move he was expecting to make.

Jordan — who has U.S. National team experience — had a stellar freshman season at Grand Canyon University, playing in all 21 of the Lopes’ matches as a freshman, amassing 111 kills and 67 blocks.

In April, the GCU team was blindsided when the school announced that it would no longer sponsor the sport.

“None of us saw it coming, like it was out of the blue,” Jordan said. “Went into this meeting thinking it was just gonna be how like next year was gonna go, and then that’s what they dropped the bomb, and like the meeting was like five minutes before they left.”

It was reclassified as a club sport with GCU putting out a release saying that the move was to stay competitive with other NCAA Division I programs.

Grand Canyon just joined the Mountain West Conference, a league that does not carry men’s volleyball.

With the abrupt shutdown, it left the entire Lopes roster looking for a new home, with many players catching the eyes of coaches around the country.

Jordan found his way to Manoa.

“He had offers to go to every top program in the country and ironically they were pushing him to make a fast decision,” UH head coach Charlie Wade said. “They pushed him towards us because I was the one saying, ‘hey, I’m in for the long haul, I want you here, take your time to figure it out.’”

Jordan is now getting accustomed to volleyball in the islands as he joins a squad with big aspirations in 2026.

UH ended last season one game shy of the National Championship.

“The difference in commitment here with the fans, the program, the school, as at GCU, we didn’t get as much love as we did like any other sport,” Jordan said. “It’s been really cool, the team and squad has been really inviting, so they’ve been working with me to get more like accommodated to here.”

Jordan and the ‘Bows open the 2026 season on Friday, the first of two home matches against the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

First serve is set for 7 p.m. Hawaii time.

Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

At a specialist treatment centre in Ukraine, as other amputees play volleyball nearby, Vladislav shows a video on his phone of how he lost his left leg. He found the footage – of a drone closing in rapidly on a buggy, Vladislav standing exposed at its rear – on a Russian military social media channel.

The 31-year-old, an arbitration lawyer before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, makes a double whistling noise to describe the drone’s ominous progress. “That’s me,” he says, pointing at the video, filmed from a fibre optic drone, chasing him down with terrifying ease as the vehicle slows for a corner. Then the screen goes blank.

Vladislav was driving between positions somewhere near Lyman, in the north-east of Ukraine, on 21 August when his life changed for ever. An explosion “bam on the left ear” threw him and the driver to the ground. Still conscious, he could see the injury to his left leg was obviously very serious. But this was not his immediate priority.

“To be honest, I checked my crotch, if everything’s in the right place,” he says, grinning. The check was affirmative and so in that moment, the stricken soldier says, he reasoned life was worth still living. “Only after that, I turned my tourniquet.” That choked off the blood supply to his left leg, giving himself a chance of survival.

The respite was short. Once rescued, Vladislav was soon losing consciousness. “I don’t know if it’s real or a common trope, but pictured in my memory I saw a white tunnel with a light at the end.” But it was not the end. “My comrade fell on me with his elbow on my wounded leg and I opened my eyes with every curse I knew.”

Dozens of seriously wounded Ukrainians such as Vladislav, who have had or need to have amputations, come to this specialist treatment centre every month. No one will say exactly how many are being treated here, but across Ukraine crude estimates suggest the total number of amputees runs well into the tens of thousands.

Providing help, support and advice to Ukrainian staff at the centre are a small number of British military personnel – doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists from the UK’s defence medical services, part of Project Renovator. The Guardian observed some of their work during a day visit, including sessions where British practitioners discussed their use of temporary prosthetics with Ukrainian counterparts.

“The numbers here are truly humbling,” says Mike, a British rehab consultant and an army lieutenant colonel, who is part of the UK team helping out. Mike worked in Afghanistan, where the British military was present until 2014, and says professionals like himself can contribute “an understanding of complex amputee rehabilitation” and “can help move their patients on to new legs quicker”.

He is keen to emphasise that the British presence works both ways, in that there are opportunities for him and his colleagues to learn. Thanks to a combination of innovative surgery, electrical stimulation and rehab, the Ukrainians “are managing to fix nerve injuries faster than I’ve previously seen”, he says.

Britain has only minimally acknowledged a wider military presence in Ukraine, beyond its staffing at the embassy in Kyiv. Security measures around the medical crew remain tight, with only Mike able to be identified.

“I’m proud that the UK is stepping up to ensure wounded Ukrainian soldiers get the best possible treatment,” said John Healey, the defence secretary, praising their work. He said their goal was to work alongside Ukrainian teams “to deliver care and rehabilitation”, an effort that will have to continue long after the war finally ends.

There are a wide range of classes, and family and friends are able to visit unless the staff believe it would be unhelpful to an individual’s recovery. Part of the approach is to have “psychologically aware clinicians”, according to Mike, who can identify when patients run into mental problems. But a key part, as the volleyball shows, is being part of a group so the wounded can motivate each other.

Vladislav’s case is one of the simpler. He hopes to have a final prosthetic leg ready soon and to be discharged earlythis year. He says his mental state is strong, though at some point after two or four weeks, when he was on his own, he admits, “I cried a lot”. It was “like a divorce” until he eventually thought: “Let it be.”

What helped, the former lawyer says, was having his family nearby, including baby son Adam. However, he says: “I did not tell my wife about my injury for around a month and a half because she was pregnant.” Two weeks after Adam’s birth he told her what had happened, though by then she had “suspected something”, he admits.

Oleksandr, 48, is a former fitness teacher and swimming instructor who had both his legs amputated below the knee after an artillery shell landed close to him on 18 October 2024. After he arrived at the treatment centre, a succession of further surgeries proved necessary. One was to stabilise his wound, which had become infected; later, a metal brace was attached to the bone so the prosthetics would fit.

It has been a long, gruelling treatment, including a month in intensive care, and at one point Oleksandr wells up in tears at the thought of it. “In the beginning it was hard for me just to sit in the wheelchair. I was sweating immediately,” he says. But gradually, going to the gym with rehabilitation experts helped, and at some point as his exercising gradually improved, “I knew then I would get through,” he says.

There is a brightness and purpose in his eyes now but the future is uncertain. He wants to leave this year, when his legs are ready. “I hope I will be able to get back to my job as a fitness trainer,” he says. “But I just don’t know. I just need to understand what my abilities will be on the prostheses, how long I can walk. When I will learn walking, I will understand what my abilities are.”