Sports
Endangered Newcastle baths named among UK’s top ten at-risk buildings
A listed “time capsule” building which offers an insight into Tyneside life more than a century ago has been placed on a national endangered Top Ten list.
The Gibson Street baths in Newcastle was opened in 1907. It included a swimming pool and, at a time when many homes lacked the provisions taken for granted today, it also provided individual slipper baths and laundry facilities.
Men and women entered through separate doors. The men’s entrance hall features four remarkable panels – two signed by the celebrated Dorset tile-makers Carter & Co depicting mermaids, and two others showing a water polo match and a diver in striped swimwear.
These have been praised by architectural historian Lynn Pearson as without parallel, even in Britain’s grandest historic baths. A fifth panel lists the 15 members of the Baths & Wash Houses Committee, as well as the architect and builders, beneath Newcastle’s coat of arms.
But the building has been disused and deteriorating for the last nine years.
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This has prompted the Victorian Society to include the baths in its 2025 Top Ten league of endangered buildings.
Society president Griff Rhys Jones said: “I have lost count of the number of public bath houses that we see in decline, but people truly love these local amenities.”
The Victorian Society is urging Newcastle City Council to seek a sensitive new use for the building. Given the absence of a buyer, the Society recommends renewed collaboration with the community – offering support and extended time to develop a viable reuse proposal that preserves this valuable part of the city’s social and architectural heritage.
They issued a fundraising appeal to “find a good new integrated use for what was once a prime example of public concern and welfare and an illustration of Victorian-Edwardian values at their best.”
The rapid growth of towns and cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries left little provision for public hygiene. With disease widespread, the 1846 Public Baths and Wash-houses Act empowered local authorities to build public bathing facilities, funded via the Poor Rate.
In Newcastle, an 1845 report highlighted how working-class people were left without suitable or private places to bathe.
Costing £28,000 the baths were lavishly fitted out, with stained glass windows and green glazed brick walls. There were 23 slipper baths, and a pool measuring 75ft x 28ft.
Designed by city surveyor F H Halford, it was the first baths in Newcastle to incorporate electricity and water filtration, allowing the water to be cleaned and circulated rather than the pool being filled at the start of the week and emptied at the end.
The city’s Alderman Holmes described it as “the most complete set of baths for their size in England”. The opening ceremony was marked by a performance from Olympic swimmer Arthur ‘Jack’ Jarvis.
The interior pool-hall featured an arched and plastered ceiling, plus amphitheatre seating on both sides, while inside the former men’s entrance, the original turnstile and ticket windows survive.
The building has been marketed by the city council but without success. The baths were closed in 1965 and the swimming pool was boarded over, with the main hall being used for badminton courts until 2016, when the council put the building up for sale.
Campaigners Save Gibson Street Baths for People not Developers succeeded in having the building listed as an Asset of Community Value, and explored the possibility of a business and funding plan for uses such as a social enterprise hotel, cafe, bar and community space.
But the project did not come to fruition and the group posted on its Facebook page: “There is no doubt that it is an amazing building worthy or regeneration and development and that as a long serving public building it would be wonderful to see it kept in the public domain.
“However renovation costs look likely to be in the region of £2.7-3 million and this was not an achievable sum.”
A Newcastle City Council spokesperson said: “Gibson Street Baths became vacant in 2016 after it ceased as a badminton club. As we lacked the significant funding required and the expertise to refurbish it, we put it on the market a year later.
“We received several bids, and a preferred bidder was chosen but unfortunately was unable to access the funds needed to bring it back into use. It is currently wind and watertight albeit in poor condition.
“We have had numerous discussions over the years to bring the property back into use particularly with the Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust however due to funding issues none of these have come to fruition yet.
“We recognise this is an historically important building and want to see it saved and brought back into use and so will look to market it again in the near future.”
Sports
No. 1 seed Kentucky volleyball swept by No. 3 seed Texas A&M in national championship – Kentucky Kernel
No. 1 seed Kentucky volleyball (30-3, 15-0 SEC) was swept by No. 3 seed Texas A&M (29-4, 14-1 SEC) in the 2025 D-1 NCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship.
This is the first national title for Texas A&M, joining Kentucky as the second team to win the national championship as a member of the SEC.
The Wildcats pulled out to an early lead in set one, but Texas A&M chipped away at it before forcing set point with its first lead before winning the set 26-24. Texas A&M took an early lead in set two and continued to grow it, winning set two 25-15. The Aggies gained a large lead early in set three and Kentucky was unable to come back, Texas A&M won the set 25-20 to complete the sweep.
The Wildcats kept themselves out of the match with tons of errors throughout. The Wildcats recorded 40 kills with a .148% hitting percentage, its lowest hitting percentage all season. Kentucky had 23 attack errors, nine service errors and two block errors.
Texas A&M wasn’t flawless but played much cleaner than Kentucky. The Aggies recorded 39 kills with a .257% hitting percentage.
Set One
Kentucky began the match with a 3-0 run on the back of two kills from Eva Hudson, another 3-0 run gave the Cats a 6-1 lead and forced an early timeout from Texas A&M.
The Cats continued to grow this early lead following the timeout, pulling ahead 9-3 with a solo block from Asia Thigpen.
The Aggies started to chip away at the Wildcats lead with a 4-2 run that cut Kentucky’s advantage to 15-11.
Kentucky responded with a 3-1 run to extend its lead back to six points.
Texas A&M then rattled off a 4-0 run, on four consecutive kills, that cut UK’s lead to 18-16. This forced Kentucky to call its first timeout of the set.
Hudson got a kill on the first rally after the timeout, but it didn’t end the Aggies run. Texas A&M mounted a 2-0 run to pull within one point.
Texas A&M tied the set at 20-20 with another 2-0 run.
A service ace by Molly Tuozzo gave Kentucky a 23-21 lead, forcing Texas A&M to call its second timeout of the set.
Texas A&M mounted a 2-0 run after the timeout to even the set at 23-23.
Kentucky forced set point with a kill from Thigpen, but the Aggies tied the set again at 24-24.
Texas A&M took its first lead of the set with a block from Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, forcing set point at 25-24. This led to Kentucky calling its second timeout of the set.
Texas A&M won the set 26-24 on the next rally, taking a 1-0 match lead.
The Wildcats hit .195% with 16 kills in the set, Texas A&M had 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .205%.
The Wildcats errors allowed Texas A&M to salt away at an early lead to steal the first set. Kentucky had nine attack errors, four service errors and two block errors.
Hudson, Lizzie Carr and Brooklyn DeLeye each had four kills for the Wildcats in set one.
Kyndal Stowers led the Aggies with five kills, Cos-Okpalla and Logan Lednicky had three each.
Set Two
Texas A&M got out to a 5-2 lead in set two after a service ace from Cos-Okpalla.
This lead grew to 8-4 after Kentucky recorded an error on back-to-back rallies.
Kentucky called its first timeout of the set after Texas A&M grew its lead to 10-5 with back-to-back Wildcat errors, once again.
A 4-0 run by the Aggies gave them a 15-7 lead and forced Kentucky to call another timeout.
Kentucky is digging itself a hole with errors on seemingly every rally, the Cats will need to clean it up quick.
Stowers recorded back-to-back kills to start a 4-0 run which gave the Aggies a 19-8 lead.
The Wildcats responded with 3-0 run to pull within eight.
Texas A&M put together a 4-1 run to win the second set 25-15, taking a 2-0 match lead.
Kentucky suffered from its own errors once again in set two. The Cats had 11 attack errors and just 10 kills for a -.021% hitting percentage.
Texas A&M had 12 kills with just three errors, resulting in a hitting percentage of .273% in the set.
Hudson led Kentucky with five kills in the second set. DeLeye had three kills with six digs and a block.
Lednicky led Texas A&M with five kills.
Set Three
Cos-Okpalla recorded two consecutive kills on overpasses to give A&M a 3-0 lead in set three.
A service ace from Stowers capped off a 3-0 run that grew the Aggies lead to 6-1.
The Wildcats battled back with a 4-2 run that pulled them within three points.
Texas A&M used a 3-1 run to head into the media timeout with a 15-10 lead.
The Aggies put together a 2-1 run out of the media timeout, forcing Kentucky to call its first timeout of the set.
Texas A&M grew its lead to 19-11 after the timeout. This forced Kentucky to call its second timeout of the set, looking to avoid the sweep.
Kentucky mounted a 3-1 run out of its second timeout, pulling within six points.
Texas A&M forced match point at 24-18, Kentucky pulled within four after a 2-0 run, Texas A&M eventually won the match with a 25-20 set three win.
The Wildcats hit .423% with 14 kills in set three with only three attack errors, but five service errors made the difference in the set.
The Aggies hit .310% with 14 kills and five errors.
The Wildcats will now head into the offseason, beginning preparation for next season. In 2026, the Wildcats will chase a 10th consecutive SEC regular season title, back-to-back SEC Tournament titles and another NCAA Tournament run.
Sports
North Schuylkill’s Luke Miller signs to St. Joseph’s for track – Pottsville Republican Herald
North Schuylkill senior track and field standout Luke Miller signed to St. Joseph’s University to compete in track and field collegiately Monday afternoon.
Miller also held college track offers from Shippensburg, West Chester, East Stroudsburg and Monmouth University before officially deciding on St. Joseph’s University.
“For me St. Joseph’s felt like home and it was the last school I visited so I’m super excited to get there,” said Miller. “I’m super grateful and excited to get to work with them.”
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North Schuylkill’s Luke Miller signed his national letter of intent to compete in track collegiately at St. Joseph’s University on Monday, December 22. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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North Schuylkill’s Luke Miller signed his national letter of intent to compete in track collegiately at St. Joseph’s University on Monday, December 22. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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Miller finished this past fall leading the football team with 31 touchdowns and 2,563 rushing yards. He won gold in the 200-meter dash at the Schuylkill League meet.
“For me I enjoy the competitiveness of track and the work that goes into it,” said Miller. “I always went back and forth between football and track and track is more of a hobby for me.”
Miller also earned the Republican Herald ‘Athlete of the Week’ award after winning both the 100- and 200-meter dashes and anchoring the Spartans runner-up 400-meter relay at the Jim Thorpe Olympian Invitational last year.
“I’m going to miss the people and everyone is super kind and treats me like family here,” said Miller. “I really will miss everyone here.”
Miller joins a St. Joseph’s track program led by David Reick who knows longtime North Schuylkill coach Jack Flynn. He recently became the head coach in November of 2024.
“I’m super excited to get to work with coach (David) Reick and Jack Flynn (former North Schuylkill coach) knows him too,” said Miller. “It feels like home for me and I’m so excited.”
Miller will be majoring in physical therapy and is most looking forward to the food and living in Philadelphia.
It’s never easy to end a great season with a first-round playoff loss, but decades of experience have taught Bryant women’s volleyball Head Coach Theresa Garlacy how to take the long view.
“We went from not making the tournament to being co-champs,” she says of the team’s recently concluded 2025-26 campaign.
“We went from not making the tournament to being co-champs.”
In just their fourth season in the competitive America East conference, the Bulldogs went 16-12 to tie with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for the regular season title. The team also went 7-3 in America East play, an all-time best record for Bryant and up from a 4-6 mark in 2023-24.
RELATED ARTICLE: Women’s volleyball clinches co-America East title with sweep over NJIT
To claim its first America East regular season title, the team notched signature wins against Boston College, University of Rhode Island, Providence College, and Fairfield University before falling to the University of Albany in the America East tournament semifinals.
Garlacy said the 2025 season, which included a 50th anniversary celebration of Bryant women’s volleyball, will go down as one of the most memorable in her 30-year career as the Bulldogs’ coach.
“This was definitely a legacy team,” Garlacy says.
A 3-1 win over the University of New Hampshire on the same weekend that current and former players gathered to mark the program reaching the half-century mark was another high point in the season, says Garlacy.
“This year’s athletes really felt the sisterhood with the alumni, and that’s something that we tried to take with us throughout the season,” she says. “It’s not just about the six or seven people on the court, or the 18 people on the roster. You have a whole history of hundreds of women who came before you, and you have that strength from them every time you step on the court.”
“This year’s athletes really felt the sisterhood with the alumni, and that’s something that we tried to take with us throughout the season.”
While Bryant went 18-10 overall last season, their weak conference record denied the team a postseason spot, so 2024-24 was a big step up despite the team’s early exit from the America East tournament, says Garlacy.
“This was such a great team: we’ve never won the American East regular season title before. Every time we jumped a level, such as from NCAA D2 to D1, or from the Northeast Conference to America East, my team has found a way to level up,” Garlacy says.
“For them to go from not making the tournament last year to being co-champs this year, and with our best ever record in the conference, demonstrated the leadership they showed and the respect they had for each other,” she adds. “For me, the biggest win is to see the players in each position supporting each other.”
Looking forward to next season, Bryant will have to adjust to the departure of America East Player of the Year and team leader Arianna Ugolini ‘26, but Garlacy rejects the idea that 2026 will be any kind of rebuilding year.
“We had two first-year students who played significant time on this team, so I’m feeling good about that. We have a solid base of returners and, with the recruiting class we have coming in, will continue to grow the program,” she says. “Last year we graduated four outstanding athletes, three of whom were starters. Well, we got even better.”
OMAHA, Neb. — The Creighton Volleyball team was ranked a season-best No. 10 in the year-end poll by the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced on Monday, Dec. 22nd. It’s the 11th appearance in the year-end poll in program history, with the 2024 squad earning the best mark at No. 6.
Creighton is one of eight schools (Creighton, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Wisconsin) to be in the Top 10 of the year-end poll in both 2024 and 2025.
This is the 11th season that Creighton has been ranked in the year-end poll — all since 2012 — and fifth straight campaign. The only nine programs to be in the year-end AVCA poll each of the past five seasons are Baylor, Creighton, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford and Texas.
The Bluejays are one of 10 schools (along with Baylor, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin) to have been ranked each of the last 78 polls. The streak began on Sept. 6, 2021 and is a program-record. This year also marks the seventh time that Creighton has been ranked in all 16 polls of a season, joining 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It is also the 36th week overall the Bluejays have been in the Top 10.
Creighton has been ranked in all but six of the past 147 weeks the AVCA has put out a Top 25 poll and 155 times in program history, which ranks 37th-most all-time. Creighton is 261-54 all-time when playing as a ranked team in the AVCA poll. This was the 14th straight campaign that Creighton has spent at least one week in the Top 25.
The year-end top five in the poll consisted of Texas A&M, Kentucky, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin.
Over the last 18 seasons from 2008-2025, 333-of-450 teams (74.0 percent) of teams have been in both the preseason and final polls. Of the teams ranked in the preseason poll released in August, all but preseason No. 2 Penn State, No. 16 Florida, No. 17 Missouri, No. 18 UCLA, No. 22 Georgia Tech, No. 23 Utah and No. 24 Dayton were also ranked in the final poll. Creighton started the 2025 season ranked 12th in the preseason.
In those same 18 seasons from 2008-2025, 408-of-450 teams (90.7 percent) in the preseason top-25 polls would go on to reach the NCAA Tournament, as all but preseason No. 17 Missouri and No. 24 Dayton reached the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
In the year-end version of the official NCAA RPI, Creighton finished No. 7.
| Ranking | Year |
| 24th | 2012 |
| 19th | 2015 |
| 9th | 2016 |
| 16th | 2017 |
| 13th | 2018 |
| 16th | 2019 |
| 22nd | 2021 |
| 21st | 2022 |
| 15th | 2023 |
| 6th | 2024 |
| 10th | 2025 |
Dec. 22 AVCA/TARAFLEX Division I Final WVB Poll
|
Rank
|
School (First-Place Votes Adjusted)
|
Total Points Adjusted
|
Record
|
Previous Week
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
Texas A&M [61]
|
1,525
|
29-4
|
6
|
|
2
|
Kentucky
|
1,452
|
30-3
|
2
|
|
3
|
Nebraska
|
1,385
|
33-1
|
1
|
|
4
|
Pittsburgh
|
1,338
|
30-5
|
4
|
|
5
|
Wisconsin
|
1,310
|
28-5
|
10
|
|
6
|
Texas
|
1,192
|
26-4
|
3
|
|
7
|
Stanford
|
1,072
|
29-5
|
5
|
|
8
|
Purdue
|
1,052
|
27-7
|
12
|
|
9
|
Louisville
|
1,037
|
26-7
|
9
|
|
10
|
Creighton
|
1,012
|
28-6
|
11
|
|
11
|
SMU
|
904
|
27-6
|
7
|
|
12
|
Arizona State
|
879
|
28-4
|
8
|
|
13
|
Indiana
|
732
|
25-8
|
15
|
|
14
|
Kansas
|
708
|
24-11
|
16
|
|
15
|
Minnesota
|
685
|
24-10
|
17
|
|
16
|
Miami (FL)
|
596
|
27-6
|
13
|
|
17
|
Southern California
|
478
|
25-7
|
14
|
|
18
|
TCU
|
424
|
21-11
|
20
|
|
19
|
North Carolina
|
362
|
22-9
|
19
|
|
20
|
Baylor
|
343
|
18-10
|
21
|
|
21
|
Cal Poly
|
256
|
27-8
|
NR
|
|
T-22
|
Colorado
|
232
|
23-9
|
24
|
|
T-22
|
Iowa State
|
232
|
23-8
|
23
|
|
24
|
Tennessee
|
178
|
20-8
|
18
|
|
25
|
BYU
|
107
|
22-9
|
22
|
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Penn State 82; Marquette 43; Utah State 39; Kansas State 36; Michigan 30; Florida 29; Northern Iowa 29; UCLA 23; Western Kentucky 14; San Diego 11; UTEP 3
“We’re very excited to add Marin to our program,” Black said. “She has a tremendously high ceiling as a player, and we can’t wait to begin working with her.”
Collins signs with Georgia from Penn State as a redshirt-freshman. She did not play in 2025 due to injury and will have four years of eligibility as a Bulldog.
In 2024, Collins eclipsed 1,750 career kills at Frontier Central High School in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York, and earned JVA Class of 2025 All‑National Team honors. She was invited to the Under Armour NEXT Series Camp Elite, named First Team AA All‑State in New York, selected First Team All-Western New York by The Buffalo News, and garnered All‑ECIC First Team recognition.
In 2023, Collins appeared on the AVCA Phenom Watchlist and the JVA Watch List (OH, Class of 2025). She received Second Team AA All-State honors in New York, was named The Buffalo News All-Western New York First Team, and earned All‑ECIC First Team distinction, along with an invitation to the Under Armour NEXT Series Camp Elite.
Her freshman season in 2022 saw Collins on the AVCA Phenom Watchlist and the JVA All‑National Team, plus the JVA Watch List. She collected Second Team AA All‑State in New York, The Buffalo News All-Western New York First Team, Coach’s All-Western New York First Team, and All‑ECIC First Team. Academically, she was part of the USMC/AVCA Team Academic Award and recognized as a Scholar Athlete at Frontier Central.
Outside of volleyball, Collins competed on Frontier’s bowling team from her freshman through junior years and was involved with the Girls in Sports Organization.
On the club circuit, Collins played for Niagara Frontier Volleyball from 2014–2024.
The Lake View, New York native is the daughter of Kimberly and Ryan Collins.
Collins joins fellow transfer signee Alyssa Worden, an outside hitter from Iowa.
Four Hamilton College student-athletes have been recognized on the 2025 Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Team, which is selected by the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
Academic All-District Women’s Volleyball Team release
The team honors the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom.
Caitlin Allen ’27, Kathryn Fox ’27, Maggie Nichols ’26 and Ayzlinn Trefren ’28 were each named to the CSC Academic All-District® Team for Division III.
The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes women’s volleyball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Allen appeared in 18 matches with 16 starts, and was first on the team in total blocks with 15 solo blocks and 56 block assists. She was second in the NESCAC with 1.25 blocks per set. Allen also compiled 86 kills and 14 service aces with a .235 hitting percentage.
Fox played in all 19 matches with 11 starts. The junior was one of four players on the team with over 100 kills, registering a career-best 111 on the year. She was also second on the team in blocks with seven solo blocks and 39 block assists.
Nichols played in all 19 matches with 17 starts during her senior season with the Continentals. She produced 54 kills, and was third on the team in blocks with nine solo blocks and 23 block assists.
Trefren appeared in all 19 matches this season with 18 starts. She totaled a team-high 143 kills and a team-high 195 digs. She also contributed 23 service aces, three solo blocks and 13 block assists.
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