Sports
Good Sports: Valley students team up with Fresno State athletics for second annual Camp of Champions
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Hundreds of valley students are splashing into summer.
For the second year in a row, Fresno State Basketball analyst Marc Q. Jones has used his bulldog connections to host the Camp of Champions.
a month-long program created for students from Golden Plains and Washington Unified Districts to team up with Fresno State Athletes.
“Nothing that we can offer will top swimming with our kids, because they want access to the pool they want to learn how to swim,” Golden Plains Unified superintendent Felipe Piedra said.
One of the host sites, the Fresno State aquatics center.
“The mission is to serve a bunch of kids that wouldn’t otherwise have access to a pool facility,” Fresno State head water polo coach Natalie Benson said.
Benson and her bulldogs have also teamed up with the Water Safety Council of Fresno County to educate students in and around the pool.
“Might as well enjoy it in a safe environment,” chairman Mark Simonian said.
With the majority of students coming from rural communities with little to no access to public pools, some are learning to swim for the first time ever.
“So when they do decide to go out on a family outing, out to the lake we want to make sure they’re not a statistic,” Piedra said.
and who better to help than Fresno State water polo.
“Teach them how to be safe around water, how to respect the water, and make sure they know the consequences of not knowing how to swim,” Water Dogs’ junior defender Susanna Martinez.
“1-on-1 work with the kids. deep dive into some of the fears that they’re having,” Water Dogs’ assistant coach Cecilia Leonard said.
Outside of the pool, students are also getting a first-time feel for life on a college campus.
“Making our kids feel like they belong like this is their second home,” Piedra said.
“It starts boosting their confidence to say ‘Hey mom and dad, I want to go to college,” Sitalic Luna with the Washington Unified School District said.
With the Water Dogs’ keeping safety top of mind, they’re also hoping to gain some new fans along the way.
“You are nothing without the people around you. We all want to have a fun, happy, safe summer but we all know it gets hot here so we want to stay safe,” coach Benson said.
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Sports
Kentucky Volleyball Final Four Watch Party Set for Thursday at Drake’s Lansdowne – UK Athletics
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Big Blue Nation is invited to cheer on Kentucky Volleyball in the NCAA Final Four at the official watch party hosted at Drake’s Lansdowne, on Thursday, Dec. 18.
The Wildcats face Wisconsin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Texas A&M vs. Pitt match, which begins at 6:30 p.m. ET. Kentucky’s match is expected to start around 9 p.m. ET.
Fans at the Lansdowne location can enjoy UK Volleyball promotional items and giveaways, with tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Landsdowne Drakes is located at 3347 Tates Creek Road in Lexington,
Can’t make it to Lansdowne? All Drake’s locations in Kentucky will show the match, so you can find a spot near you to support the Wildcats.
Drake’s Kentucky Locations:
Lexington
- Lansdowne – 3347 Tates Creek Road
- Brannon Crossing – 390 E. Brannon Road, Nicholasville
- Hamburg – 1880 Pleasant Ridge Drive
- Leestown – 1735 Sharkey Way
Louisville
- Hurstbourne – 2651 S. Hurstbourne Parkway
- Outer Loop – 3501 Outer Loop
- Paddock Shops – 3921 Summit Plaza Drive
- St. Matthews – 3939 Shelbyville Road
Other Locations
- Elizabethtown – 151 The Loop
- Bowling Green – 3267 Ken Bale Blvd
- Owensboro – 3050 Highland Pointe Drive
- Florence – 6805 Houston Road
- Danville – 2596 South Danville Bypass
- Pikeville – 175 Lee Ave.
Join us and be part of the excitement as Kentucky Volleyball competes for a spot in the national championship match!
Sports
Florida Volleyball Adds Three Transfers to 2026 Roster
Arriving for the spring 2026 semester, Holladay and Leban each bring one year of collegiate experience, while Chaney arrives with three.
“Selena and Bri are talented freshmen who offer both production and upside,” Florida Head Coach Ryan Theis said. “Kami gives us a proven point scorer and while we’ll add a few more pieces between now and August, we’re thrilled with this start.”
The trio joins incoming freshman opposite/outside hitter Nadi’ya Shelby as newcomers on Florida’s 2026 roster.
Details on Chaney, Holladay and Leban are below.
Kamryn (Kami) Chaney
- Position: Outside Hitter
- Class: Senior
- Height: 6-1
- Hometown: Park Forest, Illinois
- Previous Teams: Vanderbilt (2025), Princeton (2023-24)
- High School: Marist
At Vanderbilt
Honors:
- TSWA Volleyball Player of the Week – Sept. 23
- Recorded a double-double vs. UC Irvine (19 kills/11 digs)
- Black Student-Athlete Group Executive Board – Treasurer
2025 as a junior: Saw action in 17 matches and led the Commodores attack 12 times and behind the service line in eight matches… Finished with double-digit kills 12 times, including three with 20 or more… Season-best 22 kills against California (Sept. 10)… Matched career-best six aces against Western Kentucky (Sept. 16)… Led Vanderbilt in aces with 33 and totaled 218 kills, .182 hitting %, 94 digs,25 blocks and 264.5 points…Averaged 4.01 points per set, 3.30 kills per set, 0.50 aces per set, 1,42 digs per set and 0.38 blocks per set
At Princeton
Honors:
- Ivy League Player of the Year (2024)
- First Team All-Region (2024)
- First Team All-Ivy League (2024)
- Ivy League All-Tournament Team (2024)
- #9, Most Kills in A Season (421, 2024)
- Second Team All-Ivy League (2023)
- 4x Ivy League Player of the Week (Nov. 18 2024, Nov. 4 2024, Oct. 21 2024, Sept. 16 2024)
- Ivy League Rookie of the Week (Oct. 16, 2023)
2024 as a sophomore: Led the Ivy League and ranked 16th nationally in points-per-set (5.20) … led the Ivy league and ranked 24th nationally in kills-per-set (4.43) … led the Ivy League in points (494) and kills (421) … ranked second in the Ivy League in service aces (48) and service aces-per-set (0.42) … her season-high 34 kills that came on a .484 hitting percentage against High Point on Sept. 21 were the eighth-most kills recorded in a five set match by any player in the 2024 season … became the first Ivy League player Maddie Lord of Penn of Penn on Oct. 11, 2014, to have 34 kills in a match … recorded 12 double-doubles … exceeded 20 kills in eight matches … tallied 25 kills, a season-high 16 digs and a season-high seven blocks on Sept. 13 against St. John’s … recorded 25 kills on a .532 hitting percentage, 13 digs and two service aces against Yale on Nov. 1 … accumulated 24 kills on a .404 hitting percentage and four digs against Yale on Oct. 5 … had 24 kills, hit .358 and had four digs on Sept. 28 against Penn … contributed 23 kills on a .400 hitting percentage and 11 digs at Cornell on Oct. 19 … finished with 22 kills, 10 digs and three blocks at UMBC on Sept. 21 … compiled 20 kills on a .357 hitting percentage, 10 digs and four blocks on Nov. 16 at Harvard
2023 as a freshman: Led the Tigers and ranked second in the Ivy League in points per set (3.86) … led the Tigers and ranked fourth in the Ivy League kills per set (3.27) … led the Tigers and ranked 10th in the Ivy League in service aces per set (0.33) … tied the team-high and ranked 10th in the Ivy League in service aces (24) … appeared in 21 matches and 73 sets … recorded 42 digs and 32 blocks … had a season-high 25 kills on a .417 hitting percentage in the Tigers’ win over Dartmouth on Nov. 10 … recorded 17 kills, three digs and two service aces at Harvard on Oct. 6 … finished with 16 kills, five service aces and three digs in the Tigers’ win at Dartmouth on Oct. 7 … tallied 13 kills, a season-high six service aces, four digs and three blocks on Oct. 14 in Princeton’s win over Cornell … finished with 15 kills, four digs and three blocks at UMBC on Sept. 8 … had a season-high four blocks in the Tigers’ victory over Penn on Sept. 22 … had double digit kills in 13 matches
Why Chaney chose the University of Florida
“Florida checked all the boxes for me. They have the best combination of elite academics and high-level athletics which is super important for me. How could I say no to Gainesville and the opportunities Florida can bring? Go Gators!”
| Career Stats | |||||||||||||||
| Year | S | MP | Kills | E | TA | Hit. Pct. | A | SA | SErr | D | BS | BA | TB | BErr | PTS |
| 2023 | 73 | 21 | 239 | 126 | 650 | 0.174 | 2 | 24 | 34 | 47 | 6 | 26 | 32 | 2 | 282.0 |
| 2024 | 95 | 26 | 421 | 151 | 968 | 0.279 | 16 | 40 | 62 | 222 | 10 | 46 | 56 | 5 | 494.0 |
| 2025 | 66 | 17 | 218 | 113 | 578 | 0.182 | 6 | 33 | 67 | 94 | 2 | 23 | 25 | 3 | 264.5 |
| Totals: | 234 | 64 | 878 | 390 | 2,196 | 0.222 | 24 | 97 | 163 | 363 | 18 | 95 | 213 | 10 | 1,040.5 |
Brianna (Bri) Holladay
- Position: Middle Blocker
- Class: Sophomore
- Height: 6-3
- Hometown: Leesburg, Va.
- Previous Teams: Virginia Tech
- High School: Riverside
At Virginia Tech
Honors:
- Earned All-Tournament Team honors at both the Blue Hen Invitational and the Seahawk Classic
- Named MVP of the Hokie Invitational
2025 as a freshman: In her rookie campaign, the Leesburg, Va., native appeared in 30 of Virginia Tech’s 31 matches, recording 108 blocks. She led the Hokies in blocks in 12 matches and posted five or more blocks 11 times during the season. Holladay added three double-digit kill performances and recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 13 kills and 10 blocks in Virginia Tech’s season finale against Syracuse on Nov. 28.
High School: Earned First Team All-State, All-Region and All-District selections in 2024… Named the 2024 State Player of the Year… Earned 2024 County Player of the Year honors and was named First Team All-Metropolitan… Earned Earned First Team All-State, All-Region and All-District selections in 2023… Named to the Second Team All-Metropolitan in 2023… Is an AP Scholar with Distinction… Earned the Academic Excellence Award four times.
Why Holladay chose the University of Florida
“I chose Florida Volleyball because the program represents a legacy of excellence that inspires every player to set a higher standard. I value the opportunity to represent Florida on the court and develop under the guidance of the new coaching staff. The passionate Gator fan base and strong support for student-athletes create an environment where I know I will be pushed to excel. Beyond athletics, the university’s strong academic reputation, particularly in engineering, will prepare me for a career after volleyball.”
| Career Stats | |||||||||||||||
| Year | S | MP | Kills | E | TA | Hit. Pct. | A | SA | SErr | D | BS | BA | TB | BErr | PTS |
| 2025 | 95 | 30 | 158 | 49 | 332 | .328 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 98 | 108 | 12 | 224.0 |
| Totals: | 95 | 30 | 158 | 49 | 332 | .328 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 10 | 98 | 108 | 12 | 224.0 |
Selena Leban
- Position: Outside Hitter
- Class: Sophomore
- Height: 6-0
- Hometown: Nova Gorica, Slovenia
- Previous Teams: Kansas
- High School: Gimnazija Šiška
At Kansas
2025 as a freshman: Appeared in 21 of the Jayhawks’ 35 matches, posting double-digit kills seven times and double-digit digs four times. Recorded back-to-back double-doubles, including a career-best 20 kills and 11 digs against then-No. 2 Penn State on Aug. 25, followed by 14 kills and 10 digs against then-No. 8 Wisconsin on Aug. 29.
High School: Competed for Slovenia on the national stage since 2019, beginning with the U16/U17 European Championship…. The European Golden League in 2024 was her 10th competition within the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV)… In 42 career CEV matches, Leban has recorded 289 kills, 52 service aces and 32 blocks…. Also competed in the 2020 and 2023 European Cups for her club.
| Career Stats | |||||||||||||||
| Year | S | MP | Kills | E | TA | Hit. Pct. | A | SA | SErr | D | BS | BA | TB | BErr | PTS |
| 2025 | 67 | 21 | 147 | 74 | 425 | .172 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 126 | 1 | 28 | 29 | 5 | 177.0 |
| Totals: | 67 | 21 | 147 | 74 | 425 | .172 | 11 | 15 | 32 | 126 | 1 | 28 | 29 | 5 | 177.0 |
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Sports
“I’m Lucky To Be At A Volleyball School”
KANSAS CITY – Dan Fisher sat at the podium Wednesday afternoon inside the T-Mobile Center, fielding questions about roster turnover, the transfer portal and about how his Pitt volleyball program keeps reloading year after year. As the Panthers prepare to make their fifth consecutive appearance in the national semifinal on Thursday night against Texas A&M, Fisher reflected on the program he’s built.
Then came his answer, simple and profound in its honesty.
“I’m lucky to be at a volleyball school.”
Eight words that capture everything about what Fisher has built. Not a school with a volleyball program. A volleyball school.
The distinction matters.
With all the roster turnover experienced from 2024 to 2025, Fisher and his staff didn’t panic.
They pivoted. They recruited. They rebuilt.
And here they are at the Final Four again, with a roster that looks completely different from the one that took the floor a season ago in Louisville.
“We had to pivot pretty quickly,” Fisher said. “I’m just really proud of the work my staff did to get a team in place to be back here.”
But the work goes deeper than Xs and Os, deeper than recruiting rankings or transfer portal additions. Fisher has built something sustainable at Pitt, something that transcends any single player or season. He’s built a culture, and more importantly, a family.
More Than Volleyball
For Fisher, the consistency hasn’t come from chasing perfection, but from setting standards and trusting people to grow into them.
Olivia Babcock and Bre Kelley, both All-Americans and leaders on this Final Four roster, describe a program that demands excellence without suffocating it.
“We have a standard we want to hold ourselves to,” Babcock said. “But it’s not the end of the world if we don’t hit it right away. That takes pressure off and it lets us get better every day.”
Kelley echoed that balance, pointing to Fisher’s ability to coach individuals as much as athletes.
“He builds real relationships with us off the court,” she said. “So when things get hard, when he’s pushing you, you know it’s coming from a place of care. He believes you can reach that level.”
This year’s team has needed that flexibility more than most. With so many new faces, the Panthers had to build chemistry on the fly while maintaining championship-level play. The result? A dominant season that has ended up back at the Final Four.
“This is a very new team, but so many people have been here before,” Babcock said. “We were able to prepare the newer players coming into this experience, what to expect.”
Playing for Something Bigger
Standing on the precipice of another Final Four, both Babcock and Kelley emphasized something that matters more than wins and losses: they’re playing for each other.
“Every time I step on the court, it’s just to have fun with my friends,” Kelley said. “Obviously, it’s hard to not give in to the pressure of these moments, but you just kind of look at your six-foot world, which is just the people on the court.”
That “six-foot world” philosophy – focusing on the teammates beside you rather than the noise around you – has become a mantra for this group. It’s how they’ve dominated elite competition. It’s how they’ve stayed locked in through adversity. And it’s how they plan to approach tomorrow’s national semifinal match against Texas A&M.
“We just want to play volleyball,” Babcock said. “This game is supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be severely taxing on your mind and body. I just want to play ball with this team and play to the best ability that we can and have a blast on this court.”
The Evolution of a Powerhouse
Fisher ponders a question about when he felt his program had arrived.
The foundation took years to build, player development that used to span five-year arcs rather than single seasons. But somewhere around last year, he admits, the perception shifted.
“Probably last year, with us being ranked number one a lot, it shifted from us being looked at as this new kid to, ‘Oh yeah, Pitt’s number one,'” Fisher said. “That was the new shift.”
Maintaining that standard through roster turnover and the chaotic modern college landscape? That’s the real challenge.
“The hardest part is how much the college landscape has changed,” Fisher acknowledged. “People are going to schools for different reasons, recruiting’s changed. As a collegiate coach, you need to evolve and adapt and embrace it.”
But even with all the changes, one thing remains constant: Fisher’s commitment to his players beyond volleyball.
“The most rewarding part is always the relationships,” he said. “The best thing as a coach is to see somebody maybe become better or to do something they didn’t think they could do. To be part of that journey is the best part.”
A Volleyball School
Back to those eight words: “I’m lucky to be at a volleyball school.”
Fisher wasn’t bragging. He was expressing genuine gratitude for an administration that supports the program, for fans who pack Fitzgerald Field House and for a city that has embraced this team as its own.
“We have a newer athletic director (Allen Greene) that’s been incredibly supportive of us,” Fisher said. “I’m lucky to be at the school I’m at.”
As the Panthers prepare for their fifth straight national semifinal appearance, they carry with them the weight of looking for their first appearance in the national championship match and the lightness of a team that genuinely loves playing together. They carry Fisher’s standards without his expectations. They carry the knowledge that they’re playing for something bigger than themselves.
Most of all, they carry the confidence that comes from knowing their coach sees them, truly, as more than just volleyball players.
That’s what it means to be at a volleyball school. That’s what Dan Fisher has built at Pitt.
Five straight Final Fours. A new roster. The same standard. The same coach who feels lucky to be at a volleyball school that just keeps winning.
Sports
Louisell Named AVCA All-American – James Madison University Athletics
Louisell’s selection marks the fourth for a JMU player in program history and first since Sophie Davis was also named an honorable mention selection following the 2023 season.
The outside hitter and 2025 Sun Belt Player of the Year joins Davis (2023), M’Kaela White (2018), and Janey Goodman (2016) as players to be honored by the AVCA. Louisell was the only Sun Belt player to be named an All-American.
Louisell finished the 2025 season with 605 kills, the most for a JMU player in the Division I era (1986-present). The outside hitter also set a record with her average of 4.80 kills per set, with her kill and kills per set marks both ranking among the nation’s best.
The native of Grand Rapids, Mich., had double-digit kills in all 31 matches, including 12 with 20 or more kills and two with 30 or more.
Against Georgia State on Oct. 4, Louisell finished with 37 kills, breaking the program single-match record which had stood for over 40 years. Three weeks later against Georgia Southern, she broke her own record, finishing with 38 kills and 20 digs in a five-set win over the Eagles.
She remains the only player in the sport with at least 35 kills and 20 digs in the same match this season.
Sports
No. 3 Volleyball Faces No. 1 Pittsburgh in Final Four – Texas A&M Athletics
The Aggies punched their first ticket to the national semifinals following a pair of five set victories at the Lincoln Regional. They faced No. 2 seed Louisville in the Sweet 16, reverse sweeping the Cardinals to secure the program’s third Elite Eight berth. They followed that up the next day handing the undefeated No. 1 overall seed Nebraska Cornhuskers their first loss of the season and first home loss since 2022 to go further than any team in Texas A&M history had gone.
In the opening contest of the regional the Aggies embodied their team saying, ‘grit’, as they came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Louisville. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla set the tone for the weekend, blocking a program postseason record 12 swings in the match. Offensively, three Aggies hit double-digit kills paced by Logan Lednicky’s 20 and followed by Kyndal Stowers and Emily Hellmuth who added 17 and 12, respectively.
Following that up two days later, the Maroon & White took down the top-ranked Cornhuskers marking the second time in program history they had defeated the nation’s best and first time in 30 years. In what was an instant classic, Texas A&M secured the victory thanks to a complete team performance which included team postseason records in kills (75), blocks (17) and aces (9).
The Matchup
Thursday’s matchup versus Pittsburgh will be the seventh all-time meeting between the programs. The Panthers hold an advantage in the series at 4-2, but that margin shrink by one when they face off on a neutral court to 3-2. Pittsburgh claimed the most recent matchup between the teams, winning in three sets in 2022.
Texas A&M holds the slight advantage in games played on a neutral court this year at 4-1 compared to the Panthers’ 3-1. When playing away from in totality the Aggies boast a 16-3 record, while Pittsburgh is 13-4.
Looking at the stat sheet, the Maroon & White lead Pittsburgh in three of the seven team statistical categories including kills per set, assists per set and digs per set, while the Panthers leads in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces per set and blocks per set.
Tracks and Trends
Logan Lednicky has recorded double-digit kills in her last 21 matches and passed Hollann Hans for the rally-scoring kills record and ranks third overall in career kills at Texas A&M.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla has logged five or more blocks in her last five games and is six blocks away from tying the program record for career blocks of 562. She is also one block from the single season record.
The Aggies have recorded 10 or more blocks as a team in five-consecutive games.
Streaming & Stats
Fans can watch the match on the ESPN and follow stats on 12thman.com.
Follow the Aggies
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.
Sports
No. 3 Volleyball earns three AVCA All-America honors
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball saw three athletes earn All-America honors on Wednesday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced.
Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford was named a First Team All-American for the second-straight season, first with Texas. Stafford led the Longhorns this season in kills (516), service aces (33) and points (580.5). After 30 matches, Stafford averaged 4.69 kills per set and hit for .360. On top of her offense, the AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist added 52 blocks and a team-leading 11 solo blocks.
Her 516 kills in her first year as a Longhorn is the sixth-most in a single season in UT history, while her 4.69 kills per set ranks eighth. Stafford later climbed to No. 5 on the Individual Match Records list with 32 kills.
Freshman Cari Spears was named a Third Team All-American after starting all 30 matches as a rightside. The Frisco, Texas native was named the SEC Freshman of the Week five times, was a two-time SEC player of the Week and AVCA Player of the Week once. It was the first time in two years a freshman earned the weekly honor. Spears ended the year with the second-most kills on the team (358) and combined for 3.25 kills per set and hit .295.
Senior libero Emma Halter earned Honorable Mention in her final year as a Longhorn. Halter ended the season with 396 digs, 167 assists and 24 service aces. In four years, Halter totaled 1,307 digs – the eighth-most in Texas history for an individual’s career. She also broke the Texas record in digs in a three-set match against Florida A&M with 25.
Wednesday’s honors gave the Longhorns their 62nd All-American and 115th honor.
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