Quarter-final day at the elite level of the EA Men’s U18 European Water Polo Championships in Oradea did not disappoint. While Montenegro thrashed France and Italy’s water polo masterclass kept Spain on six goals, the other two clashes were real thrillers. The Greeks’ and the Serbs’ more precise shot-making made the difference in the crucial moments, as they edged out Croatia and Hungary respectively in truly epic battles.
Emotions ran high after Serbia’s thrilling quarter-final win over Hungary in Oradea. Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
Quarter-finals
Montenegro v France 21-11
The French took the lead, but Montenegro responded with a 5-0 storm. The battle gained some extra heat in the second period as just two seconds after France pulled one back, they were awarded a penalty as one of the Montenegrin players entered late, after the refs had already given the sign for the restart. This was a special way to score two goals in two seconds for 5-3 – but even this extra support was short-lived. France held on till 7-5, then the Montenegrins hit four in a row and never looked back.
The Montenegrins were absolutely superior against France, Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
All in all, they netted eight in the second period and added seven more in the third – it was a true power demonstration as they went 18-6 up and there were still eight minutes to play. Their grip on the game was loosening a bit in the fourth, but Montenegro still won by ten to reach the semis.
Croatia v Greece 16-17
The opening period saw some hectic moments with finely played attacks mixed with turnovers and erroneous defending. Just when the Croats seemed to have settled and took a 4-2 lead, the Greeks came back to draw level in 52 seconds, so the first ended in 4-4.
Viktor Toncinic’s action goal kicked off the second, then Greece missed an extra, but Kosmas Patsinilakos equalised with a fine action hit. Greek goalie Dimitrios Berdes came up big as he stopped Maro Susic’s penalty and another after the corner, while still in man-down. Soon Georgios Tsanakakis netted a 6 on 5 which somewhat shifted the momentum as the Greeks could go ahead, still, they were unable to hold on for the lead as the Croats levelled it up three times till halftime. That also showed that the offences were ruling the game at this stage, scoring ten goals alone in this period, five apiece, to make it 9-9 at halftime.
Trends changed only slightly in the third, it was the Croats’ turn to take advantage, but the Greeks caught them up every time. It was another heated battle, filled with great action goals, fine finishes, lucky rebounds also a couple of fine saves in between, those were rarer, though, as this period also brought four goals apiece. The Croats missed a some promising 3 on 2 counters when they could have doubled their lead, while Greece’s giant centre-forward Ilian Angelopoulos hit the bar from an open chance in the last seconds, which kept the 13-all result before the final quarter.
A real team effort enabled the Greeks to oust the mighty Croats. Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
Toncinic’s luckily bouncing ball from the centre made it way to the net 16 seconds into the fourth, but just a small lapse in the defence’s attention was enough for Dimitrios Chatzis to his his fourth from the perimeter for 14-14. Leftie Anter Jerkovic was set to outshine him, though, as he netted a fine one from the wing right away and that was his sixth in the afternoon.
Both sides wasted good one-on-one opportunities with long assists, then just entering the last four minutes Angelopoulos fended off his defender to put the ball to the empty net after a great assist – and Greece were ahead for the first time in the second half. After two of the finest hands chose poor finishes, Susic, then Chatzis, it was Jerkovic’s turn to step up and he levelled it up from the perimeter for 16-16. Chatzis made a crucial steal in a man-down and Panagiotis Maragkoudakis’ pinpoint shot put the Greeks ahead with 1:29 from time and the Croats missed another 6 on 5. The Greeks took no risk, burnt their time. Croatia had 18 seconds to save the match to a shootout but their 7 on 6 didn’t work as Susic dropped the ball and Toncinic’s emergency shot was caught by the goalie, sending Greece to the semis at the end of this 33-goal epic.
Hungary v Serbia 13-14
Players didn’t hold back anything right from the beginning – after three minutes of battling, the Serbs drew first blood, but Hungary also buried their first man-up. Two outstanding blasts followed, by Petar Micanovic, then by Bence Fiedler for 2-2. A nice man-up play gave the lead for the Magyars for the first time, then Kristof Damosy stopped a penalty – but a fierce shot eight seconds from time by Milan Zelic brought the Serbs back to even.
Hungary took a flying start in the second – within 48 seconds they went 5-3 up. But the Serbs didn’t panic – their leftie Luka Vojinovic stunned Damosy with two fine shots from the perimeter for 5-5. Maxim Cseh also hit one from action, the both sides missed a man-up before the Serbs equalised once more, again from a 6 on 5. Mor Benedek stepped up with a nice finish from an extra, then the Magyars earned another exclusion, but this time Cseh hit the bar, and the remaining time was enough for the Serbs to force a man-up and find the perfect finish by Novak Lazic, just 1.9 before the buzzer, for 7-7.
The Serbian shots from the perimeter made the difference in their match against Hungary. Credit:Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
Vojinovic netted his fourth right away after the restart, followed by four minutes of extreme battling with loads of swimming and less precise shotmaking, including one missed man-ups at both ends. Then came a Hungarian man-up, after a time-out, and that let enough time for both sides to refresh their minds and that triggered a series of goals in the last three minutes. The Serbs came out on top as they could score their usual dying-seconds goal from a man-up to lead 8-9.
And Luidi Canepa’s blast early in the fourth gave the Serbs a two-goal lead for the first time. This triggered a special duel – between the Serbs shooters and Mor Benedek. The Serbs found the holes on the Hungarian wall at crucial moments, just when Benedek managed to pull one back soon, and then when, after a nervous phase with a series of misses, he brought the Magyars back to even for 12-12. After Neskovic’s fine 6m shot, Lazic sent the ball home once more in 37 seconds to make it 12-14 with 1:12 to go (the Serbs netted four action goals from the perimeter in the last eight minutes).
Benedek hit his fourth in a row, seventh in total, just 10 second later, keeping his team in the match single-handedly (which, his legendary father Tibor did many times in his heyday). The Magyars had one last possession to force a shootout, but the Serb defence were on high alert and made the last and winning steal.
Cooking from the same recipe as their seniors at the Paris Olympics, they ousted a group-winner in the quarters, after three defeats in the group – and made the semis. We’ll see if they could go all the way too.
Italy v Spain 11-6
After two thrillers, in the session’s last match Italy made sure that the last minutes of this game would not provide the same excitements as the previous ones. They came up with a tactical masterpiece against Spain, played with discipline and precision to down their Mediterranean arch-rival. Limiting a Spanish team to six goals especially in this new water polo in the 25m pool requires special efforts and the Italian boys were up to the task.
They jumped to a 2-0 lead in two minutes, the Spaniards needed five minutes to get on the board, but once they pulled one back, they missed three 6 on 5s in a row, and the counter launched after the third one ended in a penalty, which Federico Trimarchi buried for a 3-1 lead.
Defences worked brilliantly for almost five minutes without letting any exclusions or goals. That took its toll as players got worn out too much in this phase to keep up the tightness in the back – so goals started coming again. Spain hit first, by Ricardo Sordo, from action, but the answer also arrived immediately when Giuseppe Alessandrini put away an extra. That was copied soon, Mauro-Andres Millan netted another one from action, and Alessandrini converted a 6 on 5 again for 5-3. Killing Spain’s last man-up secured that Italy kept its two-goal advantage by halftime.
Spain also missed a man-up early on and soon they paid a heavy price, as this time Alessio Olivi buried two extras in succession and Italy were already up by four. Soon Spain’s outlooks got even darker when they wasted another extra and Alessandrini swam away for a counter to make it 8-3.
A huge clash was more painful for the Spaniards at the end . Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
The emergency time-out from the Spanish bench halted the Italian rush, they killed the next two man-downs, Tiago Carrio netted a fine one from action in between, what’s more, Oriol Hurtado gave some hope for the Spaniards with a last-gasp goal.
And they managed to add a third one early in the fourth, for 8-6 and had two more possessions to cut the gap but turnover fouls ruined their attempts and Antonio Chianese’s goal after a nice steal looked very much like a decisive moment. Indeed, it was, the Spaniards were desperate, but they were unable to make good decisions, went on missing man-ups (including a 5 on 4) and never scored again (in the last 6:32 minutes). On contrary, the Italians added two more from the distance to celebrate their huge win and a well-deserved spot in the semi-finals.
Heartbroken Spanish players after their quarter-final defeat. Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
Classification matches
The Netherlands were unable to maintain the level they had shown at the group stage against their mighty rivals, Hungary, Italy and Greece. After bowing to France, they couldn’t match the speed of the Germans either. The first half was balanced but in the third Germany went ahead by three, and with a couple fast goals early in the fourth, the gap grew to four, at 6-10. The Dutch had a last surge to halve the distance in 34 seconds, but Tobias Scherrieble sent the ball home right away from the next 6 on 5 to make it 8-11 and that killed the rivals’ momentum. Indeed, the Netherlands couldn’t score in the last 5:35 minutes while the Germans added two more to play for the ninth place.
They will have a re-match with Malta, the surprise team here, who won an emotion-filled encounter over Poland. At one stage, tensions reached the boiling point not only in the pool – where three red cards highlighted the young warriors’ sometimes untamed dedication – but in the stands too, where security persons had to separate spectators who appeared ready to clash themselves as the game heated up in the pool.
Team Malta hit historic heights by advancing to the classification match for ninth place through a hard-earned win over Poland. Credit:Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics
And the fight never ceased as it was a toe-to-toe battle. Both sides could have won it in regular time, Poland took the lead from time to time, but Malta always found the way to equalise. After 9-9, the Maltese had a man-up 45 seconds from time, missed it, but the Polish didn’t notice their team-mate standing unmarked in front of the goal. So the match came down to penalties. Adrian Pawlak was unlucky to hit the post twice in the shootout – the first came after a Maltese miss, the second cost the win as it came in the sudden death. The Maltese celebrations were very much similar when a team clinch the gold medal – understandably as Malta has never reached the heights of being able to play for the ninth place at a major age-group tournament.
Turkiye claimed the 13th position as they managed to beat host Romania once more, as on the opening day, and again by a single goal. The 15th went to Georgia who downed Ukraine in an action-packed, 31-goal game – Lukas Khurtsilava led the charge with 8 hits.
Division One, Rio Maior
Among the group-winners Bulgaria and Israel enjoyed easy wins in the quarter-finals as they both took a commanding 9-1 lead by halftime to thrash Lithuania and Slovakia respectively.
The quarter-final day also brought a couple of tough battles in the Division One tournament . Credit: Nikola Krstic/European Aquaics
Moldova fell to Belgium in a thrilling match where the lead was changing constantly. The Belgians had a slim 6-7 advantage before the last break, but Moldova worked hard and managed to shut out their rivals for five minutes while they could score twice to retake the lead for 8-7. The Belgians also kept their composure and Ilyas Viaene netted a man-up to make it even with 2:21 to go. Though they missed a golden opportunity soon, a 6 on 4, later Robin Sergeant put away a simple man-up which turned out to be the winning hit 62 seconds from time as the Moldavians were unable to respond.
Something similar happened in the match between Portugal and Switzerland which also offered a series of twists and turns. The hosts staged a 3-0 run after 1-2, but the Swiss hit back with a 0-4 run to lead 4-6 deep into the third. They still held on for 5-7 with Matteo Ribatti’s action goal in their first possession, but next came another whirlwind from the home side, three hits in a row again with a killed man-down en route. With 4:12 to go, they went 8-7 up and could have closed down the game but missed three 6 on 5s in succession. The Swiss hit back, Aron Horvath buried a man-up with 1:08 on the clock for 8-8 – but their joy was cut short as Rafael Monteiro’s 6m blast found the back of the net 46 seconds from time and the Swiss missed their last extra.
Gray’s Creek’s Taylor Baggett’s senior season was one for the record books.
The Bears’ outside hitter and defensive specialist capped her high school career with a dominant final season that helped Gray’s Creek get to put together a ground-breaking year as the first high school volleyball team in school and county history to make it to an NCHSAA Final Four.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – St. Olaf College recorded its second-highest-ever finish in the fall standings of the Learfield Directors’ Cup by placing 15th out of 429 NCAA Division III institutions, as the standings were announced on Tuesday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
St. Olaf accumulated 241.0 points – its second-highest total ever in the fall – to rank 15th out of the 178 NCAA Division III institutions who earned points this fall. The initial release of the standings included all of the fall results except for the championship game of the NCAA Division III Football Championship. Neither of the institutions competing in the football title game can surpass St. Olaf regardless of the outcome of that game.
The Learfield Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based athletics program, awarding points based on each institution’s national finishes in the NCAA Championships. This fall, St. Olaf’s men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, and women’s volleyball teams contributed to St. Olaf’s point total.
Men’s soccer earned 83 points by advancing to the national semifinals for the second time in program history. Men’s cross country collected 63 points thanks to its 13th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Volleyball added 50 points with its second-round appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship, while women’s cross country picked up 45 points after placing 29th nationally.
This year marked the sixth consecutive fall that St. Olaf has finished among the top 30 institutions in NCAA Division III, with the 15th-place finish being one spot shy of the t-14th finish in 1996-97 for the highest in school history. It was also St. Olaf’s sixth top-20 and eighth top-25 fall finish in the history of the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which first included NCAA Division III in 1995-96.
LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC San Diego Director of Athletics Andy Fee has announced the hiring of Spencer McLachlin as the Tritons’ new women’s volleyball head coach. McLachlin becomes the eighth head coach in program history. The 2026 season will mark UC San Diego’s final in The Big West before the program transitions to the West Coast Conference prior to the 2027 campaign.
“Spencer brings exactly what we need at this moment. He’s helped build winning programs, developed All-Americans, and knows how to compete at the highest level,” Fee said. “His playing career at Stanford and coaching experience at Hawaii, Cal, UCLA, Indiana, and USC give him a deep understanding of what championship volleyball looks like in major conferences. But what really stood out was his approach to the whole scholar-athlete experience. He gets what we’re building here at UC San Diego as we establish ourselves in Division I and look ahead to the West Coast Conference. Our scholar-athletes are going to love playing for him, and I’m confident he’ll have this program competing for championships.”
McLachlin recently completed his third season as an associate head coach for the USC women’s volleyball program. He helped lead the Women of Troy to 25 wins, a fourth-place finish in the ultra-competitive Big Ten, and an NCAA second round appearance. The 2025 team placed six on all-conference teams. In 2024, the Trojans advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third straight year and finished 22-10 overall with a 13-7 mark in the Big Ten (tied for sixth). Setter Mia Tuaniga was named to the AVCA All-America third team. In his first season with the Women of Troy, McLachlin helped USC go 19-13 with a 12-8 mark in Pac-12 matches for a fifth-place finish. Outside hitter Skylar Fields was honored with AVCA All-America first-team recognition.
“I am thrilled to join UC San Diego as the Head Coach of the women’s volleyball program,” McLachlin said. “This is an incredible opportunity for my family and me to be part of an historic and beautiful university and build a program with great potential. I want to thank Andy Fee for trusting my family and me with this role, for his commitment to supporting the future of Triton athletics, and for his vision of the volleyball program specifically. His leadership and commitment to excellence make this an exciting time to be part of the UC San Diego athletic department. Go Tritons!”
Previously, McLachlin served as the associate head coach at Indiana in 2022 where he was responsible for coordinating the defense and blocking. The Hoosiers were 16-16 and went 9-11 in the Big Ten to finish eighth in the conference standings. IU’s nine conference victories were its most since 2010 and the team had its highest finish since the Big Ten expanded to 14 teams (2014).
Prior to Indiana, McLachlin was an assistant coach for the UCLA men’s volleyball program for four years, from 2018-2021. He has also had experience coaching at the international level with the U.S. men’s national team where he was on staffs for squads which competed in the Pan American Cup and NORCECA Champions cup.
Before he joined the UCLA men’s program, McLachlin spent two seasons (2016-17) as an assistant coach at California for the Golden Bears’ women’s team. In 2017, he was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 list, an honor presented to up-and-coming coaching talents across all levels of volleyball. McLachlin got his start in coaching as an assistant for the men’s volleyball program at Hawai’i. During his time with the Warriors, the team earned a bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 seasons.
As a student-athlete, McLachlin competed at Stanford from 2008-11 as an outside hitter. He won a national championship with the Cardinal in 2010 and finished his career among the program’s all-time leaders in kills with 1,288. McLachlin was a senior captain, an All-MPSF second team selection, and received MPSF all-academic team recognition three times.
McLachlin graduated from Stanford with a degree in political science in 2011 and completed a Master of Education in 2012 while serving as a club coach for the Bay-to-Bay Volleyball Club.
As a professional athlete, McLachlin was an outside hitter for Mas NIKI Aiginio in Greece for three years from 2012 to 2014.
McLachlin and his wife Diane have three children: daughters Leila and Malia, and a son, Koa.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era as a member of The Big West inNCAA Division I. The 24-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.comor follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
Hawaii men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade guided the Rainbow Warriors to 27 wins and a Big West Conference championship last season.
The Hawaii men’s volleyball team will open its 2026 season in 10 days ranked No. 2 in the country according to the AVCA National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Preseason Poll released today.
The Rainbow Warriors, who finished 27-6 last season and won a Big West championship before losing in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship, received seven of 25 first-place votes and was eight points behind No. 1 UCLA, which ended Hawaii’s season in a three-set sweep in Columbus, Ohio in May.
Defending national champion Long Beach State received five first-place votes and is ranked No. 3 going into the season, ahead of Pepperdine and No. 5 Southern California, which earned the final first-place vote.
The other Big West teams in the top 20 include No. 6 UC Irvine, No. 10 UC San Diego, No. 11 Cal State Northridge and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.
UH’s nonconferene schedule includes home matches on Jan. 6 and 8 against No. 7 Loyola Chicago and road trips at No. 9 Stanford and No. 13 Penn State.
Hawaii also hosts the fourth-ranked Waves and will play No. 12 Lewis and the top-ranked Bruins in the Outrigger Invitational.
Don’t miss out on what’s happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!
A four-team NIL Tournament in currently scheduled for Feb. 19 and 20 in the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and will feature four of the top five teams in the poll.
Hawaii lost starters Kurt Nusterer and ‘Eleu Choy to graduation last season but return its top four leaders in kills as well as junior setter Tread Rosenthal.
Rosenthal was named to the All-Big West first team along with returning sophomores Adrien Roure and Kristian Titriyski.
UH opens the season against NJIT on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
MADISON, Wis. – The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and LEARFIELD released its Fall Division I Learfield Directors’ Cup standings this Tuesday, with Wisconsin placing eighth after a another successful fall season.
The Badgers finished the season with 236.00 points, within 10 points of Georgetown, Colorado and BYU who finished in seventh, sixth and fifth, respectively. North Carolina finished as the top program with 359.00 points.
This is the third straight fall season where the Badgers have finished within the top-ten schools. UW also was the Big Ten’s top finisher, edging out Washington at No. 10 overall with 228.00 points
Wisconsin’s point total was bolstered this fall by a final four appearance from the volleyball team, led by AVCA All-American Mimi Colyer. The team made its third final-four appearance in the past five seasons, compiling a 28-5 overall record, including a 13-1 stretch in its last 14 matches. Wisconsin finished as the third-ranked volleyball team in Learfield standings, coming up with 83 points.
The men’s cross country team contributed the second most points with 55, after a third place NCAA regional placement led to a 19th place finish at the NCAA Championships in Columbia, Missouri. Liam Newhart led the team with 29:28.5 time at the 10K Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
The Badgers were rewarded 50 points from their women’s soccer team after clincing their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Wisconsin took down three top-10 ranked teams on its way to a 14-6-2 record, peaking with a 3-2 overtime victory over Western Michigan in NCAAs. The Badgers finished the season as the 17th ranked women’s soccer program in the standings.
Additionally, the women’s cross country competed at the NCAA Championships in their fifth consecutive appearance in the final meet of the season. The unit finished in 26th place, providing 48 points to round out the scoring for the Badgers.
The Learfield Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in NCAA Championships.
Wisconsin’s history in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup can be viewed here.
Lauren Lee’s journey to an unprecedented 5,000 career assists for the Hope College volleyball team began on the beach.
The standout Hope setter often traveled to sandy courts with her family as a child. Lee did not need to look far for inspiration to pick up the sport — or to decide where she wanted to play.
“I started playing volleyball because my dad played at the University of Michigan. He was a setter on their men’s team,” Lee said of her father, Dr. Stan Lee, an orthopaedic spine surgeon at Lucent Spine, PLLC, Specialists in Spine Surgery, in the Detroit area. “I grew up watching him play beach volleyball with his friends. I became a setter because of my dad’s passion for the position and the game. He showed me all the tricky things you can do as a setter and how impactful the position can be.”
Lee, a biology major, closed an outstanding four-year career for the Flying Dutch that included numerous individual achievements:
5,001 career assists over 129 matches, a school record;
four All-America selections from the American Volleyball Coaches Association;
four All-MIAA First Team honors, including Most Valuable Player as a senior and Freshman of the Year in 2022;
one AVCA Freshman of the Year award.
Lee played a central role in an exceptional four-year stretch for Hope volleyball.
The Flying Dutch finished as national runner-up in 2023, reached the national semifinals in 2024 and advanced to the national quarterfinals in 2022. Hope earned three consecutive MIAA regular-season championships for the second time in program history and captured back-to-back MIAA Tournament titles for the first time.
Setting the Table
In all, Lee set the table for the Flying Dutch’s success, head coach Becky Schmidt said.
“I’m super proud of Lauren — 5,000 assists is absolutely huge,” Schmidt said. “She’s an incredible setter and just does so much for us. It’s been so much fun to watch.”
Schmidt believes Hope benefited greatly from Lee playing for the Flying Dutch.
“If she were four or five inches taller, she’d be playing in the Big Ten and doing really great things,” Schmidt said. “I am so thankful for her contributions over her four years. She has done really great things.”
Lee is grateful she chose Hope four years ago as well. While the team’s accomplishments have been rewarding and the individual accolades and milestones bring pride, she said they happened because of the people she played with.
“I am super proud of myself, but more importantly, I am thankful for the help of my team for the past four years,” Lee said. “The primary reason I have been able to reach 5,000 assists is because of the amazing hitters who have put the ball away, the passers who have handled serves and swings so that I can have full offensive autonomy, and the coaching staff who has helped us extend our season as long as possible every year.
“I am humbled and grateful to receive the credit and praise, but this milestone is truly a product of a team effort.”
The journey to 5,000 collegiate assists — and so much more — started with logging countless hours on the beach as a young fan.
Like her father, Lee has shown others how to set and assist teammates on the court. It’s a shared family passion.
“I just love the feeling of chasing down the ball and fixing plays,” Lee said. “When it’s perfect, I love setting others up for success because I know I can’t hit the ball as hard as Kamryn Burbridge or Ella Contant. It’s so awesome to see someone hit the ball as hard as possible.”
