Sports
Huskers Head to Ord for Spring Match – University of Nebraska
MATCH PREVIEW• Nebraska will play its second and final spring match against South Dakota State in Ord on Saturday at 2 p.m. The match will take place at Ord High School. Tickets to the match sold out in 27 minutes. • For the fourth consecutive year, the Huskers’ spring match will be televised statewide on Nebraska […]

MATCH PREVIEW
• Nebraska will play its second and final spring match against South Dakota State in Ord on Saturday at 2 p.m. The match will take place at Ord High School. Tickets to the match sold out in 27 minutes.
• For the fourth consecutive year, the Huskers’ spring match will be televised statewide on Nebraska Public Media and streamed online on B1G+. In addition to television and streaming coverage, the match will air on select Huskers Radio Network affiliates and the official Huskers App.
• The trip back to Ord continues Nebraska’s tradition of touring the state for spring volleyball matches. Since 2007, Nebraska has played spring matches in North Platte, Scottsbluff, Grand Island, Norfolk, Wayne, Ogallala, Kearney and McCook.
• Huskers Radio Network with John Baylor and Lauren (Cook) West will broadcast all the action on their volleyball affiliate stations, on Huskers.com and on the Huskers App.
ABOUT THE HUSKERS
• Nebraska finished the 2024 season with a 33-3 record and reached the NCAA Semifinals for the second year in a row and seventh time in the last 10 years.
• Nebraska won its 36th all-time conference title and fifth Big Ten title with a 19-1 record in Big Ten play, sharing co-champion honors with Penn State. The Huskers went back-to-back as Big Ten champions for the second time, also accomplishing that feat in 2016 and 2017.
• The Huskers’ 33 wins tied for the most victories by a Husker team since the 2000 national championship team went 34-0.
• Nebraska went 8-1 against top-10 teams in 2024. The Huskers’ eight wins against top-10 teams tied the school record, as the 1995 national championship team also had eight victories against top-10 opponents.
• The Huskers ranked sixth nationally and first in the Big Ten in opponent hitting percentage at .143. NU led the nation in opponent hitting percentage in 2022 and 2023.
• Nebraska enters 2025 campaign with 1,499 all-time victories and is looking to become the first Division I volleyball program to reach 1,500 all-time wins.
SCOUTING REPORT: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
• South Dakota State went 27-3 last year and won the Summit League regular-season title. The Jackrabbits made their second NCAA Tournament appearance in the Division I era and first since 2007.
• Sylvie Zgonc, the Summit League Player of the Year in 2024, led the Jacks with 4.37 kills per set. Sydni Schetnan added 2.49 kills per set and 1.29 blocks per set.
• South Dakota State ranked 14th nationally in blocks per set with 2.74. The Jackrabbits were strong defensively with an opponent hitting percentage of .162, which ranked 17th in the country.
SERIES HISTORY
• Nebraska is 2-0 all-time against South Dakota State, winning 3-0 in 1975 and 2007. The latter was an NCAA First Round match at the NU Coliseum.
HUSKERS SWEEP KU IN SOLD-OUT SPRING MATCH
• The Nebraska volleyball team took the court for the first time under head coach Dani Busboom Kelly and impressed with a sweep of Kansas in front of a sold-out crowd of 8,592 in John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center last Saturday night.
• The teams agreed to play four sets no matter the outcome, and the Huskers showed out with a 25-20, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22 win while experimenting with different lineup combinations throughout the match.
• Andi Jackson and Rebekah Allick each had 11 kills and four blocks while hitting .556 and .524, respectively. Hunter tallied 11 kills and hit .563 in her first action as a Husker. Harper Murray chipped in 10 kills, and Teraya Sigler had six kills and Taylor Landfair posted four.
• Bergen Reilly and Campbell Flynn split time at setter. Reilly had 19 assists and eight digs, while Flynn had 23 assists and three digs.
• Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch both wore the libero jersey for two sets. Choboy had 18 digs and Mauch had 12.
• For the match, NU hit .285 and Kansas hit .214. The Huskers had eight blocks and served six aces. Kansas had four blocks and served four aces.
ROTATION RUNDOWN
• Junior outside hitter Harper Murray was an AVCA Second Team All-American last year, leading the Huskers in kills with 3.40 per set and a team-high 39 service aces. Murray is a two-time All-Big Ten First Team selection and two-time AVCA All-American.
• Junior setter Bergen Reilly is the first player in Big Ten history to win Big Ten Setter of the Year as both a freshman and sophomore, and she is coming off her second straight AVCA All-America Second Team honor. Reilly averaged 11.08 assists per set in 2024 while leading the Huskers to a .284 hitting percentage, their best since 2016.
• Junior middle blocker Andi Jackson had a breakout year in 2024, earning AVCA All-America First Team and All-Big Ten First Team. Jackson averaged 2.62 kills per set with a .439 hitting percentage, which ranked sixth in the nation. She also put up 1.18 blocks per set.
• Senior middle blocker Rebekah Allick recorded 1.82 kills per set in 2024 with a career-best .357 hitting percentage. She had a team-high 1.43 blocks per set, which ranked third among Big Ten players and 14th nationally. Allick ranks sixth in school history with 415 career blocks entering the 2025 season.
• Senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair returns after starting 20 matches in 2024, averaging 2.49 kills per set.
• Maisie Boesiger, Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch all return in the back row for the Big Red. Mauch, a sophomore, had 196 digs and 21 aces in her first year as a Husker last season. Choboy, a junior, had 185 digs and 36 set assists. Boesiger, entering her senior season, played in nine matches as a serving sub in 2024.
• Skyler Pierce will look to make an impact at outside hitter after redshirting in her first year at NU. Pierce had an accomplished prep career at Olathe Northwest in Kansas and was the MVP of the Under Armour All-America Game in 2024.
SIX FRESHMEN SIGNED FOR 2025
• Nebraska has six freshmen signed for the 2025 season, though only four are on the spring roster.
• The four freshmen already enrolled at Nebraska are Campbell Flynn (6-3, Setter), Ryan Hunter (6-2, Opposite Hitter), Keri Leimbach (5-4, Libero) and Teraya Sigler (6-3, Outside Hitter).
• The other two who will join this summer are Kenna Cogill (6-4, Middle Blocker) and Manaia Ogbechie (6-3, Middle Blocker).
BUSBOOM KELLY DEBUTS AS NEW HEAD COACH
• Nebraska native Dani Busboom Kelly was named the fourth head coach in program history on Jan. 29, 2025 by Nebraska Director of Athletics Troy Dannen.
• Busboom Kelly succeeds her former coach and mentor, John Cook, who announced his retirement following the 2024 season after 25 seasons as Nebraska’s head volleyball coach.
• A Husker national champion player and assistant coach, Busboom Kelly spent eight years (2017-24) building Louisville into a national power. The Cardinals reached two NCAA Championship matches, three NCAA Semifinals, five regional finals and won four ACC titles.
• Busboom Kelly compiled a 203-44 (.822) record in her eight seasons at Louisville, including a 120-15 (.889) mark from 2021-24, which was the second-best winning percentage in the country during that span. In 2024, the Cardinals reached the NCAA Championship match for the second time in three seasons.
• Busboom Kelly was the starting libero on Nebraska’s 2006 national championship team, and she was an assistant coach when the Huskers won the 2015 national championship in Omaha. She took the helm at Louisville late in 2016 after being named AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year in her final season as a Husker assistant, and she guided the Cardinals to heights the program had never experienced.
• In her first season at Louisville in 2017, Busboom Kelly took over a program coming off a 12-18 season and led UofL to a 24-7 record, an ACC title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Picked eighth in the ACC preseason poll, she coached two players to major conference postseason awards, ACC Setter of the Year (Wilma Rivera) and ACC Defensive Player of the Year (Molly Sauer). For her efforts, she was named the AVCA East Region Coach of the Year for the first of four times at Louisville. Following her first season, Busboom Kelly was named the head coach of the U.S. Collegiate National Team Europe Tour, leading them to the gold medal in the European Global Challenge.
• The Cardinals continued to improve each season, reaching the NCAA Tournament Second Round in 2018 and the program’s first-ever NCAA Regional Final in 2019. During the shortened 2020-21 season, Busboom Kelly’s Cardinals went 15-3 and won the ACC Championship, and she was named ACC Coach of the Year.
• Louisville broke through in a big way in 2021, winning 32 straight matches to begin the season before finishing the year in the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history. Busboom Kelly was again named ACC Coach of the Year as well as AVCA National Coach of the Year, as the Cardinals achieved their first No. 1 ranking in program history. She became the first woman in NCAA history to coach an undefeated regular season, and two Louisville players (Tori Dilfer and Anna Stevenson) earned the program’s first-ever AVCA All-America First Team honors.
• The Cardinals finished 31-3 in 2022 and reached the NCAA Final for the first time in school history, falling to top-seeded Texas. Busboom Kelly was the ACC Coach of the Year for the third year in a row, as the Cardinals won their third straight ACC title. Claire Chaussee was voted ACC Player of the Year, and Amaya Tillman won the NCAA Elite 90 Award for having the best cumulative GPA at the NCAA Championship.
• After going 27-5 in 2023 with another regional final appearance and another ACC Player of the Year honor (Anna DeBeer), the Cardinals began the 2024 season with pressure to get back to the NCAA Semifinals, which were being played at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Not only did the Cardinals qualify for the NCAA Semifinals in their own city, they also impressively turned aside top-seeded Pittsburgh, 3-1, despite losing their top hitter DeBeer for the tournament early in set four.
• Prior to her time at Louisville, Busboom Kelly played a vital role on the Husker coaching staff, assisting with Nebraska’s setters, liberos, outside hitters and recruiting. Regarded as one of the best recruiters in the nation, Busboom Kelly helped Nebraska’s resurgence to the forefront of college volleyball, as the Huskers captured the 2015 NCAA Championship at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, the same place Busboom Kelly won the national title as a player for the Huskers in 2006.
REGENTS APPROVE NAMING OF JOHN COOK ARENA
• The home of Nebraska Volleyball will now officially bear the name of one of the legendary coaches in the history of the sport, as the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the naming of John Cook Arena at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
• Cook retired in January following a remarkable 25-year run as the Huskers’ head coach. He guided the Huskers to four national championships, 12 NCAA Semifinal appearances and 14 conference championships. Cook achieved a career record of 883-176 (.834), the fifth-best winning percentage all-time for a Division I volleyball coach. His record of 722-103 at Nebraska is the best winning percentage (.875) for any DI program over the last 25 years.
• In addition to the naming of John Cook Arena, the project also includes a bronze statue honoring Cook on the north side of the Devaney Sports Center. Nationally recognized sculpture artist and Nebraska native George Lundeen has been commissioned to produce the life-size tribute to Cook and his career.
• The court inside John Cook Arena will continue to hold the name of Terry Pettit Court to recognize Cook’s predecessor and fellow Hall of Famer. Additionally, the full athletics complex will continue to be named the Bob Devaney Sports Center in honor of Nebraska Hall of Fame football coach and long-time athletic director Bob Devaney.
• The new John Cook Arena signage and the bronze statue will be unveiled later this year.
AVCA SHOWCASE COMING TO PINNACLE BANK ARENA
• Nebraska will take part in the 2025 AVCA First Serve Showcase at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Aug. 22-24.
• The 2025 AVCA First Serve Showcase will feature 10 of the nation’s top teams. Two matches will be played each day on Aug. 22, Aug. 23 and Aug. 24 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. To cap off the showcase, two matches will be played on Monday, Aug. 25 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
• Nebraska will face Pittsburgh on Friday, Aug. 22 and Stanford on Sunday, Aug. 24 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Match order and start times have not been set yet.
• Other matchups at Pinnacle Bank Arena will include Florida vs. Stanford on Aug. 22, Creighton vs. Penn State on Aug. 23, Kansas vs. Vanderbilt on Aug. 23, and Florida vs. Pittsburgh on Aug. 24.
• On Aug. 25 in Sioux Falls, Minnesota will face Texas A&M, and Kansas will play Penn State.
HUSKERS TO PLAY IN NASHVILLE EVENT IN 2025
• Nebraska will participate in the Broadway Block Party, hosted by the Nashville Sports Council and ESPN Events, this upcoming season at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The event will feature three matches between Big Ten and SEC teams.
• The Huskers will take on Kentucky at 11 a.m. (CT) on Sunday, Aug. 31 on ABC. Purdue and Tennessee will play 30 minutes following the conclusion of that match on ESPN2. lllinois and Vanderbilt will square off to end the tripleheader on SEC Network.
• The non-conference matchup against Kentucky will be the fourth straight year the teams have met early in the season. In 2024, Nebraska beat Kentucky 3-1 at the AVCA First Serve Showcase in Louisville, Ky.
BIG TEN ANNOUNCES 2025 VOLLEYBALL MATCHUPS
• The Big Ten Conference announced its volleyball conference schedule rotation for the 2025 season on Feb. 27.
• Nebraska will play three opponents both home and away – Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State. Double-play opponents were determined with consideration for competitive balance, geography and rivalries.
• The Huskers will host Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State, Maryland, Northwestern, Washington and Oregon.
• Nebraska will travel to Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA and USC.
• Each Big Ten school in the Central and Eastern time zone will make a single trip to the Pacific time zone during the season.
RODRIGUEZ WINS AAU JAMES E. SULLIVAN AWARD
• Former Nebraska volleyball libero Lexi Rodriguez made history on April 15, becoming the first Nebraska volleyball student-athlete to win the AAU James E. Sullivan Award, presented annually to the most exceptional athlete at the collegiate, Olympic, or other similarly elite level in the United States.
• Rodriguez was announced as the winner of the 95th AAU Sullivan Award at the New York Athletic Club. The other finalists were Trey Augustine (Ice Hockey, Michigan State), Cooper Flagg (Basketball, Duke), Ashton Jeanty (Football, Boise State), Lee Kiefer (Fencing, USA) and Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating, USA).
• As well as honoring athletic excellence, the AAU Sullivan award also recognizes the chosen athlete’s character and honors their quality of leadership, citizenship and sportsmanship.
• A native of Sterling, Ill., Rodriguez joins a renowned list of recipients. Last year, Caitlin Clark became the first two-time winner of the award. Other prior winners include Michael Phelps, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Michelle Kwan, Peyton Manning, Simone Biles, Carl Lewis and Carissa Moore. Rodriguez is just the third volleyball player to earn the award, joining Lauren Carlini (2016) and Kathryn Plummer (2018).
• Rulon Gardner (2000) is the only other University of Nebraska student-athlete to receive the award. Four other Nebraska volleyball players had previously been finalists for the honor: Kelsey Robinson (2014-15), Mikaela Foecke (2016-17 and 2018-19), Kelly Hunter (2017-18) and Annika Albrecht (2017-18).
• Rodriguez finished her Husker career in December as a four-time AVCA All-American, a four-time All-Big Ten selection, and a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. She was an AVCA National Player of the Year finalist and a Honda Sport Award for Volleyball finalist in 2024, and she became the first-ever libero to be named AVCA Region Player of the Year.
• Rodriguez is Nebraska’s all-time career leader in digs with 1,897. She is also a three-time Academic All-American, including two first-team accolades. Rodriguez completed her first professional season with LOVB Omaha, as they finished as runner-up in the inaugural season of League One Volleyball.
FLYNN NAMED GATORADE NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• Freshman Campbell Flynn was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year on Jan. 10.
• Flynn, a 6-3 setter from Oakland, Mich., was a two-time Gatorade Michigan Volleyball Player of the Year. She recorded 730 assists and 180 digs in her senior season for Mercy High School, leading the Marlins to a 31-3 record and the Division I regional semifinals in 2024. Flynn also compiled 131 kills, 52 blocks and 36 service aces while posting a .394 hitting percentage at net.
• Flynn was a member of the U.S. U21 Women’s National Team that won the gold medal at the NORCECA Championships in 2024 and was ranked as the nation’s No. 4 overall recruit and top setter recruit in the Class of 2025 by PrepDig.com. Flynn concluded her prep volleyball career, which included a state championship in 2023, with 1,973 assists and 737 kills. She also competed in the Under Armour All-America Game. Off the court, Flynn maintained a 3.94 GPA in the classroom.
• Flynn is the sixth Husker all-time to be named the Gatorade National Player of the Year. The others are Harper Murray (2022-23), Ally Batenhorst (2020-21), Lexi Sun (2016-17), Mikaela Foecke (2014-15) and Gina Mancuso (2008-09).
FLYNN, SIGLER EARN GATORADE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• In addition to being named Gatorade National Player of the Year, Campbell Flynn was named the Gatorade Michigan Volleyball Player of the Year for the second straight year, while fellow Husker newcomer Teraya Sigler was named the Gatorade Arizona Volleyball Player of the Year for the second straight time.
• Sigler, a 6-2 outside hitter from Scottsdale, Ariz., led Horizon High School to a 25-5 record and a fourth straight Conference 5A state championship in 2024. Sigler amassed 619 kills and 354 digs, including 33 kills and 20 digs in the state championship match. She also had 65 service aces and 28 blocks while posting a .398 hitting percentage.
• Ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2025 by PrepDig.com, Sigler was a member of the U.S. U21 Women’s National Team that won the gold medal at the NORCECA Championships in 2024. She concluded her prep volleyball career with 1,951 kills and 1,128 digs and competed in the Under Armour All-America Game.
HUSKERS COMING OFF RECORD BEACH SEASON
• The Huskers set a school record for beach volleyball wins in 2025, recording 22 to beat their previous record of 16 set in 2024.
• After starting the season with three straight losses, the Huskers won 22 matches in a row over the course of a month. Eighteen of those 22 wins were sweeps.
Sports
Gopher track and field gears up for NCAA finals as Minnesota women’s teams dominate early summer sports. – The Minnesota Daily
CECI HEINEN: Hello everyone. This is Ceci Heinen and Megan Davis, and you are listening to the Gold Standard, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota sports. Today our lovely sports reporter, Regan Guirguis, was too sick to join us in the studio, so I will be filling in on her behalf. I will […]

CECI HEINEN: Hello everyone. This is Ceci Heinen and Megan Davis, and you are listening to the Gold Standard, a podcast dedicated to the University of Minnesota sports.
Today our lovely sports reporter, Regan Guirguis, was too sick to join us in the studio, so I will be filling in on her behalf. I will do my best, but I’ll start just with some of Regan’s recent work. She did a story on the Gopher rowing team. They went to the Big Ten invitationals in Florida in mid-April, and at the end of the invitational, they claimed two first place finishes, which is amazing.
They beat Wisconsin, they beat Iowa, which is wonderful. Good for them. And there’s just a lot of really good stuff coming outta this team, and it looks like next year they’ll just improve even more. And so that’s super exciting.
MEGAN DAVIS: Yeah. Super exciting. I have been mainly covering track and field these past probably like two months now, just because it’s one of the last Gopher sports that has been continuing as the semester has ended. And so they have their NCAA finals coming up on June 11 and it’s gonna be in Eugene, Oregon.
And that’s the exact same place that the Big Ten championship was at. And so I actually just talked to a bunch of them just asking them like does it make any difference. And they’re excited to go back to Eugene. The people who qualified for the NCAA finals did really well in Eugene during the Big Tens.
And so, just some of the standout performances is that we had a really big performance from the throwing team, both men and women’s. Mantzouranis and Zaltos both throw hammer, and they’ve been fantastic all semester.
HEINEN: Mm-hmm.
DAVIS: I feel like there’s been multiple stories done on them and it makes sense because they’re throwing like five, six meters above the competition, and they’re constantly coming in first and second. They went to the NCAA west regional qualifying round at Texas A&M. The position was just switched, Zaltos came second and Mantzouranis came first.
One thing that I did notice though, is that Annie Nabwe, who had been reporting on all semester, who’s a great hammer thrower, won and broke the meet record at the Big Ten championships. But then when it came time to qualify for the NCAA finals for the indoor season, she couldn’t qualify.
Which was really sad because she said she was throwing 70 meters in practice the day of the Big Tens, she threw 69 meters to win the title. And if she threw that at the regionals, she would’ve gotten first place. I think what happened is that she had one bad toss and then she kept fouling.
Because if you’re doing the hammer throw, you get five attempts. They keep the best one. And I wanted to talk to her this week, but she had her mandatory week off, so I’ll probably figure out more later, but
HEINEN: Yeah, that’s unfortunate. I’ve definitely heard you talk about her a lot this year. She seems like a standout player, so.
DAVIS: Yeah, she definitely is. I mean, she is a sophomore. For like Zaltos, this is his final year, so like breaking the meet record, going to the finals, obviously. What a time to do it.
HEINEN: Do you think there’s Olympics in any of their futures?
DAVIS: I would say so. I think because they’re both Greek.
HEINEN: Okay.
DAVIS: And so they’d be competing for the, I believe they’d compete for the Greek national team.
HEINEN: Can’t be that large of a team.
DAVIS: It can’t be that large of a team, though, you would be surprised how many Greek throwers there are.
HEINEN: Oh.
DAVIS: I don’t know what’s going on in Greece over there.
HEINEN: Well, that’s like the Kenyan runners, like, it’s just like some countries specialize in events.
DAVIS: Yeah. And so for some reason Greece has a lot of fantastic throwers, but since the NCAA is incredibly competitive, I would say that they probably have a good shot. At least for qualifying.
I also talked to Charles Godfred. He defended his Big Ten championship in the long jump and he also won it at the regionals, so he’ll be in the NCAA finals. He’s super excited about it. I believe he’s also a sophomore. He’s from Nigeria and so he has some crazy records over there as well.
And then the four by one hundred relay team broke the Gopher’s own Big Ten Championship record set in 2023. They also qualified, they’ll be at the NCAA finals. At the Big Ten championships the men placed second and they tied with Wisconsin, just under the Ducks who got first place.
It was their stadium, so they have a little bit of a home field advantage. There’ll be 10 Gophers of the men’s team going to the finals, which is the most the Gophers have ever sent since 2003 when the NCAA finals were in Sacramento, so shout out Sacramento.
The women still had a great Big Tens and great regionals, but they finished seventh at the Big Tens. The addition of the new Big Ten teams like USC, UCLA are all kind of powerhouses and track and field. And so, little bit more competition, but only two of them qualified for the NCAA. We have Ali Weimer who does the 10,000 meter, and we have Dyandra Gray who does the 400 meter hurdles.
This is Dyandra Gray’s last year, so I know she really wanted to make it. I talked to her earlier in the year and I think, you know, she had some unfulfilled goals that she really wanted to get done before her time as a Gopher was over, and I think this was definitely one of them. So that’s super exciting for her. Weimer is a sophomore, she’s on a great path. She’ll be super exciting to watch in the future.
Hakeem Ford placed eighth at the regionals in the triple jump. And so he’ll also be going to the NCAA final along with Christian Martin in the 110 meter hurdles. And then Jak Urlacher qualified for the pole vault. He did a first couple attempts and the wind was really strong, which made it like really difficult. He’ll be in the NCAA world finals so he can make it all up.
The only other thing I have is that like men’s basketball, there’s new transfer Kidd Tyson who didn’t play a lot in North Carolina, but a lot of three point shooting it looks like to be on the 2025-26 men’s basketball team. No true center though, so that’ll be interesting to see.
HEINEN: Yeah. Well, I was gonna quick talk just to move into the pro sports. The Lynx are doing amazing.
DAVIS: Of course.
HEINEN: They have started their season 8-0, who’s surprised? Not me.
DAVIS: Not me.
HEINEN: Natisha Hiedeman, she’s been playing great. She’s been making so many dynamic plays. She hit a game winner for them the other night.
DAVIS: Nice.
HEINEN: She is doing great and I’m really happy to see her exceeding and excelling. And of course, Napheesa Collier is already in MVP talks.
DAVIS: Mm-hmm.
HEINEN: She is playing amazing, and the Lynx are looking pretty unstoppable right now. I will say, I think honestly, their only threat that I can see is the New York Liberty.
DAVIS: Yeah. I mean, they took it home last year.
HEINEN: Yeah.
DAVIS: It would be a nice rematch where the Lynx get to bring it home.
HEINEN: Yeah. I would love that.
DAVIS: That would be really beautiful. Speaking of bringing it home, the Frost, the PWHL. They brought it home second year in a row.
HEINEN: Yep. Go women’s sports.
DAVIS: Go women’s sports. I’m happy to see the women’s, I mean obviously the Frost of a huge fan base here in Minnesota.
HEINEN: Yeah, for sure.
DAVIS: I mean, you know, if the men’s teams keep losing guys, go to those Frost games.
HEINEN: Seriously.
DAVIS: The Wild aren’t showing anything promising. Go to the Lynx games.
HEINEN: Yeah, the Timberwolves are disappointing. I, to be fair, I really do think the Thunder are just a better team.
DAVIS: Oh, I one hundred percent agree.
HEINEN: I was in denial for a while about it. Shai is really good.
DAVIS: Unfortunately, they were just kind of the better team. I will say though, Minnesota could have put up more of a fight. You know, Anthony Edwards’s like body language, like towards the end of the series, once they were down by enough he just, it looked.
HEINEN: He just sagged.
DAVIS: Like it, he gave up. And you know, if you’re gonna be the star player over the team, you can’t show that. You could think it, you know.
HEINEN: Even if you’re having an off game, you have to continue to try.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: Like, even if you aren’t hitting your shots, you have to be giving everything you can on every other factor of the game.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: And he wasn’t doing that.
DAVIS: And he wasn’t doing that. And also, the Oklahoma City Thunder bench is crazy.
HEINEN: Yeah.
DAVIS: The fact that they’re this deep, which will be interesting to see against Indiana because they also have a deep bench.
HEINEN: That’s gonna be a great matchup I think.
DAVIS: I think it’ll be fun. I’m a little worried. I do think Oklahoma is going to take it in the end.
HEINEN: Me as well.
DAVIS: I really want it to go to Indiana because I think that would be fun. You don’t get a lot of these kinda underdog east stories. So I just hope the Pacers put up a fight.
HEINEN: I mean, I don’t follow the Pacers super close.
DAVIS: Mm-hmm.
HEINEN: But if there’s anything I’ve learned about them is that they don’t give up.
DAVIS: And speaking of stars who you know, are always there, Halliburton like he’s gonna give it his all, regardless of what’s happening. And also, I’d like to shout out the Sacramento Kings for trading him to the Pacers.
HEINEN: Oh, I totally didn’t know that.
DAVIS: The Kings, the Kings drafted Halliburton and decided that, you know what?
HEINEN: We don’t want him.
DAVIS: We’d rather, I think they traded him for De’Aaron Fox, who’s now in the Spurs, so it didn’t even kind of really make sense.
HEINEN: Bad trade.
DAVIS: What a great organization.
HEINEN: Yeah. Speaking of trades, there’s lots of trade talk going on with the Timberwolves right now.
DAVIS: Mm-hmm.
HEINEN: Something that I’ve heard, which I don’t agree with, is us trading for Kevin Durant, which I don’t think that’ll end up happening.
DAVIS: Absolutely, I really don’t know how they would do it.
HEINEN: They’d have to trade Jaden McDaniels, and they aren’t gonna do that.
DAVIS: I really don’t see the point of any team trading for Durant at this.
HEINEN: No, he’s old.
DAVIS: He’s old. And it’s, you can’t give up half your team.
HEINEN: Something that probably will happen, but that makes me really sad is trading Nickeil Alexander Walker. Because I think especially in the playoffs, like when I was watching those Thunder games, and it might’ve only been because Shai is his cousin, and he had like family grudge.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: But he was the only one out there consistently, like getting low on defense.
DAVIS: Mm-hmm.
HEINEN: Playing hard, scoring on offense. He had some 20-point games like he was a standout player honestly, I think. And he’s been getting better and better over the seasons, and so it just makes me sad that he’s probably gonna go.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: Because I think a couple more seasons would really solidify him in the lineup for sure.
DAVIS: Honestly, I’ve been hearing things that Naz Reid might not resign.
HEINEN: Oh, shoot. What would happen then?
DAVIS: Julius Randle obviously, like, it’s like.
HEINEN: Yeah, he’s on a one year.
DAVIS: What’s going to happen there? Thibs though of the Knicks got fired.
HEINEN: I saw that.
DAVIS: And lots of jokes about K.A.T. being able to fire Thibs twice.
HEINEN: Oh, facts. I didn’t even think about that. That’s insane.
DAVIS: A lot of people were shocked and they were like, why would New York do this? This is their first Eastern Conference Finals in years.
HEINEN: Yeah.
DAVIS: I would say I’m not as shocked because during that Pacer series the entire year, he didn’t play his bench. He’s gonna like.
HEINEN: True.
DAVIS: I’m gonna play, I’m gonna play the same guys. I’m gonna give him crazy minutes for a regular season game.
HEINEN: They were wiped.
DAVIS: Then it, he gets the Eastern Conference Finals and he is scrambling and he doesn’t know what to do.
HEINEN: Mm-hmm.
DAVIS: And so he starts throwing in bench guys who have played so few minutes over the like entire regular season. And then I don’t know if he expected them to be prepared.
HEINEN: Yeah. And like I know K.A.T. had a knee injury for like the last three games.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: And I’m like, this is not, I’ve never agreed with that. Like in any sports, of like letting an injured player keep playing.
DAVIS: Yeah.
HEINEN: So stupid.
DAVIS: That’s when the coach needs to step up and be like, no, I know this is like a win or go home game, but like. We’re gonna need you in future seasons.
HEINEN: I wonder if the Timberwolves will continue on with Finch. We lost in the Western Conference Finals two years in a row.
DAVIS: Mm-hmm.
HEINEN: In the, in the same fashion.
DAVIS: Yeah. And I feel like, like the players seem to, like it seems to be completely up to them if they’re going to do well or not in the series. And I feel like with a good coach, like you could kind of coach that like up and down emotion out of players.
Oh, the NHL Stanley Cup is happening. Does anyone care? It’s the Panthers and the Oilers again. It’s the same as it was last year.
HEINEN: Oh, lame.
DAVIS: Panthers took it last year. Oilers, obviously, McDavid wants that first cup. You know? It’s like the thorn in his side.
HEINEN: Ugh. I hate repeat championships. Although if Lynx and Liberty go again, I wouldn’t be mad.
DAVIS: That would be fun. That’s completely different.
HEINEN: No, that’s very different.
DAVIS: So different.
HEINEN: Well, that is all we have for you guys today. I hope you’re all enjoying your summer and stay tuned for further Gold Standards throughout the summer months.
Thank you for listening, and if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, you can drop them in our email inbox at [email protected].
I’m Ceci Heinen.
DAVIS: And I’m Megan Davis.
HEINEN: Have a great day, and this has been the Gold Standard.
Sports
Duos from Austria, Greece, Czechia, Netherlands and Slovakia earn zonal tour medals with FIVB Empowerment – FIVB
Duos from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Austria, Greece, Czechia, Netherlands and Slovakia claimed zonal beach volleyball tour medals last week. A BVA Tour stop took place in Balikesir, Turkiye, while a MEVZA Tour event (pictured in the main photo; source: mevza.org) was held in Innsbruck, Austria, with teams from Turkiye, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary also […]
Duos from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Austria, Greece, Czechia, Netherlands and Slovakia claimed zonal beach volleyball tour medals last week. A BVA Tour stop took place in Balikesir, Turkiye, while a MEVZA Tour event (pictured in the main photo; source: mevza.org) was held in Innsbruck, Austria, with teams from Turkiye, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary also making their way to the podiums.
BVA Zonal Tour in Balikesir
Greece’s Dimitra Manavi & Elisavet Triantafillidi defeated Dutch wild cards Benthe Essink & Lieke Gijsen in the women’s final of the BVA Zonal Tour event in Balikesir, while the bronze went to Romania’s Francesca Ioana Alupei & Beata Vaida. In the men’s competition, Greek representatives Stavros Ntallas & Dimitrios Chatzinikolaou took bronze, while Yusuf Ozdemir & Batuhan Kuru delighted the home crowd with a win over Bulgaria’s Dimitar Mehandzhiyski & Dimitar Kalchev in the gold medal showdown.
The Greek federation’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of USD 262,500 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos, who have been working under the guidance of Konstantinos Pothitakis and Efstathios Chandrinos. The Dutch federation has so far been granted a total of USD 217,600 in national beach volleyball team coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Their women’s pairs benefit from the expertise of Cypriot coach Antreas Savvidis.
The top-seeded Greek team of Dimitra Manavi & Elisavet Triantafillidi finished runners-up in their pool in Balikesir, but then cruised through the playoffs without dropping a single set in three matches played. They triumphed on top of the podium after a 2-0 (21-9, 21-14) sweep of the final against fifth-seeded Benthe Essink & Lieke Gijsen of the Netherlands, who reached the gold medal showdown undefeated in three games played. Second-seeded Romanians Francesca Ioana Alupei & Beata Vaida settled for bronze after mastering a 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) win over Moldova’s Ana Nicolaev & Valeria Gherman.
Women’s results and standings
On the men’s side, top-seeded Greek pair Stavros Ntallas & Dimitrios Chatzinikolaou reached the last four without dropping a single set, but then they yielded to third-seeded home favorites Yusuf Ozdemir & Batuhan Kuru in a 2-0 (21-17, 21-9) semifinal. The Greeks bounced back with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-15) sweep of the third-place match against another Turkish duo, Tuna Imdat & Baris Guldali, to snatch the bronze. Both Ozdemir & Kuru and fourth-seeded Bulgarians Dimitar Mehandzhiyski & Dimitar Kalchev reached the final undefeated. In the gold medal showdown, the Turkish team proved stronger on the way to a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) victory.
Men’s results and standings
15 men’s and 11 women’s teams from Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo, Moldova, the Netherlands, Romania and Turkiye took part in the competition.
MEVZA Zonal Tour in Innsbruck
The entire men’s podium at the MEVZA Zonal Tour event in Innsbruck was occupied by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries – Austria’s Laurenc Grossig & Maximilian Trummer with gold and Felix Friedl & Florian Schnetzer with bronze, and Slovakia’s Lubos Nemec & Adrian Petruf with silver. Also with support from the program, Czechia’s Andrea Lorenzova & Mariana Tomasova took the women’s bronze. In the final, Austria’s Lia Berger & Lilli Hohenauer beat Hungary’s Stefania Flora Kun & Lilla Villam.
Austria’s beach volleyball has so far been allocated USD 84,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, in addition to another USD 6,000 for a national team coaches development knowledge transfer program. Greek coach Georgios Kotsilianos has been in charge of their men’s national duos. The Slovak Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has been funded with USD 126,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams. Slovakia’s men’s pairs train under the guidance of coaches Martin Suja and Lubica Siposova. The Czech Volleyball Federation has received USD 168,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their women’s beach volleyball teams and another USD 24,000 in national team coach development knowledge transfer programs. Their women’s pairs take advantage of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo’s expertise.
Second-seeded Austrians Laurenc Grossig & Maximilian Trummer went through the entire tournament in Innsbruck without losing a set in five matches played. In a hard-fought semifinal, they outlasted sixth-seeded compatriots Felix Friedl & Florian Schnetzer by 2-0 (25-23, 21-17) and went on to celebrate gold after a 2-0 (22-20, 21-13) victory over top-seeded Slovakians Lubos Nemec & Adrian Petruf in the final. Nemec & Petruf started the tournament with a surprising loss, but then pushed through to the last match with four wins in a row. Friedl & Schnetzer recovered with a tight 2-1 (24-26, 21-16, 15-13) win over eighth-seeded Krystof Oliva & Vaclav Kurka of Czechia.
Men’s results and standings
With three wins in a row, fourth-seeded Czechs Andrea Lorenzova & Mariana Tomasova reached the last four. Their winning run was interrupted in the semifinals by the Austrian champions-to-be, second-seeded Lia Berger & Lilli Hohenauer, with a narrow 2-0 (21-18, 21-19) defeat. Lorenzova & Tomasova bounced back with a 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) upset of top-seeded Slovenians Tjasa Kotnik & Maja Marolt for the bronze. Berger & Hohenauer went on to master a 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) sweep of the final against third-seeded Stefania Flora Kun & Lilla Villam of Hungary and complete a perfect run of five straight-set victories in the tournament.
Women’s results and standings
28 men’s and 28 women’s duos from Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Slovakia and Slovenia took part in the competition.
Sports
Olympic-level coach integral to the sport
A man described as a pioneer of swimming in New Zealand says he was not a swimmer of note himself, and “sort of drifted into coaching”. Pleasant Point man Clive Power has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to swimming in the King’s Birthday Honours. Mr Power has […]

Pleasant Point man Clive Power has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to swimming in the King’s Birthday Honours.
Mr Power has dedicated more than 50 years to coaching and mentoring both coaches and swimmers at all levels, and was instrumental in the success of some of New Zealand’s top swimmers and swim coaches.
He said the honour was a surprise, but one he was very appreciative of.
While for most of his career he was based in the North Island, and in the recreation department at Christchurch Polytechnic, he and his wife Joyce moved to Pleasant Point 14 years ago, to be closer to their two sons.
He picked up the role of coach at CBay when it opened, until a permanent appointment could be made.
At 79, he says over the last couple of years he has “slowly petered out”.
“It’s really time to step down and let the next generation come through.”
Educated mostly in Te Awamutu, before heading to university and teacher’s college, his physical education background led to his career in coaching.
“I used to look after ‘the baths’ and drifted in to coaching from that point on.
“I wasn’t a swimmer of any note at all, I played mostly water polo, but there wasn’t the same number of coaches at that time, and it was just how things happened.”
The sport had changed considerably over the past 50 years, from lifting weights made out of concrete in the garage, to today’s high-performance centres.
“You had to be creative, you had to think about things a little more deeply, to make things work.”
Holding several positions at regional, national and international levels including as New Zealand swim team coach for several tours, Commonwealth Games, Olympics Games and Paralympics Games, Mr Power said there had been a lot of highlights.
“To focus on one would be unkind to a lot of the athletes I coached.”
However, his involvement in taking paralympic swimming from something “pretty gratuitous” to today’s sport for high performance athletes in their own right and on an equal footing to their able-bodied fellow athletes, was particularly satisfying.
Now enjoying being based in South Canterbury, Mr and Mrs Power were making the most of the opportunity to explore in their motorhome.
“As with everybody that gets to this point, you have to pass on your thanks to family members.
“There’s a hell of a lot of sacrifices that go into careers, you can’t be whistling off overseas without that support.”
Sports
Wyoming’s Ryker Holtzen will compete at 1st career NCAA Track and Field Championships | University of Wyoming
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USA Men’s Junior National Team Roster Announced For Upcoming World Aquatics U20 Water Polo Championships
Story Links Irvine, CA – June 5 – The USA Men’s Junior National Team roster has been announced for the upcoming World Aquatics Men’s Junior World Championships (U20) starting later this month in Zagreb, Croatia. Head Coach Jack Kocur will lead 15 of the top up and coming athletes from around the country […]

Irvine, CA – June 5 – The USA Men’s Junior National Team roster has been announced for the upcoming World Aquatics Men’s Junior World Championships (U20) starting later this month in Zagreb, Croatia. Head Coach Jack Kocur will lead 15 of the top up and coming athletes from around the country into action starting on June 14. Team USA was drawn into Group A and will meet Croatia, Hungary, and Montenegro in group play. A champion will be crowned on June 21. Live streaming and statistics information will be available ASAP.
Men’s Junior National Team (Hometown/School/Club)
1. Charles Mills (Tiburon, CA/USC/San Francisco Water Polo)
2. Baxter Chelsom (Los Angeles, CA/UC Davis/Los Angeles Premier)
3. Peter Castillo (Costa Mesa, CA/UCLA/Newport Beach WPC)
4. William Schneider (San Clemente, CA/Stanford/Mission WPC)
5. Jonathan Carcarey (Santa Maria, CA/Pepperdine/SOCAL)
6. Gavin Appeldorn (Newport Beach, CA/Princeton/Newport Beach WPC)
7. Ryder Dodd (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/Mission WPC)
8. Ryan Ohl (Greenwich, CT/Stanford/Greenwich Aquatics)
9. Landon Akerstrom (Costa Mesa, CA/UC San Diego/SOCAL)
10. Connor Ohl (Newport Beach, CA/Newport Harbor HS/Newport Beach WPC)
11. Benjamin Liechty (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/Newport Beach WPC)
12. Bode Brinkema (San Juan Capistrano, CA/UCLA/Mission WPC)
13. Kiefer Black (San Diego, CA/Naval Academy/La Jolla United)
14. Max Zelikov (Boca Raton, FL/Stanford/South Florida WPC)
15. Corbin Stanley (Yorba Linda, CA/Long Beach State/SOCAL)
Staff
Jack Kocur – Head Coach
Felix Mercado – Assistant Coach
Alex Rodriguez – Assistant Coach
Derek Clappis – Assistant Coach
2025 World Aquatics Men’s Junior World Championships Schedule (subject to change)
June 14 – USA at Croatia 1:00pm et/10:00am pt
June 15 – USA vs Hungary 11:30am et/8:30am pt
June 16 – USA vs Montenegro 11:30am et/8:30am pt
June 17 – TBD
June 18 – TBD
June 19 – TBD
June 20 – TBD
June 21 – TBD
Sports
Delorenzi Named to PSAC Spring Top 10 Team
Story Links LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Gannon men’s golf standout Giovanni Delorenzi (Reggio Emilia, Italy/International School of Modena) has been selected as a PSAC Spring Top 10 honoree. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced the ten recipients early this afternoon. In addition to Delorenzi, Gannon women’s golfer Ditte Petersen also earned a spot on […]

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Gannon men’s golf standout Giovanni Delorenzi (Reggio Emilia, Italy/International School of Modena) has been selected as a PSAC Spring Top 10 honoree. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced the ten recipients early this afternoon. In addition to Delorenzi, Gannon women’s golfer Ditte Petersen also earned a spot on the coveted team.
The five men’s PSAC Top 10 honorees also included Jacob Houtz of Mansfield, Seton Hill’s Ian Korn Ryan Miller and Matthew Muthler of Lock Haven
The Top 10 Awards, selected by the PSAC’s sports information directors, recognize student-athletes who distinguish themselves in the classroom as well as in the arena of competition. The conference designates Top 10 Award winners (five men and five women) after each of the sports seasons: fall, winter, and spring.
To be a candidate for the Top 10 Awards, a student-athlete must have achieved a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade-point average and must be a starter or key reserve with legitimate athletic credentials.
A junior, Delorenzi is an Environmental Engineering major with a 3.968 GPA. He was named to the 2023-24 CSC Academic All-America At-Large Team as a third team selection. He helped the Golden Knights win a first-ever PSAC Championship and finish tied for first place at the NCAA Div. II Atlantic/East Regional to earn a berth at the NCAA Div. II National Championships for the fourth time in five years.
The native of Reggio Emilia, Italy previously earned PING All-Atlantic Region honors for the third straight season. He also earned first team All-PSAC honors for the second straight year and was a second team choice in 2023-24.
In 13 tournaments and 32 rounds Delorenzi finished with a 73.1 average, the second-best average on the team. He had three top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes, including a second-place showing at the PSAC Championships while shooting a 3-under par 213. He finished tied for fifth at the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional, helping Gannon earn a berth as one of 20 teams in the National Championships. He finished at 5-over par 221 at the Regional.
Delorenzi had three rounds in the 60’s, including a low of 66 in the UC Golden Eagle Fall Invitational, and 14 rounds of par-or-better.
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