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'If there was no one on Earth, I would still skate'

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'If there was no one on Earth, I would still skate'


“My worry was that I’ll have never lived with my family. I’m growing up so fast, so young. I knew that if I continued skating, I would never have a chance at home,” she said. This disconnect showed up in other ways: a purposefully missed flight to the Colorado Olympic training center, a panicked FaceTime to her old coach Phillip DiGuglielmo. She pushed through, hoping that the Olympics would be worth the sacrifice.To continue training amid a growth spurt and the pandemic, the then-15-year-old Liu moved to Delaware with her father. With limited in-person coaching lessons, she said she would lay on the ice and blast music, relishing the freedom to create structure for herself. The isolation gave her mind a sense of peace and curiosity.

“If there’s days where you just want to be on the ice for fun when it’s not planned in your training schedules, I feel like that’s kind of when you know you still like it,” she said. And she still loved it. “I don’t really regret anything I’ve ever done, so even things I really hated doing, I wouldn’t change.”

Why she left

It would be great if she won the short program, he said, but one of the goals he tells Liu for this worlds is for her to be more conscious of making memories. She said she wants to go up in the stands and watch and appreciate more performances in Boston. She takes her skating very seriously, but she doesn’t take competitions seriously. For her, competitions are an excuse to skate more and showcase her passion for music and dance, rather than focus on making the podium or even the Olympic team next year.Liu performs in the gala exhibition at the NHK Trophy at Yoyogi National Gymnasium on 10 November 2024, where she’d finished fourth overall in the third competition of her comeback.

Liu took charge of selecting her music and program aesthetic. She saved songs in her Spotify playlists and made vision boards. She went in-person to designer Lisa McKinnon’s studio in Los Angeles to check on costume designs. She trained at Lakewood Ice rink, with remote training and frequent trips by her coaches before putting a pause on her classes last fall.For all of the hype that she received when she was younger for her list of “firsts” and being a skating prodigy, Liu hopes that more people focus on longevity and break down the stereotype of having to accomplish a lot when they are younger. “I think it holds people back from once they do hit adulthood, people don’t want to try skating because there’s already this narrative that they’re gonna fail already,” she said.The fact that Liu’s comeback has been so fast shows how innately talented she is to begin with, said Wong.Liu grew up as the eldest of five children, with a sister and triplets a couple years younger, but she was the only one who skated. Her schedule took her away to the ice, back and forth from dorms to training centers and competitions around the world so much that everything in her memory remains a blur. She calculated that after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she would move away for college.“Alysa is such a consistent competitor and for something as simple as a spin level to be the difference in placement would be a disservice to her,” Glenn said. She notes that having Liu back has been “incredible” and Liu “lightens the mood” when things get stressful or tense at competitions. The two last saw each other in-person when they both performed at the Legacy on Ice” tribute show in DC, commemorating the 67 victims, many from the figure skating community, who died during a midair plane crash at Ronald Reagan International Airport. Liu had skated to the song “Hero” by Mariah Carey to honor the first responders.In February 2024, she requested a call with her old coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, who had seen her skate since she was five years old in Oakland. She also sought after Massimo Scali, a former Italian ice dancer and choreographer whom she remembered that she liked to work with.

The figure skating community has been supportive of Liu’s return. At international competitions, DiGuglielmo says that skaters young and old line up to meet her. “As you start to grow up, and your body changes, and things are harder, and school gets harder, you can’t fulfill all of your dreams. They look at Alysa and say: ‘Hey, I’m gonna go back and I’m gonna finish my dreams here,” DiGuglielmo said.At her first return to the US figure skating national championships in January in Wichita, Liu placed a narrow second behind Amber Glenn. Her Laufey short program led to a standing ovation and tears from her coaches.Her short program came together quickly, skated to fellow half-Chinese Icelandic pop jazz artist Laufey’s Promise, communicating a message of sudden goodbyes, a failed promise to stay away, and an inevitable reunion. Her free skate program radiates disco high energy and joy using Donna Summer’s MacArthur Park. Soon, Liu was landing on the podium at different international competitions, placing first at two Challenger Series assignments in Hungary and Croatia.“They both understand my psyche, the psychology that I had then and now,” Liu said. “Compared to a lot of other skaters, I can be seen as really weird or crazy because I literally quit and came back. They would be uneasy with me.” Her goals were not related to a specific podium placements. “It’s just really great to have a team that understands you because a lot of people in skating misunderstand me.”“It’s a satisfying feeling. If there was no one on Earth, I would still skate. As long as there’s music and as long as there’s ice and our skates, I would still do it,” Liu said.Alysa Liu looks back on the ice as rotates on her left foot, picking up speed before she completes her triple flip-triple toe combination. A group of high schoolers on a field trip sitting in the stands erupts into applause. She gives a smile and small bow as she skates away. It’s a recovery day for her, starting with dynamic stretching and cardio before moving onto the ice with her jumps, spins, and footwork. She drives herself to the rink for a two-hour skating session. Later this afternoon, she plans to attend her brother’s basketball game.

Guiding her own comeback

A ski trip with friends at Lake Tahoe inspired her to reevaluate her relationship to skating. Gliding down the hill at full speed, Liu realized that she wanted to get back on the ice again. With abundant knowledge and access to rinks and coaches, Liu felt that she would be a “hypocrite” if she said she loved skiing but did not love skating.Liu competes in the women’s singles free skate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at Beijing’s Capital Indoor Stadium on 17 February 2022. She finished in sixth place.

“It’s the team that she decided, it’s the people that she trusts. And all of this gave her such a level of empowerment and such a level of freedom of really of using us as people that are guiding who she is, but not deciding who she is and how she has to do things,” Scali said.“The difference is night and day, really. The level of engagement and authenticity that she has now, the connection. She came back better. This journey is so beautiful for her. We are fighting to keep her authentic to who she is,” said Scali.

The opportunity to reflect about her purpose on the ice presented itself during the Covid-19 quarantines. When California’s ice rinks shut down, her usual training schedule halted.“That’s when I was thinking: what do I want out of this sport?,” Liu recalled. “I never really had time to stop and think for a moment. It was just me in the rink like that for a long time. I was really totally connected with myself.”The American women have a significant task as worlds return to Boston this week. The top two finishers have to have a combined placement of 13 or less to earn the United States three spots at next year’s Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina. Each point and level of execution will count.

Creating her program message

Liu reacts in the Kiss & Cry with her coaches Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali at January’s US nationals in Wichita.
Liu now has her sights fixed on a second Olympic appearance at next year’s Milano Cortina Games.

Although she’s successfully landing the triple axel during practices, her coaches and her agree that they won’t be adding the jump into the lineup until her stamina improves because of the injury risk.Among the realizations: she missed her family.

“That was my first ever break,” said Liu, who had skated mornings and afternoons seven days a week for years. “Once quarantine started, I was like, ‘Wow! This is what not skating is like.’ And I loved it so much.”In Beijing, Liu skated two clean programs and placed seventh on the day in the women’s competition, the highest among the Americans. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, foreign spectators were not allowed to watch. Although athletes were mostly restricted to the village, Liu embraced the experience and also found the little moments to enjoy, like practicing her Mandarin and taking advantage of the dim sum bar for breakfasts.When DiGuglielmo hopped on a FaceTime call with Liu, he spent two hours poking holes about her comeback logic. Why now? She had essentially done it all already. Was she ready for more hours of training? What about all the other reasons she had quit?If you had asked Liu a year and a half ago if she would be preparing for another figure skating world championships, she would have told you that you were crazy.

Making memories at worlds and beyond

At the Four Continents Championships last month in South Korea, one of Liu’s spin elements was judged at a lower execution level than expected. It was her fellow teammate and competitor Glenn who took up the torch of encouragement, joking that the women would host a spin boot camp.“I love sports. I like moving. I also love music and I love dancing. That’s literally skating?” she laughed.Liu carries around her Sony Cyber-shot and a disposable camera, snapping photos of friends and moments she wants to capture and keep. She journals to remember her days more. After this season ends, she plans to start school again next quarter and will go on tour with Stars on Ice and perform in a show in Colorado and Delaware before returning to training. But even without the journaling, she says she can remember this comeback journey more because she is approaching it with more intent.“You put a triple axel in the program, and it changes the dynamic of the rest of the program. All of a sudden so much energy goes into that jump,” DiGuglielmo said. “But I wouldn’t put limits on Alysa. I just wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. I think that would be a big mistake.”While balancing her winter quarter classes at UCLA, Liu decided to add in a public ice session once a week at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in nearby El Segundo. She quickly discovered that she could still do the complex jumps she once did when she was younger. After months of wanting to distance herself from skating as her identity, she found herself drawn back time and time again to the ice as a hobby and source of expression.

For almost two years, Liu explored who she was outside of skating. She took her first family vacation to Mexico and went on a Himalayan trek with friends and no internet in Nepal. She tried other sports like tennis, volleyball and basketball while hanging out and watching movies with her siblings. (She keeps a running list in her notes app of her favorite films, including Everything Everywhere all at Once, Children of the Sea, Spirited Away, and Bottoms.) But she still continued to stretch to maintain her mobility and flexibility. (One of her life goals is being able to do a cartwheel even when she is really old.) She did a smiley piercing on herself. She started school at UCLA in the fall of 2023.“It wouldn’t happen this time, because I kind of know why [these problems] were there before and that none of those things really can affect me,” she said. She finds all aspects of skating much more enjoyable now. “I’m skating for a different reason now. I’m really skating just to state now”Known as the youngest ever US figure skating champion – and the youngest American woman to land a triple axel and only American woman to quad lutz – Liu was widely hailed as America’s rising star that would challenge Russian dominance in figure skating. But at the age of 16, she decided to walk away. Two years later, she has reemerged with a fresh purpose in her sport, rising to new heights ahead of this year’s world figure skating championships, which get under way on Wednesday afternoon at Boston’s TD Garden.“Maybe [before] she wasn’t even pushing herself to 75 or 80%,” analyst Wong said.“The sheer fact that she took two years off and came back a better all-around skater, with stronger power, with better skating skills, with a greater attention to detail in her musical expression, like all of that? I don’t even know how that’s possible,” said figure skating analyst Jackie Wong. “People work years to try to improve all of these sorts of intangibles that she’s improved on.”When she was younger, Liu said her father mostly oversaw the decisions of firing and hiring of coaches, including right before the 2022 Olympics. This time, she knew that she wanted to build her own team.

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Kansas State volleyball vs Nebraska in NCAA Tournament channel, time

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December 6, 2025

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Dec. 6, 2025, 6:03 a.m. CT



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Women’s track and field begins indoor season at M City Classic

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December 6, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women’s track and field team turned in 13 performances that ranked on its all-time performers’ list at the season-opening M City Classic on Friday at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.

First years accounted for 11 of the 13 performances that ranked on St. Olaf’s all-time list at the unscored meet, which included teams from the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and club levels. In addition to the top-10 list performances, senior Ella Landis posted St. Olaf’s lone first-place finish at the meet by winning the one-mile run in 5:17.28.

In her first collegiate meet, first year Evangeline Sappington broke onto the program’s all-time performers’ list in both the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Sappington was the top Division III finisher and was 10th overall in the 200-meter dash (26.84), while also taking second among Division III competitors and 16th overall in the 60-meter dash. Sappington’s time in the 60-meter dash ranks second on the Oles’ all-time list – just four one-hundredths of a second off the record – and her time in the 200-meter dash is fifth.

Sophomore Izzi Jaeckle clocked in with St. Olaf’s No. 4 time in the 60-meter dash by placing 17th (8.10), while first year Ellie Semple also broke onto the list in 10th with a time of 8.28 seconds to finish 27th. Sophomore Logan Paulsen moved up to seventh on the Oles’ list with a sixth-place performance in the shot put (12.48m, 40′ 11 ½”), while first year Abigal Frei cleared 3.26 meters (10′ 8 ¼”) for a No. 5 all-time result and an eighth-place finish.

First years Svea Frantzich and Claire Stein recorded St. Olaf’s No. 8 and No. 10 scores in the pentathlon by finishing seventh (3,005) and eighth (2,993), respectively. Frantzich tied for third in the long jump (5.44m, 17′ 10 ¼”) and was sixth in the 60-meter hurdles (9.47), which both ranked on St. Olaf’s all-time list. Stein also tied for third in the long jump (5.44m, 10′ 10 ¼”) to highlight her day. First year Annika Walsh was the runner-up in the high jump (1.62m, 5′ 3 ¾”) – fifth all-time – and was seventh in the 60-meter hurdles (9.48) – ninth all-time – as part of a ninth-place finish in the pentathlon (2,881).

St. Olaf will be back in action in 2026 at the Ole Opener at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Tostrud Center.

 



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Second-Screen Golf Experiences : Player Profiles

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2 hours ago

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December 6, 2025

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At the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship, IRCODE debuted Player Profiles, a new LIVE+ capability to bring fans closer to athletes without prompts, QR codes, or static triggers.

In addition to offering an on-site fan experience, IRCODE, as a Technology Partner, introduced an interactive viewer experience for fans at home. When players appeared on-screen, viewers used the IRCODE app to scan their screen and instantly accessed a full, interactive profile for shopping their favorite players’ gear, diving deeper into their stories and learning more about the causes that are meaningful to them.

Player Profiles leverages IRCODE’s patented EXACT Match technology and proprietary computer vision, and applies real-time visual recognition to usher in the next generation of second-screen entertainment.



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Catch Saturday’s Basketball and Indoor Track and Field Action

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December 6, 2025

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BEREA, Ohio – Fans can follow or watch Saturday’s Baldwin Wallace University basketball and indoor track and field action via live results, statistics or video.

The men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams open the 2025-26 season when it travels to Cleveland to compete in the Spartan Alumni Holiday Classic hosted by Case Western Reserve University inside the Veale Convocation, Recreation and Athletic Center at 11:00 a.m.

Live Results: 

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3MlDQcr

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3KFq6st

The men’s basketball team travels to New Concord for the first game of a men’s and women’s Ohio Athletic Conference and Hoops for Hunger Food Drive doubleheader against Muskingum University on Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center at 1:00 p.m.  Fans can receive free admission to the game with a donation of canned food, a non-perishable item, or a monetary contribution.

Tickets:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3WGuwll

Live Statistics:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/493Gehq

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://flosports.link/47hSw2V

The No. 21 nationally ranked women’s basketball team travels to New Concord for the second game of a women’s and men’s Ohio Athletic Conference and Hoops for Hunger Food Drive doubleheader against Muskingum University on Performance Court inside the Anne C. Steele Center at 4:00 p.m.  Fans can receive free admission to the game with a donation of canned food, a non-perishable item, or a monetary contribution.

Tickets:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/3WGuwll

Live Statistics:

https://bwyellowjackets.cc/49Ist7Q

FloCollege On Demand Live Video:

https://flosports.link/4qu1Fyr

 



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2025 DII women’s volleyball championship: Bracket, schedule, scores

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December 6, 2025

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Here’s everything you need to know leading up to the first round of the 2025 DII women’s volleyball championship. 

The championship bracket was revealed during a selection show on Monday, Nov. 24, live streamed here on NCAA.com. Twenty-three teams earned automatic qualification, with the remaining 41 teams selected at-large by the Division II Women’s Volleyball Committee. Teams from each of the eight regional sites received initial seeds Nos. 1-8. 

🏆 Watch live: 2025 DII women’s volleyball championship rounds

2025 DII women’s volleyball championship bracket

Click or tap here for the 2025 interactive bracket

The 2025 DII women's volleyball championship bracket

2025 NCAA DII women’s volleyball schedule

  • Regionals: Dec. 4-6
  • Quarterfinals: Thursday, Dec. 11
  • Semifinals: Friday, Dec. 12
  • National Championship: Saturday, Dec. 13
  • Selection show: 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, November 24
  • Regionals: Dec. 4-6
    • Thursday, Dec. 4
      • No. 3 Indiana (Pennsylvania) 3, No. 6 Fairmont State 0
      • No. 3 Anderson (South Carolina) 3, No. 6 Augusta 1
      • No. 3 Lynn 3, No. 6 UAH 2
      • No. 6 Washburn 3, No. 3 Wayne State (Nebraska) 0
      • No. 3 Mercy 3, No. 6 Molloy 2
      • No. 2 East Stroudsburg 3, No. 7 Charleston (West Virginia) 0
      • No. 3 Ferris State 3, No. 6 Quincy 2
      • No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne 3, No. 7 Lander 1
      • No. 7 Colorado Sch. of Mines 3, No. 2 UCCS 2
      • No. 3 Fresno Pacific 3, No. 6 Western Washington 0
      • No. 2 Barry 3, No. 7 Eckerd 0
      • No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul 3, No. 7 Central Oklahoma 0
      • No. 7 Holy Family 3, No. 2 Adelphi 2 
      • No. 7 Rockhurst 3, No. 2 Ohio Dominican 0
      • No. 3 Angelo State 3, No. 6 Lubbock Christian 1
      • No. 5 Flagler 3, No. 4 Carson-Newman 1
      • No. 1 Gannon 3, No. 8 Fayetteville State 0
      • No. 7 Central Washington 3, No. 2 Simon Fraser 2
      • No. 1 Tampa 3, No. 8 Spring Hill 0
      • No. 8 UIndy 3, No. 1 Missouri-State Louis 2
      • No. 4 St. Cloud St. 3, No. 5 Missouri Western 1
      • No. 1 Bentley 3, No. 8 Bridgeport 1
      • No. 1 MSU Denver 3, No. 8 Colorado Mesa 0
      • No. 4 Pitt.-Johnstown 4, No. 5 Shepherd 0
      • No. 4 West Florida 3, No. 5 Palm Beach Atl. 2
      • No. 1 Wingate 3, No. 8 Emmanuel (Georgia) 1
      • No. 1 Point Loma 3, No. 8 CSUSB 2
      • No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney 3, No. 8 Oklahoma Baptist 2
      • No. 5 Post 3, No. 4 American Int’l 1
      • No. 5 Findlay 3, No. 4 Wayne State (Michigan) 2
      • No. 4 West Tex. A&M 3, No. 5 CSU Pueblo 1
      • No. 5 Alas. Fairbanks 3, No. 4 Alas. Anchorage 0
    • Friday, Dec. 5
      • No. 2 Barry 3, No. 3 Lynn 0
      • No. 3 Indiana (PA) 3, No. 2 East Stroudsburg 1
      • No. 3 Anderson (SC) 3, No. 2 Lenoir-Rhyne 1
      • No. 3 Mercy 3, No. 7 Holy Family 1
      • No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul 3, No. 6 Washburn 0
      • No. 3 Ferris State 3, No. 7 Rockhurst 0
      • No. 3 Angelo State 3, No. 7 Colorado Sch. of Mines 0
      • No. 1 Bentley 3, No. 5 Post 1
      • No. 3 Fresno Pacific 3, No. 7 Central Washington 2
      • No. 1 Gannon 3, No. 4 Pitt.-Johnstown 1
      • No. 1 Tampa 3, No. 4 West Florida 1
      • No. 1 Wingate 3, No. 5 Flagler 1
      • No. 8 UIndy 3, No. 5 Findlay 1
      • No. 4 St. Cloud State 3, No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney 1
      • No. 1 MSU Denver 3, No. 4 West Tex. A&M 1
      • No. 1 Point Loma 3, No. 5 Alas. Fairbanks 1

NCAA DII women’s volleyball championship history

Here is the full list of champions and runners-up since 1981:

Year Champion (Record) Coach Score Runner-Up Site
2024 Lynn (33-3) Adam Milewski 3-2 San Francisco St. Sioux Falls, SD
2023 Cal State LA (24-10) Juan Figueroa 3-1  West Texas A&M Moon Township, PA
2022 West Texas A&M (33-4) Kendra Potts 3-1 Concordia-St. Paul Seattle, Wash.
2021 Tampa (34-2) Chris Catanach 3-0 Washburn Tampa, FL.
2020 Canceled due to Covid-19 — — — —
2019 Cal State San Bernardino (33-0) Kim Cherniss 3-1 Nebraska-Kearney Denver, Co.
2018 Tampa (33-4) Chris Catanach 3-2 Western Washington Pittsburgh, Pa.
2017 Concordia-St. Paul (34-3) Brady Starkey 3-0 Florida Southern Pensacola, Fla.
2016 Concordia-St. Paul (32-4) Brady Starkey 3-0 Alaska Anchorage Sioux Falls, S.D.
2015 Wheeling Jesuit (39-4) Christy Benner 3-0 Palm Beach Atlantic  Tampa, Fla. 
2014 Tampa (33-1) Chris Catanach 3-0 S’west Minnesota State Louisville, Ky.
2013 Concordia-St. Paul (35-3) Brady Starkey 3-0 BYU-Hawaii Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2012 Concordia-St. Paul (34-4) Brady Starkey 3-2 Tampa Pensacola, Fla.
2011 Concordia-St. Paul (34-2) Brady Starkey 3-0 Cal State San Bernardino Cal State San Bernardino
2010 Concordia-St. Paul (32-4) Brady Starkey 3-1 Tampa Louisville, Ky.
2009 Concordia-St. Paul (37-0) Brady Starkey 3-0 West Texas A&M Concordia-St. Paul
2008 Concordia-St. Paul (37-1) Brady Starkey 3-2 Cal State San Bernardino Concordia-St. Paul
2007 Concordia-St. Paul (36-4) Brady Starkey 3-1 Western Washington Washburn
2006 Tampa (35-1) Chris Catanach 3-1 North Alabama West Florida
2005 Grand Valley State (32-1) Deanne Scanlon 3-1 Nebraska-Kearney Nebraska-Kearney
2004 Barry (34-1) Dave Nichols 3-1 Truman Barry
2003 North Alabama (33-7) Matt Peck 3-0 Concordia-St. Paul Cal State San Bernardino
2002 BYU-Hawaii (27-2) Wilfred Navalta 3-0 Truman West Texas A&M
2001 Barry (32-2) Dave Nichols 3-0 South Dakota State Grand Valley State
2000 Hawaii Pacific (28-0) Tita Ahuna 3-0 Augustana (S.D.) Augustana (S.D.)
1999 BYU-Hawaii (30-2) Wilfred Navalta 3-0 Tampa Battle Creek, Mich.
1998 Hawaii Pacific (31-5) Tita Ahuna 3-1 North Dakota State Kissimmee, Fla.
1997 West Texas A&M (37-1) Debbie Hendricks 3-2 Barry Cal State Bakersfield
1996 Nebraska-Omaha (35-2) Rose Shires 3-2 Tampa Central Missouri
1995 Barry (34-2) Leonid Yelin 3-1 Northern Michigan Barry
1994 Northern Michigan (32-4) Mark Rosen 3-1 Cal State Bakersfield Cal State Bakersfield
1993 Northern Michigan (38-1) Jim Moore 3-1 Cal State Bakersfield Northern Michigan
1992 Portland State (36-1) Jeff Mozzochi 3-2 Northern Michigan Portland State
1991 West Texas A&M (36-2) Jim Giacomazzi 3-0 Portland State West Texas A&M
1990 West Texas A&M (38-1) Kim Hudson 3-0 North Dakota State Cal State Bakersfield
1989 Cal State Bakersfield (21-15) David Rubio 3-0 Sacramento State Cal State Bakersfield
1988 Portland State (36-5) Jeff Mozzochi 3-0 Cal State Northridge North Dakota State
1987 Cal State Northridge (35-6) Walt Ker 3-2 Central Missouri Nebraska-Omaha
1986 UC Riverside (29-7) Sue Gozansky 3-0 Cal State Northridge Sacramento State
1985 Portland State (36-5) Jeff Mozzochi 3-1 Cal State Northridge Portland State
1984 Portland State (33-4) Jeff Mozzochi 3-0 Cal State Northridge Portland State
1983 Cal State Northridge (30- 6) Walt Ker 3-2 Portland State Florida Southern
1982 UC Riverside (31-5) Sue Gozansky 3-0 Cal State Northridge Cal State Northridge
1981 Sacramento State (28-6) Debby Colbery 3-0 Lewis UC Riverside

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We gathered what we think are 10 of the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament since its inception in 1981 and ranked them.

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2025 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament: Bracket, schedule, scores

The DI women’s volleyball championship is here. The full reveal of the 64-team bracket was announced on Sunday, Nov. 30. Here is everything you need to know about the 2025 women’s volleyball tournament.

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Cal Poly Stuns USC and Advances to Seventh Sweet-16 in Program History

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December 6, 2025

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LOS ANGELES — After months of preparation, Cal Poly’s historic Friday night culminated in a stunning five-set upset of fourth-seeded USC (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 15-7), shattering every perfect bracket along the way.

The unseeded Mustangs (27-7) not only advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time since 2007, the seventh such appearance in program history, but also became the only team in the bracket to defeat two seeded opponents ranked lower than No. 6. Cal Poly’s last deep runs came in 2007, 1989, ‘87, ‘85, ‘84, and ‘82.

In a departure from their typical all-court offense, the Mustangs leaned on their pin hitters to secure a second straight ranked victory. Leading the charge was Emma Fredrick, who delivered a statement double-double with match-highs of 17 kills and 17 digs. Kendall Beshear and Annabelle Thalken followed with 12 kills apiece, with Beshear adding a pair of aces.

Freshman middle Charlotte Kelly anchored the net with a career-high seven block assists, part of a 10-block team effort that quieted USC’s top-50 offense to a .237 hitting percentage. Beshear (14 digs) and setter Emme Bullis (44 assists, 12 digs) also recorded double-doubles, helping limit USC’s top hitters, Leah Ford and London Wijay, to 19 kills on 55 swings.

Cal Poly stormed through the opening set behind relentless blocking, forcing an early USC timeout at 11-6. Despite a late Trojan push to narrow the gap to 22-18, a Caroline Walters timeout steadied the Mustangs, who closed out the frame 25-19.

USC responded by edging ahead 15-13 at the second-set media timeout. But after 13 ties and five lead changes, Cal Poly surged late with a 21-18 advantage and never looked back, taking the set 25-20.

The Women of Troy rallied in the third, building their largest lead at 17-12 and holding on to win 25-20. Momentum carried into the fourth, where USC raced ahead to claim it 25-14 and force a deciding fifth set.

In the tiebreaker, Cal Poly’s second of the tournament, the Mustangs broke a 3-3 deadlock with a commanding 12-4 run, sealing the match and their spot in the Third Round.

Now, one of the finest teams in program history, and a standout in recent mid-major volleyball, travels to Lexington to face No. 1 seed and regional host Kentucky.

The NCAA will announce date and time details Saturday evening. Until then, San Luis Obispo’s humble Mustangs have plenty to celebrate.



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