SYLVA, N.C. — (WLOS) – The 2025 Deaflympics in Tokyo, Japan in November will have a WNC native as a member of its USA deaf volleyball team.

“As you can tell, I can talk completely normal, I can interact completely normal. Growing up, a lot of people didn’t know I was deaf unless I told them, or they saw the implant,” said Ella Gamble.

Gamble, who attends Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. is home in Sylva for just a little bit as she prepares for another season, teaching, playing, and studying.

“We are in the middle of the city, on campus it’s nice because it’s kind of secluded. It’s fenced in so you kind of have your own world. But then you go out and have so many people and so many things, it’s definitely different. But I’m getting used to it, when I come back home, it’s definitely a breath of fresh air.”

First attending Carson-Newman out of high school, Gamble transferred to Gallaudet, a school that specializes in deaf and hard-of-hearing. Before her time in D.C., sign language wasn’t an essential part of her daily life. Though being born deaf, her life was most predicated by her implants, as the sign language community in Western North Carolina isn’t too large of a community.

“Whenever I transferred to Gallaudet, they had all signed there. So when I got there, I didn’t really know anything except the absolute basics. I’ve become fluent in sign since being there. Obviously I don’t really use it here because there’s nobody to talk to. I will with my sister every once in awhile, she knows a little bit. When I go back up there, sometimes I won’t even wear my implants just because that’s the language, and that’s what I feel more natural doing, even though spoken English is my first language.”

Volleyball has been Ella’s whole life, something she saw her mom doing and coaching, and a path she seeks to follow.

“I’ve thankfully had a lot of opportunities because I want to coach in the future. That’s my dream job right now, my goal. I’ve been helping my mom for years, her club team, and now she’s coaching the middle school District team here. I’ve been helping her out with practices and stuff. This past year, Gallaudet started men’s volleyball, I coached their club team the year before that through an internship as an assistant. This past year, I’ve been able to be a student assistant, and that’s been a lot of fun. It’s weird because all the guys are my age, or older and younger you know. It’s a little bit weird because we’re the same age, because I’m friends with some of them.”

Teaching, coach, learning, clearly a passion of hers. Ella is the eldest of four in her family, with two brothers between her and the youngest, her sister.

“She’s been in the gym since she was four. Her experience is very different from mine. I started playing in maybe fifth grade and I wasn’t really good until my sophomore year of school. While she’s been in the gym and she’s been going at it for awhile. The stuff I was doing when I was older, seeing her doing it now, and seeing her be as good as she is, it’s really cool.”

Volleyball has already taken Ella to one Deaflympics, and world championship, and to-be another Deaflympics this fall. Seeing the world because of her lack of ability to hear, something she never could have foreseen.

“It’s been really cool to see where I started here, in little Cullowhee, Sylva. And playing for Smoky Mountain, to going to do this. I never would have imagined, my little high school self would never imagined – ,my little high school self would never have thought I’d be doing this one day.”

• There are 6 pools in the area, including in Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Little Chute and Kaukauna.
• Three cities have splash pads, ranging in size, shape and age.
• Swimmers can find man-made beaches in five communities, depending on which part of the Fox Cities is your starting point.
• There are three beaches which grant access to Lake Winnebago, though checking the DNR website ahead of time to make sure the water quality is up to snuff.

The Fox Cities are expecting a heat wave.

OMAHA, Neb. – Left-hander Kade Anderson delivered the second complete-game shutout in LSU’s College World Series history Saturday night, pitching the Tigers to a 1-0 win over Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the CWS Finals at Charles Schwab Field.

LSU, which won its seventh straight game, improved to 52-15 on the year, and is one win away from claiming the eighth national championship in school history.

The victory marked the first time LSU won a postseason game – in the SEC or NCAA Tournaments – by a score of 1-0.

Coastal Carolina dropped to 56-12, as the Chanticleers saw their nearly two-month-long winning streak end at 26 games.

The teams will meet in Game 2 of the series at 1:30 p.m. CT Sunday in a contest that will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised by ABC.

If LSU wins Sunday’s game, the Tigers claim the College World Series title for the eighth time. If Coastal Carolina wins Sunday’s game, the teams meet again at 6:30 p.m. CT Monday to determine the national champion.

Anderson (12-1) fired his second complete-game shutout of the season, as he also accomplished the feat at Oklahoma on April 4. He limited Coastal Carolina to just three hits while recording five walks and 10 strikeouts over 130 pitches.

“I was just really focusing on the next pitch throughout the night,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t pretty, but got the job done. Just putting the team in a situation to win was my goal. Sometimes with the staff we have, all you need is one run. And Coach (Jay) Johnson prepares us to be one-run ready.”

Anderson’s outing marked the second complete-game shutout by an LSU pitcher in College World Series history, as right-hander Brett Laxton blanked Wichita State, 8-0, in the 1993 National Championship Game.

“A great performance tonight by our team, especially Kade,” said LSU coach Jay Johnson. “A special performance. Not taking it for granted; that’s what we’ve seen all year. He’s the best pitcher in the country, and he showed it again tonight.

“That’s been on the regular, every Game 1 of the entire season. So I’m glad he did that tonight, so everybody got to see what we’ve seen and known for an entire season.”

Coastal Carolina starting pitcher Cameron Flukey (8-2) was charged with the loss, as he allowed one run on four hits in 6.0 innings with two walks and nine strikeouts.

LSU scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning as leftfielder Derek Curiel led off with a walk, moved to second on designated hitter Ethan Frey’s groundout and scored when shortstop Steven Milam lined an RBI single.

“In the first inning, Derek Curiel, after an 0-2 count, draws the walk,” Johnson recounted. “Ethan Frey moves the ball against a tough pitcher. Steven gets down to two strikes and hits a ball hard and low through the middle of the field; he’s better at that than everybody else in the country.”

ZAGREB, Croatia – Pepperdine water polo rising junior Jon Carcarey earned a silver medal while representing the United States at the World Aquatics U20 World Championships in Croatia. The second-place finish marks the highest-ever for the United States at a Junior World Championship.

Carcarey and the Americans reached the championship match against Spain after a penalty shootout victory in the quarterfinals versus Serbia and a narrow win in the semifinals against Hungary. Carcarey recorded four goals across the week as the U.S. made its historic run.

The U.S. began the tournament playing in the opening match against the hosts in Croatia, falling by a 19-10 scoreline. The Americans continued their group play schedule against Hungary, suffering a narrow 13-12 defeat. Carcarey had his most productive effort of the tournament in the contest, logging a game-high three goals.

The Americans wrapped up group play with a 16-10 win over Montenegro, which set up a knockout round matchup with Iran. The U.S. then picked up a convincing 23-5 win over Iran to advance into the quarterfinal round.

The U.S. pulled off the upset over Serbia with a thrilling 19-18 shootout win after the game was tied at 14 apiece through regulation. Carcarey had one of the biggest goals of the tournament with 2:05 remaining in the fourth period, the 14th and final goal for the U.S. before the shootout.

The Americans continued their run with a fourth straight win in the semifinals, narrowly topping Hungary by an eventual 18-16 mark. Returning on Saturday for the championship match against Spain, the U.S. fell 14-11 in a close contest which was tied heading into the fourth quarter.

It marks the second-ever medal won by the U.S. in the tournament, previously earning bronze in 2023 in Romania.

Pepperdine water polo alumni Jack Kocur ’98 and Alex Rodriguez ’98 also earned the medal as members of the coaching staff with Kocur serving as head coach.

Carcarey has posted 60 goals through two seasons with the Waves who will open the 2025 season at the Triton Invite in San Diego from Aug. 30-31.