Nebraska volleyball’s Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly received top positional awards at the AVCA Awards Banquet at the Kansas City Convention Center on Friday. 

Jackson was named the Middle Blocker of the Year, while Reilly was named the Setter of the Year. The AVCA positional awards are new this season.

Pitt junior Olivia Babock was named the AVCA Player of the Year for the second straight season, as well as Opposite of the Year. Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer took home Outside Hitter of the Year, and Iowa State libero Rachel Van Gorp was Libero of the Year. 

Reilly set the Huskers to a school-record .351 hitting percentage, as the Big Red concluded their season with a 33-1 overall record and 20-0 mark in Big Ten play en route to a third straight conference title. Reilly averaged 10.47 assists per set and 2.70 digs per set. She also totaled 73 kills, 67 blocks and 19 aces. 

Reilly was named a first-team AVCA All-American, Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Setter of the Year, AVCA Region Player of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team. NU’s .351 hitting percentage ranks first nationally and is the best hitting percentage by a Big Ten team since 2009 Penn State.

A junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., Reilly set Nebraska to a .400 or better hitting percentage nine times this season, a school record in the rally-scoring era. Reilly had double-doubles in all six of the Husker matches that went longer than three sets, and she had four double-doubles in sweeps.

A three-time AVCA All-American and one of four finalists for AVCA Player of the Year, Reilly ranks No. 3 in school history in career assists in the rally-scoring era with 3,723. Her career assists per set average of 10.70 ranks No. 4 among active Division I players and No. 2 in school history in the rally-scoring era.

Jackson was chosen to the AVCA All-America First Team for the second straight year, as well as the All-Big Ten First Team. She was also an AVCA Player of the Year Semifinalist and AVCA All-Region Team for the third straight year. 

The junior middle blocker from Brighton, Colo., averaged 2.74 kills per set on .467 hitting with 1.12 blocks per set and 16 aces. Her .467 hitting percentage led the nation and was the No. 3 hitting percentage in school history for a single season. 

In conference-only matches, Jackson hit .559 to break the Big Ten record for hitting percentage in conference-only matches in a season, which was .541 by Arielle Wilson from Penn State in 2008. Jackson ended her junior season with a career hitting percentage of .437, which is the No. 1 mark in school history and the No. 1 mark among active Division I players. 

2026 Youngstown State University Indoor Track & Field 14th Annual Collegiate Invitational Meet Presented by Southwoods Health will start at 1 pm | Friday, Jan. 16

Entry Registration Opens up on Direct Athletics :

Friday, December 19 at 5pm

Time Schedule of Events

Running Events start at 1pm

All Field Events start at 1pm

Running Events — Rolling Schedule Women first, Men to Follow

1pm Women 5000M 

Men’s 60M Hurdles Qualifying Round

Women’s 60M Hurdles  Qualifying Round

Women’s 60M Dash  Qualifying Round

Men’s 60M Dash  Qualifying Round

Men’s 5000M

Men’s 60M Hurdles PRELIMS

Women’s 60M Hurdles PRELIMS

Women’s 60M Dash PRELIMS

Men’s 60M Dash PRELIMS

Women’s Mile Run 

Men’s Mile Run

Women’s 400M

Men’s 400M

Women’s 60M Hurdles FINALS

Men’s 60M Hurdles FINALS

Women’s 60M Dash FINALS

Men’s 60M Dash FINALS

Women’s 500M Dash FINALS

Men’s 500M Dash FINALS

Women’s 800m

Men’s 800m

Women’s 200M Dash

Men’s 200M Dash

Women’s 3000M Run 

Men’s 3000M Run

Women’s 1600M Relay

Men’s 1600M Relay

Field Events Start at 12noon

Seeded Women’s Pole Vault

Seeded Men’s Pole Vault

Unseeded Women’s Pole Vault

Unseeded Men’s Pole Vault

Women’s High Jump–Men’s High Jump to follow

Women’s Weight Throw–Men’s Weight Throw to follow

Men’s Shot Put–Women’s Shot Put to follow

Men (West Pit) and Women (East Pit)

Long Jump–Triple Jump follow 20 minutes upon completion of Long Jump

**Finals in field events will consist of the top Nine marks from the qualifying rounds.**

Meet : Open NCAA sanctioned Indoor Track & Field Competition.

Timing: Fully automatic FinishLynx system

Location: The Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) on the YSU campus. The WATTS features a full-length Shaw Sportexe Power Blade HP+ synthetic turf system football field, a 300-meter state-of-the-art mondo track surface, two long-jump pits, a high-jump pit, four batting cages, protective netting, training room and locker rooms.

GPS address: 651 Elm St. | Youngstown, OH 44555

Entries: Entries are due by Tuesday, January 13 by 7pm on Direct Athletics, consisting of event entries with best marks from the previous year or realistic projected marks. All entries will be done on-line at www.directathletics.com.

Please visit the Direct Athletics website at your earliest convenience in order to familiarize yourself with how the entry process works.

Also, please limit FIVE athletes per event. If you have an event with more than five quality athletes, please text Brian Gorby at (330) 519-7591 and we’ll help to get more entry’s added, if needed.

We always try to help accommodate additional team /individual additional Entry’s.

**Note: Please check YSUsports.com after the entry deadline for changes or adjustments to the meet time schedule!

Internet Entry Lists: Final entry lists will be posted on our website, YSUsports.com on Thursday, January 15. Please check to make sure your athletes are entered correctly. If there are mistakes or scratches, please email bdgorby@ysu.edu & ysutrackmeets@gmail.com .

Entry Fees: $ 500 per each team, men &  women genders are separate, consisting of 10 or more individuals in unlimited events are paid online, when you complete Entry’s on Direct Athletics or $ 25 per individual event entry & paid online at Direct Athletics.

ENTRY FEES

$ 25 per ENTRY (i.e. 2 events entered would be $ 50 )  Entry fees must be paid in advance online when you enter on DirectAthletics (all major credit and debit cards accepted).

Relay only Entry’s $ 7 per runner for a total of $ 28 per relay team. 

REFUND POLICY

Outside of meet cancellation, there is a strict NO REFUND policy on entry fees.

Absolutely no refunds will be processed due to scratches, change of plans, inability to travel, illness, injuries, etc.

Spikes: ONLY 1/4 inch or shorter pyramid spikes will be allowed and all spikes will be checked prior to events. NO pin or needle spikes, spike elements, or any other type of spike will be allowed.

High Jump: All high jump competitions will be conducted on the Mondo surface.

Sections/Heats/Flights: Flights will be seeded by distance with best marks in the latest sections/flights.

Finals in field events will consist of the top nine marks from the qualifying rounds.

There will be prelims and finals in the 60 and 60h. All other races will be run as sections against time with the fastest heats being run first.

Implement Weigh-In: 30 minutes prior to event at the Throws area.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KBTX) – Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison and his squad have fought through the postseason for the ability to practice together one more time, he said.

This edition of Aggies will get the maximum number of practices a team can hold.

Thursday, third-seeded A&M swept No. 1 seed Pitt (29-27, 25-21, 25-20) to punch its first-ever ticket to the NCAA Tournament national title game inside Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center.

The Aggies will face Southeastern Conference-mate Kentucky Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for a shot to hoist a national championship trophy.

“This is crazy,” middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “This is an absolute crazy experience. We have had faith in ourselves all year, from the first game of the season. We knew that we were capable of this, but now living it, like, ‘Wow.’ This is insane. It’s really cool.”

Outside hitter Kyndal Stowers paced the Aggies with 16 kills, followed by Logan Lednicky’s 14. Pitt’s Olivia Babcock was the match’s leading attacker with 22 kills.

A&M dominated the service line through the match, which included six service aces.

The Aggies went hit-for-hit with Pitt through an opening set that saw 17 ties and eight lead changes. Pitt weathered four Aggie set points, and had two of their own, before A&M finally put Set 1 away with a kill from Stowers.

Pitt put together an 8-0 run through the middle of the second set to take a 15-11 lead, but the Aggies immediately countered with their own 9-2 run to pull the match back in their favor. A 4-0 run ultimately put the set on ice, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.

A&M has built upon the experiences of the season and this set is was no different. In the Aggies’ Elite Eight win over Nebraska, the Cornhuskers put together an 8-1 run through the middle of the marathon fourth set that the Aggies ultimately dropped. Thursday, they cut off the skid before it cost them a set.

“We were like, ‘Hey, we’re not doing that again,’” Stowers said. “’They’re going on a run right now. We’re going to recognize that, props to them for what they’re doing, but we are going to go respond and we’re not going to let that keep happening.”

A&M closed out the third set on a 5-1 run to claim the match.

The Aggies hit .382 to Pitt’s .344 in the match.

“I’m proud of our team just because we talk a lot about staying present and enjoying moments and I thought, in all of those moments, we enjoyed every single second of it,” Morrison said. “Every single time we were pushed, we talked a lot about responses, and we had a response and that’s all you can ask for in these moments.”

The Aggies will be out for revenge Sunday, as Kentucky is the only squad that downed the Aggies in SEC play this season in a 3-1 Wildcat win in Reed Arena. It will be the first time in the history of the tournament two SEC teams will face each other in the championship game.

“Y’all keep hearing, ‘Why not us?’” Lednicky said. “Like, literally, ‘Why not us?’ I think we are considered the underdog in a lot of moments, just because we haven’t been here before. But we know we have all the right pieces so, ‘Why not us?’”

KBTX reporter Dylan Chryst Watkiss contributed to this report from Kansas City, Mo.

Copyright 2025 KBTX. All rights reserved.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Women’s Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
 
The CSC Academic All-District® teams include the student-athletes listed at the links above.

Academic All-District® honorees were considered for advancement to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot.

For WSSU, Aria Caldwell and Zoe Chesson were named to the team.

Student-athletes selected as CSC Academic All-America® finalists are denoted with an asterisk and will advance to the national ballot to be voted on by CSC members. First-, second- and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced Jan. 13, 2026.

The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs. The NAIA CSC Academic All-America® program is partially financially supported through the NAIA governance structure.

KANSAS CITY – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Olivia Babcock the 2025 AVCA National Player of the Year on Friday. Babcock becomes just the fifth player in the award’s history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons. Additionally, she was honored as the inaugural AVCA Rightside Hitter of the Year, an award introduced this season.

Babcock once again swept the sport’s top individual accolades in 2025, earning AVCA National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year and AVCA East Coast Region Player of the Year honors. She is the only player in Pitt history to be named a three-time AVCA First Team All-American and was recently selected as the Pittsburgh Regional Most Outstanding Player after leading the Panthers to their fifth consecutive National Semifinal.

Earlier this season, Babcock set the program’s single-match kills record with 45 against North Carolina. She is the only player in NCAA volleyball this year to reach that mark and the first since Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson recorded 50 kills against UConn on Nov. 3, 2019.

Anchoring the Pitt offense, Babcock averaged personal-best marks of 5.17 kills per set and 2.09 digs per set. She earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors earlier this season and was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week five times during the 2025 campaign.

HONOLULU – Individual match tickets for the 2026 University of Hawai’i men’s volleyball season are currently on sale. Tickets may be purchased at www.etickethawaii.com or at the Bankoh Arena at Stan Sheriff Center box office (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.). 
 
Season tickets are still on sale starting as low as $150.  Click here to purchase season tickets.
 
In addition, several promotions are also available for individual match tickets.
 
Save & Serve Wednesdays: $5 Tickets available while supplies last
Military: 30% off all matches & 50% off on April 17^th match
Hawai’i Hero’s Night: 50% off for First Responders on January 8^th match
*All special offers are based on availability and only in select seating areas.
 
Link to purchase individual games online: https://hawaiiathletics.evenue.net/events/MVBI
 
Individual Ticket Prices:
Lower Level (only single seats available)
Lower Level Sideline – $25
Lower Level Baseline 
        Adult – $24
        Senior citizen (65 and over) – $20
        Youth (ages 4-High School) – $15
 
Upper Level Sideline
        Adult – $20
        Senior citizen (65 and over) – $15
        Youth (ages 4-High School) – $10
Upper Level Baseline
        Adult – $17
        Senior citizen (65 and over) – $10
        Youth (ages 4–High School) – $8
 
 

#HawaiiMVB