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John Mayer – Women’s Beach Volleyball Coach

Published

7 months ago

May 21, 2025

JOHN MAYER BVB BIO | JOHN MAYER TEAM USA BIO

John Mayer begins his 11^th year as the head coach of LMU’s beach volleyball program in 2025-2026.

Mayer is leading the beach volleyball program to one of the most successful stretches of any team in school history. Beach Volleyball is the only coach in school history to win five or more consecutive WCC Championships. Following a sixth-consecutive WCC Championship, led the Lions to the program’s first National Title Game appearance in 2025. Mayer’s Lions won a school-record 38 duals in his 10^th year leading the Lions, including defeating 12 opponents ranked in the top-10 and multiple wins over #1 ranked opponents. In the NCAA Championships, LMU opened with a 3-0 sweep over #13 FAU before putting together one of the most impressive single days in program history. On Saturday, May 3, 2025, LMU knocked off four-time defending national champions USC, 3-1, to advance to that afternoon’s semifinals. The Lions then took down top-seeded #1 UCLA in a reverse sweep in the semifinals to advance to the Sunday’s championship dual. In the national title game, LMU and TCU split courts two through five to set up championship point in the third set of Court 1, before the Horned Frogs eventually ended LMU’s season. Mayer became the first coach in school history, across any sport, to be named National Coach of the Year, after the AVCA Announced that honor the week of the NCAA Tournament. Along with that award, the AVCA also named Michelle Shaffer and Chloe Hooker Second Team All-Americans, as well as Top Flight Pairs on four different courts with Flight 2 (Anna Pelloia and Chloe Hooker), Flight 3 (Abbey Thorup and Lisa Luini), Flight 4 (Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch), and Flight 5 (Tanon Rosenthal and Giuliana Poletti Corrales) all winning over 75% of their matches on those courts. The WCC Awards continued as Mayer was named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the conference record sixth consecutive season. Mayer also mentored the WCC Pair of the Year for the fifth consecutive season, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year for the fifth consecutive season, and the WCC Co-Freshman of the Year for the fourth time over the past five years. LMU also saw additional conference recognition with seven First Team All-WCC and three Second Team All-WCC selections.

In 2024, Mayer led his Lions to a win in Gulf Shores, Alabama, at the NCAA Championships against #9 Hawaii before falling to the eventual national champions, USC, for the second consecutive season. The Lions finished the year ranked eighth nationally and Mayer earned his fifth-straight WCC Coach of the Year recognition. Under Mayer, Vilhelmiina Prihti was named to the AVCA All-American team for the second time and Michelle Shaffer earned her first All-American recognition in her first season playing with the Lions. Mayer mentored the WCC Pair of the Year for fifth time in his career and the WCC Defensive Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive season.

For three-consecutive seasons between 2021 and 2023, Mayer coached the Lions to a top-5 finish nationally with a return to the NCAA Championships. In 2022-23, the Lions returned to the NCAA Championships and defeated #11 Hawaii before falling to the eventual national champions, #3 USC, 3-1 to close the season. The Lions went 29-9 on the season, including a perfect home record after unveiling new on-campus courts. Additionally, Mayer was named WCC Coach of the Year for the fourth-consecutive season and mentored the WCC Pair of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, the WCC Freshman of the Year, five first team All-WCC Players, two AVCA Top Flight Winners, and two AVCA All-Americans in 2023.

The 2021-22 season continued to build on the foundation Mayer set for the program. In addition to being named West Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season, Mayer coached four AVCA All-Americans, the WCC Pair of the Year, the WCC Defensive Player of the Year, and the WCC Co-Freshman of the Year. The Lions finished the year with a school-record 32 wins, did not drop a court in the WCC Championships, and won a program-record three games in the NCAA Championships in Gulf Shores before bowing out in the semifinals. LMU finished fourth in the final AVCA Poll in 2022.

After a brief 2019-20 season, LMU was able to dominate the 2020-21 season with a 31-8 record as they added another West Coast Conference Championship to their list of achievements. Coach Mayer was selected to the USA National Team as a result while also coaching Madi Firnett to WCC Freshman of the Year honors.

Before a shortened 2019-20 season, where the team ended with a 6-3 record, Mayer was coming off of an impressive 2018-19 season, where he led the Lions to their first-ever conference title. The team beat Pepperdine for the first time in program history to win the West Coast Conference Championship. The conference win came after a 27-11 season, including seven wins over ranked opponents.

On June 7, 2015, the West Coast Conference added women’s beach volleyball as a WCC-sponsored sport. As the sport quickly gained status within the NCAA and the WCC, former LMU Athletics Director Dr. William Husak announced, on August 5, 2015, the hiring of Mayer as the LMU beach volleyball head coach.

At the time of the hire, Husak said, “The sport of beach volleyball has quickly grown at all levels, especially within the NCAA. We added the sport in 2012 and since have seen the positive and important impact on our department. As the sport grows, we wanted to continue to establish it here at LMU. We are very excited to have John take over the program on a full-time basis. He has had success at all levels of volleyball and we are fortunate he will be the program’s first official head coach.”

Mayer guided his 2018 squad to a 22-14 overall mark, and a berth into the semifinal round of play from the 2018 West Coast Conference Championships, but eventually dropped the match to Saint Mary’s. The Lions, playing as the #2 seed in the tournament, beat Pacific to advance to the match against the third-seeded Gaels. Following the season, McKayla Ferris and Jessie Prichard highlighted a quartet of Lions lauded by the West Coast Conference, earning All-WCC first-team honors. Sara Kovac and Savannah Slattery were also honored, earning second-team selections.

Mayer’s 2016 squad finished the year at 6-17, but reached the semifinals of the inaugural WCC Championships. Rachelle Suaava and Avery Bush were named All-WCC, while Kekai Whitford and Sascha Dominique took home All-Freshman selections. The Lions finished the year ranked in the Top-20 of the DiG Magazine poll.

The 2017 season saw LMU post a 15-14 overall record, but the Lions, playing as the #3 seed at the WCC Championship Tournament, reached the final match before falling to Pepperdine. LMU’s top pair of Savannah Slattery and Sarah Sponcil went 20-9 at the top of the order in 2017, as the duo reached the quarterfinal round at the USA Volleyball Collegiate Championships in the postseason. Sponcil was ultimately named WCC Player of the Year, while Slattery took home WCC Freshman of the Year, and both were named first team All-WCC. Sara Kovac and Jessie Prichard also garnered All-WCC recognition, earning honorable mention picks. Finally, Prichard and Slattery were named to the WCC All-Freshman team.

Prior to being named head coach, Mayer spent the previous four seasons as a volunteer assistant coach working with the LMU sand volleyball program. He had also served as the head coach of the men’s volleyball program at Santa Monica College since 2008. As head coach at Santa Monica College, Mayer was named 2015 Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to a State Championship.

“We are one of the few schools in the country that will actually be practicing at the beach, which is a huge advantage for training and developing our athletes,” said Mayer. “The sport of beach volleyball has taken off at the collegiate level with schools all over the country adding teams. Having the WCC now involved with a postseason championship shows how big the sport has become in a few short years. I imagine beach volleyball will soon be one of the premier sports for female athletes at the college level.”

A 2005 graduate of Pepperdine University, Mayer helped guide Pepperdine to a National Championship in his senior year. Before transferring to Pepperdine, Mayer won a pair of State Championships playing at Pierce College.

Mayer made his AVP debut in 2003 at Hermosa Beach. In 2009, Mayer with partner Jeff Nygaard won the AVP Open at San Diego and was also named the Most Improved Player. In 2013, Mayer finished top-10 in all six events he entered into. Teamed with Ryan Doherty as the fourth-seed in the tournament, Mayer won the 2015 AVP Kingston Seattle Open men’s title en route to being named 2015 AVP Men’s MVP and Best Defender. In addition to his title, Mayer made four finals appearances, and six semifinal runs in 2015. Again, teamed with Doherty in 2016, Mayer won the AVP New Orleans title.

John Mayer was born June 11, 1982, in Thousand Oaks, CA. Mayer currently lives in Mar Vista, Calif. with his wife, dermatologist Dr. Paola Rodriguez, and daughter.

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Men’s track and field wins four events at M City Classic to start indoor season

Published

12 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men’s track and field team had four first-place finishes at the season-opening M City Classic on Friday and Saturday at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.

Senior Lance Nemecek, sophomore Jackson Bullock, and senior Kevin Turlington won individual events on the track for St. Olaf, which also had a first-place performance in the 4×400-meter relay. The Oles put recorded five performances that ranked on their all-time top-10 performers’ list at the first indoor meet of the season.

Nemecek, senior Cullen Moore, first year Paxon Myers, and junior Christian Fells all ran top-12 times in NCAA Division III this season in the 800-meter run to post the four fastest times of the day. Nemecek won the event in 1:54.02, followed closely by Moore in 1:54.16, which rank second and third in the country and third and fourth, respectively, on the Oles’ all-time list. Myers edged Fells at the line by one one-hundredth of a second in 1:55.73, as the pair posted the No. 10 and No. 11 times nationally.

Nemecek, Moore, and Myers were joined by sophomore Austin McInturff on the winning 4×400-meter relay, which compiled a time of 3:21.77 to rank second on St. Olaf’s all-time list. That time is just seven one-hundredths of a second off the program record set in 2016 and ranks fifth in the country.

St. Olaf logged the top-three times of the meet in the one-mile run, led by Bullock’s first-place time of 4:23.01. Senior Eli Doran (4:23.04) and junior Alex Bjork (4:23.37) were within half a second of Bullock, with all three Oles posting top-20 times in NCAA Division III to date.

Senior Kevin Turlington added a win in the 5,000-meter run with the fifth-fastest time in NCAA Division III (14:35.39). Fellow senior Gael Manzur Strandlund was third in 15:19.86 as well.

Sophomore Cristian Escobar Pearson bettered his No. 2 time on St. Olaf’s all-time list in the 60-meter dash in both the prelims (7.07) and finals (7.05) to finish eighth in the event. Junior Jesse Olson recorded the No. 8 score on the Oles’ list in the heptathlon (4,153) by registering four personal-bests in the seven-event, two-day competition to take fourth. Olson’s highest finish came in the high jump, where he placed third after clearing 182 meters (5′ 11 ½”).

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

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Minnesota advances to Sweet 16 in NCAA volleyball tournament

Published

13 minutes ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Minnesota volleyball is in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, and they now have a chance to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021.

After sweeping Fairfield University 3-0 in the first round of the tourney on Friday night at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis, the Gophers dominated Iowa State in a sweep Saturday night to advance to the Sweet 16.

The Gophers took the first set 25-22 before securing the second set 25-21. They crushed the Cyclones 25-14 in the third set to roll into the regional semifinal, where they will face No. 1 Pittsburgh on Thursday for a chance to reach the regional final, which would come with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

The Gophers were seeded fourth in their region, while Iowa State was the No. 5 seed.

Minnesota finished the regular season 22-9 and ranked No. 17 in the AVCA poll. Pittsburgh is ranked No. 4 in the nation, sporting a 28-4 record.

The Minnesota-Pitt regional semifinal will happen at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, and the Panthers will be hosting the match at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

The match will be televised on ESPN2.

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Walker’s Record Highlights Indoor Season Opener

Published

2 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sha’Nard Walker set an event record in the 300m to highlight the start of indoor season, Saturday at the Birmingham Indoor Icebreaker at the Birmingham Crossplex.

Walker finished first in the 300m with an event-record 33.56, followed by Jancent Wallace who placed fifth with a 34.07.

In the 400m, Jonathan Gaines finished fifth with a time of 49.52 to lead the Cats, while Dashawn Buist grabbed a top-fiver finish in the 800m with a fourth-place 1:58.05.

For the jumpes, Michael Carter’s 7.27m earned him second in the long jump – he also took home fifth in the triple jump at 14.56m.

On the women’s side Betina Jean took two top-10 finishes -eighth in the 200m with a 25.13 and seventh in the 400m at 58.23.

As for jumps, Darryn Hough finished fifth with a 1.55m in the high jump, while Ay’Keelah Green finished fourth in the long jump with a 5.84m. LaNeeya Garrison finished thrid in the triple jump with an 11.81m.

Kasie Ugeh picked up where she left off a season ago with a fourth-place finish in the shot put at 13.19m.

The full list of B-CU times and finishes is listed below:

Men’s 200m

29. Jemari Sanders 22.98

Men’s 300m

1. Sha’Nard Walker 33.56

5. Jancent Wallace 34.07

10. Ethan Sharpe 35.04

Men’s 400m

5. Jonathan Gaines 49.52

9. Donavan Walker-Collins 49.99

16. Makhii Fleming 50.65

Men’s 800m

4. Dashawn Buist 1:58.05

8. Andre Swewl 20:01.42

Men’s Mile

17. Jalen Jackson 4:43.55

Men’s 3000m

35. Gerrard Griffin 9:32.40

41. Dashon Gill 9:53.49

Men’s High Jump

9. Ashton Matthews 1.95m

Men’s Pole Vault

15. Jabari Armant 4.00m

Men’s Long Jump

2. Michael Carter 7.27m

11. Amarrion Grant 6.84m

17. Bari Willimas 6.53m

Men’s Triple Jump

5. Michael Carter 14.56m

7. Farai Mhende 14.48m

Men’s Shot Put

9. William Rothmiller 14.62m

19. Tyler Washing 12.96m

Men’s Weight Throw

10. Anton Holland 15.64m

Women’s 200m

8. Betina Jean 25.13

18. Haely Grant 25.62

19. Quiaundra Brown 25.69

23. Mariana Morillo 25.76

Women’s 300m

10. Zion Harvey 40.84

11. Amani Jones 40.92

Women’s 400m

7. Betina Jean 58.21

9. Haely Grant 59.10

18. Kavay Johnson 1:01.04

Women’s 1000m

18. Morgan Middleton 3:14.02

Women’s 3000m

14. Valencia Butler 11:20.82

23. Shelvany Goin 12:19.12

Women’s High Jump

5. Darryn Hough 1.55m

10. Selena Rutland 1.50m

21. Soukaina Davis 1.50m

Women’s Long Jump

4. Ay’Keelah Green 5.84m

10. Zion Harvey 5.55m

36. Darryn Hough 4.90m

Women’s Triple Jump

3. LaNeeya Garrison 11.81m

5. Selena Rutland 11.74m

Women’s Shot Put

4. Kasie Ugeh 13.19m

25. Raziyah Ware 10.63m

Women’s Weight Throw

29. Raziyah Ware 10.13m

Follow Bethune-Cookman Cross Country/Track & Field on Twitter and Instagram (BCUXCTF) for all of the latest news and updates. For all Bethune-Cookman Athletics news, follow us on Twitter (@BCUAthletics), Instagram (@BCU_Athletics) TikTok (@BCUAthletics) and www.bcuathletics.com.

–#HailWildcats–

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No. 1 Nebraska volleyball sweeps KSU, advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 | Husker Red Zone

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2 hours ago

December 7, 2025

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Records Broken as Women’s Track and Field Display Strong Performances in Season Opener

Published

2 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Women’s Track and Field | 12/6/2025 7:16:00 PM

Springfield, Ohio – Sophomore Mira Renaldi, senior Emily Brennan and first-year Stevie Combs all showed out in the first meet of the indoor season, as three records were broken by the trio at the Tiger Opener hosted by Wittenberg University. Renaldi broke the record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.16, just barely edging out the time of 9.17 set by Caliyah Bennett back in 2023. Two records were broken in the same event, as Brennan broke the record in the 300 meter dash with a time of 41.75 in heat one, beating the record of 42.01 which was held by Jill Westerfield since 1998. The record would not last long though, as in heat two Combs would break the record with a time of 41.15 seconds, making Brennan’s short-lived. Sydney Flores was first in shot put, and multiple Big Red delivered top-five performances.

Distance/Sprints

In the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Mira Renaldi ran a career-best and Denison record 9.16 to earn first place. Her previous best was 9.20. Coming in second-place was senior Sydney Brown with a time of 9.39. The Big Red stuffed the top-10 in the 300-meter dash, as first-year Stevie Combs got second with a time of 41.15 for a school record, and Emily Brennan followed right behind with a time of 41.75 for third-place. Renaldi added on to her impressive day with a sixth-place finish with a mark of 43.65. In the 200-meter dash, Brennan showcased another top-10 finish, this time notching eighth with a time of 26.39. Lulu Visocky-O’Grady placed seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:39.98.

Field Events

Sydney Flores won the shot put with a mark of 12.14, .45 more than the second-place finisher. Gabrielle Turner also competed in the event, as she placed in the top-10 with Turner grabbing 10th with a throw of 10.44m. Mariel Drost earned fifth-place in the weight throw with a mark of 13.38m. In the long jump, first-year Marisa Bianchi placed in the top-five with a jump of 4.96m to start her Big Red career. Sophomore Eno-Yaa Kissi grabbed ninth with a career-best mark of 4.85m. Julia Schena placed eighth in the high jump with a mark of 1.48.

Up Next for the Big Red

The Big Red will take a holiday break, then head out to Muskingum University for Muskie Meet #1 in New Concord, Ohio on Saturday, January 17, 2026.

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Pitt volleyball wins hard-fought match against Michigan to advance to NCAA regional semifinal

Published

2 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Pitt women’s volleyball coach Dan Fisher would love more preparation between the first and second round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament.

All 32 coaches who advanced to the second round felt like that to some degree about the 24-hour or so turnaround they face. The Panthers found ways to stabilize themselves after a hot start from Michigan to win 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 to advance to the regional semifinals for the sixth consecutive season.

“I’ll start by acknowledging how tough Michigan was tonight,” Fisher said. “We tried early in the week to have them look at both Xavier and Michigan and their style of play. It is certainly nice to have a date or two to feel that you’ve had a few times to train against it. But everyone has the same advantage, and they had the same deal against us.”

Pitt right-side hitter Olivia Babcock was happy with how the Panthers adjusted. Babcock finished with a match-high 24 kills.

The Panthers (24-7) will host Minnesota on Thursday.

“I feel like we were struggling to execute what we wanted to do in the beginning of each set,” Babcock said. “I feel like at the end, once we got to those last points, we told each other this is when we need to play our best. I feel like we were able to slow down Michigan and just control our side.”

Michigan didn’t give away many opportunities to the Panthers.

The Wolverines held a 17-13 lead in the first set after a service ace from Allison Jacobs.

Michigan coach Erin Virtue was happy her team wasn’t intimidated by the moment.

“The moment wasn’t too big for this team,” Virtue said. “I think there’s a lot of reasons that you could have or excuses we could have leaned back on. But they were ready. Our team was ready.”

Pitt surged back with a 6-2 run that included two kills from Babcock and one from Marina Pezelj.

The Panthers went ahead for good, 22-21, on a block by Abbey Emch and Babcock on a Jacobs kill attempt.

Pezelj finished second on the team with 12 kills. Pezelj, a freshman outside hitter, has enjoyed her first tournament experience.

“For me, it’s really the first time, so I was kind of stressed a little bit in the beginning,” Pezelj said. “I’m pretty good with this, and I’m just so grateful to be here with this team.”

During the second set, the timing of Michigan’s mistakes hurt them. The Wolverines (22-11) twice committed service errors after cutting the lead to one point, 19-18 and 20-19, respectively.

Cymarah Gordon led Michigan with 11 kills.

Brooke Mosher led Pitt with 34 passists, and Emery Dupes and Babcock tied for a team-high eight digs.

Fisher said he is hoping the Panthers can continue their march.

“We, obviously, have big goals and aspirations as a program,” Fisher said. “But I think the reality of it is that there’s more parity now than ever, and the sport of volleyball is growing and the level gets higher every year. Being one of the last 16 teams left is a good year. We would like to keep winning and make it a great year.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

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