METROPOLIS — Massac County High School’s Lady Patriots volleyball team hosted its annual volleyball skills camp held June 2-6 at Massac Junior High School.
The event drew young athletes from across the region eager to hone their skills and learn from seasoned coaches.
Arizona volleyball went into the portal season needing a setter and a pin hitter. Head coach Rita Stubbs and her staff got both in outside hitter Payton Woods and setter Maria Olga ‘Mo’ Siapani.
It’s the sign of the times. One of Arizona volleyball’s newest additions will be making her fourth stop in four years, a fact that she makes light of in her announcement.
Woods announced her commitment to the Wildcats on Tuesday. She spent last year at Virginia Tech, her sophomore year at Mississippi State, and her freshman season at Sam Houston State.
Woods will give the Wildcats some experience at the pins after the loss of Jordan Wilson. She will join Carlie Cisneros, Paige Thies, and incoming freshman Hayden Reeder on the left side, although Stubbs has said that Reeder can play both pins. The incoming freshman will join the Wildcats early for spring practice and tournaments.
The Wildcats will have returners Renee Jones and Britt Carlson on the right side. They also have Sydnie Vanek, who played middle blocker in 2025 but has played both pins during her three years at Arizona.
Woods had her best season at the high major level last season with the Hokies. The 6-foot-1 outside had 3.15 kills per set in 105 sets across 31 matches. She hit .194. She had 1.04 digs per set and 0.47 blocks per set. She contributed a total of 3.50 points per set.
The addition of Woods gives the Wildcats six pin hitters. That’s the number Stubbs has said she prefers.
The question remains who will be setting for Woods and the other pins. Arizona was said to be in on a few setters this offseason, and at least one had reportedly set up a visit. One after another committed to other programs, mostly those that offer revenue sharing for volleyball. The Wildcats eventually got an experienced setter, though.
Former University of Albany setter Siapani has Arizona volleyball in her Instagram bio and an organization that helps international players find scholarship opportunities in the U.S. has announced the commitment. Siapani’s account is set to private, so any personal announcement isn’t viewable.
Siapani has extensive experience playing both indoor and beach volleyball for the Cyprus national program, including at the senior level. She has also had a big impact at Albany from the minute she stepped on campus.
Siapani was the America East Rookie of the Year and a second-team all-conference player in 2024. She was the setter of the week five times and the rookie of the week six times that season.
In her sophomore season, Siapani was the America East Setter of the Year and on the all-conference first team after leading the league with 9.08 assists per set and finishing eighth with 2.89 digs per set. She led her team to the finals of the conference tournament where they fell to top-seeded UMBC.
Siapani’s biggest hurdle at Arizona will be her height. She is listed at just 5-foot-8. While that is fine when she is in the back row, it will be more difficult if she is put in a position of having to block Power 4 players.
Arizona could conceivably go to a 6-2 system that would allow Siapani to sub out when her position rotates to the front row. That would have her paired with returner Chloe Giehtbrock at the setting position. While the 6-2 system was fairly popular in the Big 12 this season, it hasn’t been common at Arizona over the years.
The Wildcats made their first NCAA Tournament since 2018 and won a tournament game for the first time since 2016 in 2025. If they could keep their sophomore class intact, it appeared that they had a good chance to maintain or improve on that success next season. That’s tough to do in this day and age, though.
Sophomore setter Avery Scoggins announced her intention to transfer within hours of the Wildcats’ elimination from the tournament. She has since committed to Vanderbilt, which is much closer to her home in North Carolina.
Arizona also parted ways with Giorgia Mandotti. The defensive specialist was honored on senior day. Although she was just a junior, she will graduate from Arizona. While she expressed a desire to return, it didn’t work out that way. She may play her final season elsewhere.
The addition of Siapani and Woods will give Arizona 16 players when the other two freshmen join the team this summer. Teams are allowed 18 under the NCAA roster limits, but Arizona only funds 14.75 scholarships.
HOUGHTON — Michigan Tech Huskies volleyball coach Cindy Pindral announced six incoming freshmen to the team for the 2026 season. They are outside hitter Reagan Lesley, middle blocker Laney Knaack, setter Ella Maxwell, outside hitter Kayla Heinonen, defensive specialist Natalie Leach, and outside hitter Mia Hahn. They have all committed to continuing their education and playing careers at Michigan Tech in the fall.
“This is a very exciting and dynamic signing class that will bring a lot of energy and skill to our roster,” Pindral said. “Each of these student-athletes have earned high accolades during their prep careers, and I have no doubt that they will each leave a positive mark on our program.”
Reagan Lesley
Reagan is a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Clinton Township, Michigan. She was a four-year starter on varsity and two-time captain for Chippewa Valley High School, where she led the Big Reds to three consecutive conference championships. She was the 2024 MVP/Player of the Year for her conference. Reagan was a three-year All-Conference First Team selection, a two-time First Team All-County, and a four-year All-State Academic Student.
In her senior season, Reagan was named All-Region and broke Chippewa Valley’s 29-year-old kills record with over 1,400 kills and led her team to its first district championship since 2014. She played club for both Michigan Elite and Unified.
Reagan will be pursuing a degree in business.
Laney Knaack
Laney is a 6-0 middle blocker from Waunakee, Wisconsin. She has been the starting middle for Waunakee High School varsity, as well as for Sting United and Madtown 18-1s national club teams. During her senior season, Waunakee was ranked fourth in the state in Division 1, went 41-9-0 overall, and made it to the Wisconsin State semifinals. Waunakee also won its conference in her junior and senior years.
In her senior season, Laney earned Honorable Mention All-State Badger-Large Conference, Second Team All-Conference, ranked second in the conference in hitting percentage, and fourth in blocks.
Laney will be pursuing a degree in business.
Ella Maxwell
Ella is a 5-8 left-handed setter from North Aurora, Illinois. She was a three-year starter for West Aurora High School and the captain of the team in her senior year. She received Upstate Eight Conference Player of the Year honors in 2025 and was a three-time All-Academic Varsity Scholar. Ella led her team to a Conference Championship in 2024 and a runner-up finish in 2025, which marked the first time the school advanced past the first round of regionals in 2019. Ella hit the 1,000-career assist mark in her senior season with 600 assists as her season total.
She also played for Club Fusion Volleyball Club for six years and was a JVA-Watchlist member in her junior year. Additionally, Ella was a State Qualifier in track and field for the 4×400 relay in 2023 and 2024. She earned All-Conference and All-Academic honors in track and field in 2023 and 2024.
Ella will be pursuing a degree in business at Tech.
Kayla Heinonen
Kayla is a 5-8 outside hitter from Delano, Minnesota. She was a four-year varsity player for Delano High School and attended the Minnesota State Tournament in two of the four years. She was voted All-Conference and won the team’s Leadership Award in each of the last three seasons.
In her senior season, Heinonen held Delano’s highest hitting percentage and earned an All-Tournament team spot at the AAA Showcase Tournament. She plays for Crossfire Volleyball Club at the Elite level. Kayla also had three state appearances for Delano track and field.
She will be pursuing a degree in either business or kinesiology/integrative physiology.
Natalie Leach
Natalie is a 5-5 defensive specialist from Burlington, Wisconsin, where she was a three-year letter winner for Burlington High School and played club for VC United. Natalie helped lead her team to Conference Championships in the 2023 and 2025 seasons and was a State Qualifier in WIAA Division 1 in her 2023 season.
She was named team captain in her senior season and led the Demons with 4.2 digs per set, and earned First Team All-County and Honorable Mention All-State recognition. Natalie was named to the WVCA All-Academic Team in all three eligible seasons and named First Team Best and Brightest by AVCA for her senior season.
She plans to major in engineering.
Mia Hahn
Mia is a 5-11 outside hitter from Fairbanks, Alaska, where she was a two-year letter winner for Lathrop High School. Mia was named MVP and First Team Middle Alaska Conference All-Conference while helping her team to a 4A State Tournament Quarterfinal appearance in the 2025 season. She led the conference in kills and earned multiple All-Tournament awards, including Best Attacker at the Whaler Invitation in Barrow, Alaska.
Mia competes with Alaska Elevate Volleyball Club and was recently selected as one of the top 12 players in the state of Alaska to represent the Alaska U.S. Team at the 2026 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon, where she will compete against Canadian provincial teams and international programs, including Norway and Finland. Prior to Lathrop, Mia competed for Kaiserslautern High School (Germany) and earned All-Euros Tournament Team honors as a sophomore.
She plans to major in business while at Tech.
Lynchburg, Va. – Following a month-long hiatus over winter break, the University of Lynchburg indoor track & field teams return to the oval on Friday, Jan. 9 to host the Burg Open at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
Field events will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s weight throw, while running events begin at 11:00 a.m. with the women’s 60-meter hurdle prelims. The 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles will feature prelims and finals, while every other event will move straight to finals.
Meet History
The 2025-2026 season marks Lynchburg’s third year holding the event, though Friday signifies the first home meet for Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Mario Wilson.
At last season’s competition, first-year athletes claimed victories in 10 of the 15 individual track events. In the meet’s debut in 2024, Lynchburg created a memorable men’s 3,000m event that saw 13 Hornets claim personal bests in one race.
The Burg Open is the Hornets’ second of four meets at the indoor facility this season, as Lynchburg plans to compete at the Brant Tolsma Invitational and Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational. Lynchburg traveled across town to Liberty to open the season on Thursday, Dec. 4 and Friday, Dec. 5 at the Liberty Kickoff.
Early-Season Success
In the team’s opening meets, several Hornets inched closer to posting program-record marks to begin the season. Rylee Turner clocked 26.00 in the 200-meter dash to trail Aniya Seward’s school record by four hundredths of a second, while thrower Kenzie Swicegood moved within two feet of the women’s weight throw record with a 55′ 1″ (16.79m) toss.
On the men’s side, Micah Leech collected 4,999 points in the men’s heptathlon to post a personal best and improve his second-place standing on the all-time list.
Lynchburg will compete each weekend until the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday, Feb. 28 and Sunday, March 1.
Live Results
To access live splits, meet information and performance lists from the 2026 Burg Open, click here.
The meet will be live-streamed on the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network.
Visit Lynchburg athletics’ home online, LynchburgSports.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Hornets sports and coverage from the Lynchburg Hornets Sports Network.
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–LYN–
From the sand to the big screen! Grab the popcorn Cal Poly beach volleyball is coming to a movie theater near you.
On Monday, January 12 the documentary “Kicking Up Sand” will premiere at the Fremont Theater in downtown San Luis Obispo.
The documentary, produced by Cal Poly supporter Jon Hastings, is a behind the scenes look at the Mustangs’ 2025 season following them from preseason through the NCAA Championship.
There will be a red carpet at Fremont Theater with players and coaches starting at 5 p.m.
Then at 6:30 p.m. there will be a Q&A session with the coaches and players. That will be followed by the premiere of the documentary at 7 p.m.
You can purchase tickets at the Fremont Theater or on their website: https://www.fremontslo.com/events/kicking-up-sand-cal-poly-beach-volleyball-film-premiere/
Last season, the Mustangs finished with a 31-8 record, a run to the Final Four, and a final ranking of fourth in the country.
ABOUT THE MINNESOTA OPEN
The 2026 Minnesota Open begins at 10 a.m. with the men’s pole vault while track events starting at 11:30 a.m. The meet is set to wrap up by 5:15 p.m., with the women’s 4x400m relay starting at 5:05 p.m. and the women’s shot put starting at 4:15 p.m. Additionally, Minnesota will have a small contingent of unattached men’s student-athletes competing on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public to attend. There will not be a livestream of the event, but fans can follow live results via Wayzata Results.
ABOUT THE WORLD ATHLETICS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Minnesota’s cross country program will have three current student-athletes and one signee compete in Tallahassee in the U20 section of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships on January 10. The event, taking place at Apalachee Regional Park, features three Gophers on Team USA and one on Team Canada. Salvador Wirth is the lone men’s representative for the red, white and blue while Norah Hushagen and Avery Marasco-Johnson will run on the women’s side. Signee Oliver Crowe, of St. Catharines, Ontario, will also compete in the U20 section in Florida after he finished sixth at the Canadian Cross Country Championships in a time of 25:15.8 back in late November. The women’s U20 6K race begins at 9:20 a.m. CT with the men’s section starting at 9:55 a.m. CT. The event can be streamed live on Peacock with live results available via the World Athletics live results platform.
LAST TIME OUT
Led by two-time defending Big Ten weight throw champion Anthonett Nabwe’s wins in the weight throw and shot put, the University of Minnesota women’s track and field program secured seven event wins at the M City Classic at the University Fieldhouse on December 5. Both of Nabwe’s winning marks in the shot put (16.40m | 53-9 3/4) and weight throw (23.74m | 77-10 3/4) were meet records.
Additionally, the Maroon and Gold had four event wins come via unattached student-athletes with three being men’s victories. True freshman Ayisat Adebayo was the lone women’s unattached winner in the triple jump with a leap of 12.26m (40-2 3/4). The most notable men’s win of the day came via Zion Campbell in the 60m, stopping the clock in a University Fieldhouse facility record time of 6.59.
UP NEXT
The ‘U’ will head out to Lincoln, Neb., for the Graduate Classic, the first road meet of 2026, from January 16-17. Minnesota will not return home until January 30, at the Jack Johnson Classic.
For more information on the Gophers, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on X.com (Twitter) and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the season.
– UHCougars.com –
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