Sports

Letter to the Editor | On Stanford men’s water polo program and coach Brian Flacks

Published

7 months ago

May 27, 2025

As a parent of two former Stanford men’s water polo players and an incoming Stanford freshman who will join the women’s water polo team this fall, I want to share some important clarifications on the recent Stanford Daily article about coach Brian Flacks and the Stanford men’s water polo program.

First, I strongly support coach Flacks. I’m appalled, concerned and disappointed by what three families are putting him, the team, the alumni and the program’s well-established reputation through. The overwhelming majority of players and parents stand firmly behind coach Flacks and are exhausted by the drama of the past several months, not to mention the pressure and stress the boys on the team are facing while trying to focus on finals and enjoy their last few weeks of school.

The original version of The Daily’s second article about the investigation implied an even split in the number of families and players on each side of the issue. This is false. The complaints originate from just three families — the same vocal three who filed both grievances. Coach Flacks was fully cleared of the first independent investigation.

To provide a clearer picture, a supermajority of 32 parents signed a unified statement in support of coach Flacks. Among the 16 players (excluding those from the three families who were part of the initial complaint), 14 have signed a statement expressing their unwavering support for coach Flacks and his staff.

Those of us who are supportive have largely chosen to remain silent because we believe a central issue in this situation is parents being overly involved in their adult children’s lives and water polo careers. We trust our sons to voice their opinions and manage situations themselves when necessary. As a result, it feels like our experiences and perspectives have not been heard.

It’s worth noting that of the three families involved, two of the players have voluntarily left the team. Yet, their parents continue to disrupt anyone who holds a different view. Despite the facts, it appears that unfounded allegations will continue to be tolerated until the men’s water polo program is irreparably damaged. Stanford cannot allow this to happen.

The fact that all the super seniors chose to stay and play a fifth year for coach Flacks, when they all had the option to transfer and play another year at any other college in the country, speaks volumes about their respect and commitment to him and the Stanford program. In addition, the fact that coach Flacks has had multiple players he coached in high school follow him to Stanford demonstrates a clear appreciation for his coaching style. And, the recent commitment of a current player’s younger sibling — a top national recruit — to play at Stanford underscores that there are parents who eagerly and proudly want their children to continue to play for coach Flacks.

Having had the privilege of being a parent involved with the team for nine seasons, my unique perspective allows me to compare my sons’ experiences under both coach John Vargas and coach Flacks, as well as their transition. Both coaches have their strengths and weaknesses, but they share a commitment to giving 110% and expecting the same from their players. More important to me is their dedication to the team members and to developing resilient, determined young men of strong character. Both of my boys would agree and feel strongly that coach Flacks is the right person to continue the Stanford men’s water polo legacy.

This unwarranted attack on coach Flacks, the Stanford men’s water polo program, and ultimately the university needs to end now. coach Flacks and our boys deserve better.

Hannah Parrish is the mother to Blake Parrish ’18 and Ethan Parrish ’24, both of whom played on the Stanford men’s water polo team under coaches John Vargas and coach Brian Flacks, respectively.

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A reverse-sweep comeback over Louisville pushes Texas A&M volleyball to third-ever Elite Eight

Published

33 minutes ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

(KBTX) – In the middle of the third set of Friday’s NCAA Tournament region semifinal volleyball match, Texas A&M opposite hitter Logan Lednicky glanced at a random piece of paper in the middle of the score’s table.

After being the first team to 15 points in both of the first two sets, the third-seeded Aggies’ allowed No. 2 seed Louisville to rally and set up a three-game sweep. The Aggies needed a rare reverse sweep to keep their season alive. They were looking for an answer to the situation they found themselves in.

Sometimes the sign is literally a sign.

“Something great is about to happen,” the piece of paper read.

Three sets later, the Aggies were celebrating on the court of the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Nebraska, having rallied to beat Louisville 3-2 in a five set thriller. It was A&M’s first reverse sweep since September 29 of last year, when the Aggies’ came from behind to beat Missouri in Reed Arena.

“I’m like floating on air,” Lednicky said after the match. “That was the most insane experience I have ever been a part of.”

From the start, A&M appeared to be in control of the match, jumping out to a 17-12 lead. However, after A&M reached 15 points, Louisville did not commit another error in the set. The Cardinals closed out the set on a 6-3 run to take the first game.

History repeated itself in the second set. A&M pulled out to a 21-16 lead, but allowed a 5-0 Cardinal run to tie the game. An 8-0 run ultimately sealed the 2-0 start for Louisville and put the Aggies’ season in jeopardy.

It wasn’t unfamiliar territory for the Aggies. Not only did A&M travel to Nebraska last season for the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament, they fell behind 2-1 to Wisconsin and needed to push the game to a fifth set to try to advance. That effort fell short in the final game, 15-13, ending the Aggies season.

The story of this season wouldn’t end the same way.

“I think we spent a lot of time under tension,” Aggie middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla said. “I think that was something we all said when we were in that fifth set, just knowing that we had been here before. We played here before. We’ve been in this exact situation before and it’s really just on us to turn it around and capitalize.”

The Aggie block leader was key at the net in the match turn-around. A&M finished the match with 17 blocks, 12 of which came from Cos-Okpalla. The Aggies had nine blocks in the fourth set, seven off the hands of Cos-Okpalla.

The senior finished with nine kills, to go along with her blocking effort and a .316 hit percentage.

“Even when I wasn’t getting blocked or good touches, I think I was in a good enough spot to like funnel out space for the defense to work behind me,” Cos-Okpalla said. “We can just run our offense from there. So yeah, it takes everybody on the team honestly, but, yeah, I’m just so proud.”

The fifth set saw nine ties and three lead changes in a back-and-forth struggle for the next line of the bracket. The Aggies needed a 3-0 run through the middle of the set to take a 10-9 lead, thanks to two Louisville errors and a block by Cos-Okpalla and Lednicky. Then, the Aggies closed the match out on a 5-2 run with outside hitter Kyndal Stowers recording the final kill.

Lednicky paced the Aggies with 20 kills and added 12 digs and seven blocks. Stowers had 17 kills and 11 digs.

Louisville’s Chloe Chicoine led all attackers with 26 kills.

A&M hit at a .277 clip, slightly better than Louisville’s .229.

The Aggies advance to the program’s third-ever regional final and will face the No. 1 overall seed Nebraska on its home court Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cornhuskers took down No. 4 seed Kansas 3-0 in a match directly following A&M’s win.

In the meantime, A&M can take a moment to relish in the program they’ve builtin the three years of the Morrison era.

“My No. 1 thing that I said when I first got here was to get it back to where its was and take it further and we have it back to where it was… Now, it’s time, in two days, to take it further,” Morrison said.

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Gonzaga Volleyball signs Lydia Fisher

Published

49 minutes ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

SPOKANE, Wash- Gonzaga Volleyball continues to build for the future with the addition of another signee for next season, as head coach JT Wenger announced the signing of Lydia Fisher on Thursday night.

Coming to Spokane after completing her high school career her hometown of Dallas, Lydia has starred for Highland Park High School as middle blocker and right side hitter. She was named to the First Team All-District while representing the Scots. Fisher helped the team to a capture a state championship last month, as Highland Park won the 5A State Championship. A 6’5″ blocker, Fisher will help further establish the net front presence for the Zags when she comes to campus next season.

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Badgers news: Wisconsin back in Elite 8 with big win over Stanford

Published

1 hour ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Wisconsin Badgers are back in the Elite 8. The Badgers faced off against the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal on Friday afternoon, winning 3-1 to face the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Mimi Colyer had one of her best games as a Badger, recording 27 kills on 51 attempts with just eight errors. Carter Booth had 14 kills of her own with zero errors, while Una Vagajic had 13 kills as well. The Badgers had 70 kills as a whole, while Charlie Fuerbringer had 61 assists.

Wisconsin started off the first set well, getting off to an early 7-3 lead as Colyer and Booth each recorded a pair of kills. Things got tight, with Stanford cutting the lead to 10-9, but Wisconsin went on a 5-0 run to separate itself, with Colyer recording two more kills in the stretch.

From there, Wisconsin comfortably led the rest of the way, ultimately taking the first set 25-17. From there, though, things got tight.

The second set was back-and-forth to start, as neither side had more than a two-point lead through the midway point in the set. Stanford began to pull away, though, going on a 4-1 run when leading 15-14 to get a four-point lead late in the set. That proved to be the difference, as the Cardinal extended that lead to 22-16 before ultimately taking the set 25-21.

Tied at 1-1, the Badgers had a great response coming into the third set, starting off with a 5-2 lead. Stanford hit Wisconsin back, though, tying things up at seven apiece, and the back-and-forth action continued from there. Once again, neither side had more than a two-point advantage until Stanford took a 17-14 lead off back-to-back kills from Ella Rubin.

It seemed like the momentum might be turning in Stanford’s favor, but Wisconsin stormed back with a four-point run to take an 18-17 lead as Natalie Wardlow had three consecutive service aces. Both sides traded points over the next few rallies, tying things up back again at 21 apiece.

The two biggest points of the set came next. Kristen Simon had a service ace of her own before Mimi Colyer got a kill to put Wisconsin up 23-21. Jordyn Harvey got a kill for Stanford, which Carter Booth responded to with a kill of her own. 24-22. Grace Egan had an attack error to cut the lead to one, but rebounded with the set-clinching kill and Wisconsin took the third set 25-23 for a 2-1 lead in the match.

Once again, Wisconsin started the fourth set well, getting out to a 7-3 lead thanks to a flurry of Stanford mistakes. The Cardinal had two service errors and three attack errors in the first ten points, and the Badgers capitalized. But, Stanford slowly chipped back at the lead and flipped the script, taking a 13-12 lead midway through the set.

After both sides traded a point, Wisconsin went on a three-point run to take a 16-14 lead. That stretch proved to be the difference-maker as the Badgers never trailed from that point on. Stanford did tie things up at 19 apiece, but the Badgers had another three-point run. Then, after the Cardinal brought it back within one at 23-22, Mimi Colyer and Grace Egan delivered the final blows to send Wisconsin to the Elite Eight.

With the 3-1 win, the Badgers are facing the No. 1-seeded Texas Longhorns, who swept the No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers on Friday. That game will be played in Austin on Sunday.

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Wisconsin volleyball knocks off Stanford in Sweet 16, moves to Elite 8

Published

2 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Updated Dec. 12, 2025, 7:56 p.m. CT

AUSTIN, Texas – Wisconsin volleyball has long eyed a deep postseason run.

In the NCAA tournament regional semifinals, the third-seeded Badgers fully looked the part as they outdueled second-seeded Stanford in four sets, 25-17, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, to advance to the NCAA regional finals for the eighth consecutive season.

“The level of talent out there on the court and the level of play out there – that easily could have been a Final Four match,” Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield said afterward. “It’s unusual to see that high level and back and forth in the Sweet 16.”

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Nebraska volleyball faces Texas A&M in regional final on Channel 8

Published

2 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Nebraska Vs Kansas Courtesy Photo — Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The undefeated Nebraska volleyball team is looking to punch its ticket to Kansas City with a win over Texas A&M on Sunday.

The Huskers face off against No. 6 Texas A&M on Channel 8. That game begins at 2 p.m.

Texas A&M is coming off a five-set win over Louisville, Husker head coach Dani Busboom Kelly’s former team.

Shortly after that match, Nebraska swept Kansas in a dominant performance inside a sold-out John Cook Arena.

The Huskers are now onto their 34th regional final in program history. That is the most regional final appearances in NCAA history.

Nebraska gets another postseason game at the Bob Devaney Center. The Huskers have won 90 home matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Only four schools nationally have 90 or more victories in the tournament.

Nebraska and Texas A&M have faced off 39 times, most recently in 2010 when the Huskers swept the Aggies on the road.

Nebraska has won 32 of those matchups.

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Tracking undefeated women’s volleyball teams in 2025

Published

2 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

We are tracking all remaining undefeated teams in DI women’s volleyball for the 2025 season. Only Nebraska is left standing after Texas fell to Texas A&M in a five-setter on Friday, Oct. 31.

Since 1981, there have been only four programs — five teams — to finish a season undefeated and win a national title: Penn State (2008, 2009), Southern California (2003), Nebraska (2000) and Long Beach State (1998).

READ MORE: Every undefeated national champion in college volleyball history

Penn State holds the longest win streak in DI women’s volleyball history with 109 match victories from 2007-10, with the Nittany Lions winning four consecutive titles (2007 through 2010). The 2009 title team is the most recent undefeated champion.

Will there be another team to etch its name into history this season? Follow along here:

Undefeated DI women’s volleyball teams in 2025

Rankings are from the AVCA:

No. 1 Nebraska (33-0): The Huskers’ extend their win-streak to 33 after most recently sweeping Kansas on Friday, Dec. 12 in the regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament. Next: vs. Texas A&M (NCAA Tournament)