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Long Beach State Faces Pepperdine Today In The Semifinals Of The NCAA Tournament – The562.org

The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl. It’s almost become routine for the No. 1 seeded Long Beach State men’s volleyball team to reach the NCAA Tournament Final Four. The Beach will be making their eighth Final Four appearance in the last nine seasons when they take […]

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The562’s coverage of Long Beach State athletics for the 2024-25 season is sponsored by Marilyn Bohl.

It’s almost become routine for the No. 1 seeded Long Beach State men’s volleyball team to reach the NCAA Tournament Final Four. The Beach will be making their eighth Final Four appearance in the last nine seasons when they take on No. 5 Pepperdine today in the semifinals, and a win would send them to their third national championship appearance in the past four years.

Long Beach State is 46-43 all-time against Pepperdine but have won the last eight matchups. This time they face off in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament in the Covelli Center of Columbus, Ohio, at 2pm pst.

“At the culmination of the season your goal is to play the best volleyball come the last weekend of the season,” said LBSU coach Alan Knipe. “Only four teams get a chance to do that and we take great pride in that. We don’t take it for granted and we look forward to getting out there and competing.”

The pair met in a regular-season matchup this past January, where Pepperdine gave the Beach their first five-set match of the season. Long Beach escaped with a win after a dominant 15-7 fifth set in what was an emotional game—the first match back in Malibu following the tragic fires that ravaged the California coastline.

As you can imagine, a lot has changed in the last four months. The Beach’s personnel have undergone some major changes since the regular-season matchup, due to both injuries and lineup adjustments. With Sotiris Siapanis and Daniil Hershtynovich sidelined, the Waves have yet to see new starters on the outside Nato Dickinson and Alex Kandev.

Both head coaches agree it won’t be the same match as the one in January, but they believe their teams have improved since then.

“It does feel like it’s been a while,” said Pepperdine coach Jonathan Winder of the first matchup. “I think both teams have lots of shifts in the lineups. They’ve got a few different players with some personnel changes on our end as well. I think that blocking and our defense is a little bit different and our serving has continued to improve in comparison to them. I think those are probably the two big things as a team.”

“I think both teams have gotten significantly better,” added Knipe. “If you look at both teams and look at the personnel on the court there are a lot of young guys out there regardless how much volleyball they’ve played, there’s still an adjustment to the current team you’re playing on and the brand of volleyball in the NCAA. I think that both teams are settling in and playing at a really good level right now.”

Long Beach is coming off of a dominant straight-set win against Fort Valley State in the quarterfinals, which is a good momentum gainer following their loss to Hawaii in the Big West championship. The Beach are now 28-3 for the season and have only taken losses to Hawaii and one to UC Irvine.

The Waves finished the season 21-9 and have been playing their best volleyball of late. Though they weren’t expected to make the NCAA Tournament, Pepperdine pulled off a huge upset against UCLA in the MPSF semifinals and then defeated USC in the championship to earn an automatic bid.

“They have a lot of momentum right now coming off of big wins in the tournament and conference, so we know they’re coming in with nothing to lose,” said LBSU setter Moni Nikolov. “They’re gonna go in and try and take us down.”

Nikolov was just named NCAA National Player of the Year last night and has brought international attention to the Beach this season with the way he’s contributed to the program. He has guided the Beach to a nation-best .399 attack percentage, and it’s been hard not to acknowledge the show put on each night the Beach takes the floor.

“They’re a great team and it’s hard sometimes not to get caught up in just watching them play because it’s fun to watch good volleyball,” said 1st Team AVCA All-American and Pepperdine outside Ryan Barnett. “I think that’s something we really need to channel in and focus is just staying on our side and playing our game, which is getting dirty and making good defensive plays and serving the ball hard and stuff like that. So I think just focusing on our side.”

The winner between Long Beach and Pepperdine will advance to the NCAA national championship and face the winner of UCLA and Hawaii, who play today at 5 pm pst. The championship will be on Monday at 4pm pst.



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Texas A&M Athletics

EUGENE – The Texas A&M women’s track & field team secured a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships Saturday evening at Hayward Field. An individual national champion and runner-up finisher highlighted the individual performances.   Winny Bii headlined an action-packed day, capturing A&M’s first NCAA title in the women’s triple jump. The junior hit the ground […]

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EUGENE – The Texas A&M women’s track & field team secured a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships Saturday evening at Hayward Field. An individual national champion and runner-up finisher highlighted the individual performances.
 
Winny Bii headlined an action-packed day, capturing A&M’s first NCAA title in the women’s triple jump. The junior hit the ground running, leaping 13.96m/45-9.75 on her first attempt to capture the lead. Bii’s opener held throughout the entire competition, landing her at the top of the podium for the championship crown.
 
The women’s 4x100m relay quartet of Jasmine Harmon, Camryn Dickson, Bria Bullard and Jasmine Montgomery set the tone on the final day of the season and put the team on the scoreboard, taking third in the event with a season-best time of 42.89.
 
Debora Cherono held the momentum for the Maroon & White, as the standout steeplechase freshman broke her own school record for the fifth time this season with a time of 9:32.10 to place fifth in the event, dropping her semifinal time by a staggering 10 seconds.
 
Jaiya Covington continued to separate herself as one of the nation’s premier short hurdlers, as the Aggie junior ran out of lane seven in a stacked event and crossed the line in 12.93. This was Covington’s first NCAA outdoor individual final and delivered eight points to the total.
 

Yakushina capped off her historic rookie campaign, as she finished third in the women’s heptathlon with 6,058 points. The freshman added on to her day one total (3,492 points) starting in the long jump where she won the event with a personal-best leap of 6.47m/21-2.75 which jumped her to No. 4 in the A&M record books. She followed that up with ninth in the javelin (40.38m/132-6), leaving only the 800m on deck. Yakushina concluded her seven-event competition placing ninth in the 800m in 2:14.93 to ensure her third-place overall finish.
 
Montgomery added her second First Team All-America honor of the evening in the 200m, as the junior clocked a time of 22.61 which was good for fifth in the final.
 

Concluding the championships for the Maroon & White was the 4x400m team consisting of Latasha Smith, Dickson, Montgomery and Jaydan Wood. The group ran a season-best time of 3:27.11 to capture fourth in the event and secure the final five points for the women’s team to place third in the championships with 43 points.
 

To learn more about Texas A&M Track & Field/Cross Country, visit 12thMan.com and follow @aggietfxc.



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USA Junior Men Lose To Hungary Late 13-12 At U20 World Championships

Story Links Zagreb, Croatia – June 15 – The USA Men’s Junior National Team lost to Hungary 13-12 today at the U20 World Championships. Ryder Dodd and Jonathan Carcarey led the team in scoring with three goals each while Charles Mills went for nine saves in the cage. Team USA returns to action […]

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Zagreb, Croatia – June 15 – The USA Men’s Junior National Team lost to Hungary 13-12 today at the U20 World Championships. Ryder Dodd and Jonathan Carcarey led the team in scoring with three goals each while Charles Mills went for nine saves in the cage. Team USA returns to action tomorrow as they conclude group play with a meeting against Montenegro at 11:30am et/8:30am pt. All matches are scheduled to stream live on the World Aquatics YouTube. Live statistics will be available for every match from MicroPlus Timing Services.

Hungary opened the scoring in this one but Carcarey tied the game moments later on a man-advantage. Ryan Ohl gave Team USA its first lead before Hungary leveled the score with 1:31 to play. Landon Akerstrom had a response on the ensuing possession, giving the United States a 3-2 lead after one. The Hungarians opened the second quarter scoring nearly three minutes in but that was all they could manage in the period. Team USA rallied for three goals in the final 2:33 of the half courtesy of Dodd (2) and Carcarey to hit the halftime break up 6-3.

Hungary flipped this match on its head in the third, outscoring Team USA 6-2. They opened the period with three straight scores to tie the game before William Schneider put the Americans back in front midway through the frame. Hungary retook the lead with back-to-back goals and then Dodd knotted things with 1:11 to go but the European side beat the buzzer when they scored on a counter attack to head into the fourth up 9-8. Things would stay within a single goal for the entire fourth quarter as the two sides traded scores. Carcarey, Benjamin Liechty, Schneider, and Bode Brinkema dented the twine for the United States leaving the score all square at 12-12 with 2:45 remaining. From there, each team had attempts sent away and possessions lost to turnovers before Hungary called timeout with 0:13 to play. On its final possession, Hungary earned an exclusion with 0:04 left and sent the game-winner into the back of the net with just 0:01 on the clock to come away with the 13-12 win.

Team USA went 6/12 on power plays and 0/1 on penalties while Hungary went 3/9 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties. 

Scoring – Stats

USA 12 (3, 3, 2, 4) R. Dodd 3, J. Carcarey 3, W. Schneider 2, R. Ohl 1, B. Brinkema 1, B. Liechty 1, L. Akerstrom 1

HUN 13 (2, 1, 6, 4) C. Lugosi 3, O. Leinweber 2, B. Balogh 2, M. Zeman 2, A. Toth 1, A. Peocz 1, V. Varga 1, Z. Porge 1

Saves – USA – C. Mills 9 – HUN – G. Szabo 8

6×5 – USA – 6/12 – HUN – 3/9

Penalties – USA – 0/1 – HUN – 2/2

 



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OU track star Pippi Lotta Enok wins second NCAA heptathlon title

OU women’s track and field star Pippi Lotta Enok closed the NCAA Outdoor Championships with her second heptathlon national championship Saturday at Eugene, Oregon. As a team, the Sooners finished 14th overall, marking the first time in program history the men’s and women’s teams both finished in the top 15 a day after the men […]

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OU women’s track and field star Pippi Lotta Enok closed the NCAA Outdoor Championships with her second heptathlon national championship Saturday at Eugene, Oregon.

As a team, the Sooners finished 14th overall, marking the first time in program history the men’s and women’s teams both finished in the top 15 a day after the men finished sixth.

Enok, who entered Saturday in second place, earned a personal best and program record 6,285 points in the heptathlon. She also broke the Estonian national record by five points and moved into the top 10 all-time in NCAA history. It was the seventh-best score ever posted at the NCAA Outdoord Championships and 11th in the world this year.

Enok is one of three OU female athletes to win two outdoor national titles, joining Tia Brooks (shot put) and Brittany Borman (javelin).

The duo of Agur Dwol and Ashley Moore secured third and seventh place, respectively, in the triple jump to earn first-team All-American status. And freshman Leah Jeruto clocked a 9:38.94 in the steeplechase to finish eighth in the event and earn first-team All-American status, becoming the first Sooner in program history to earn the honor in the steeplechase.

Extra points

NBA: The Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to trade guard Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic in exchange for guards Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Cole Anthony, as well as four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap. A person with knowledge of the trade confirmed the deal to USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt. The person requested anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak publicly until the trade is official. ESPN first reported the trade on Sunday. Memphis will also receive Orlando’s first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, No. 16 overall, plus the Phoenix Suns’ first-round pick in 2026, and the 2028 and 2030 unprotected first-round selections.

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Michael Chavis hit for the cycle as the OKC Comets rallied for an 8-7 win at Albuquerque on Saturday. With OKC down one, Chavis doubled in the ninth with two outs to complete his cycle and then scored the tying run on Hunter Feduccia’s single. Steward Berroa later drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Chavis’ cycle is the first for an OKC player since Jorbit Vivas on Sept. 7, 2023, at Sugar Land.

NHL: One game after blowing a big lead in the Stanley Cup Final, the Florida Panthers figured out a solution: put on a defensive gem. The Panthers shut down the Edmonton Oilers for much of Game 5, allowing only Connor McDavid’s first goal of the series and Corey Perry’s late goal, to win 5-2 and take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Florida can clinch its second consecutive Stanley Cup title with a home victory in Game 6 on Tuesday, June 17. Game 7, if necessary, would be Friday, June 20, in Edmonton.

-Staff reports



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USC women’s track and field team secures 2nd at NCAA Championships

It has been another strong year for the USC women’s track team. Having won the Big Ten Championship and sending multiple athletes to Eugene for the NCAA Championships, the Trojans were always going to be in a prime position to make a lot of noise on the national stage. USC earned a second-place finish during […]

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It has been another strong year for the USC women’s track team. Having won the Big Ten Championship and sending multiple athletes to Eugene for the NCAA Championships, the Trojans were always going to be in a prime position to make a lot of noise on the national stage.

USC earned a second-place finish during the NCAA Championships with 47 points. Georgia won the outdoor title for the 2025 outdoor season.

In order to do so well in the final standings, a team needs to have incredible athletes that have big-time performances. Among the Trojans to do so was Samirah Moody. The senior won the 100m race in a tight photo finish that saw her edge out the Trojan victory over the South Carolina, LSU, and Florida participants. Dajaz DeFrand and Brianna Selby also qualified for the final heat and finished in seventh and eighth, respectively.

The 4x100m relay team that consisted of Moody, DeFrand, Madison Whyte, and Jassani Carter earned first place and had a season-best performance, beating South Carolina, Texas A&M, and TCU’s squads.

Whyte came in second during the 200m race. DeFrand followed closely behind with a third-place finish. The 4x400m relay team, which consisted of Yemi John, Carter, Cenci, and Whyte, also ran a season-best time. They finished behind Georgia and Arkansas.

Earlier record-setting feat from USC freshman

On the field side of things, Ashley Erasmus further set the USC school record in the shot put. Her fifth-place finish in the event on Thursday provided the team’s first points of the week and capped off an excellent freshman year for her.     

For Director Quincy Watts, this is a Trojan squad that has done exceedingly well throughout the year and is poised to continue to maintain this momentum. Considering that there are not too many seniors on this team, USC will have to like their chances to get even better as a team next year. 



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San Tan Charter hires experienced volleyball coach

San Tan Charter School has hired  Kristal Harris as the school’s new varsity girls volleyball coach, varsity sand volleyball coach and P.E. instructor. As Athletic Director Kristofer Sippel Jr. noted, Harris is a highly accomplished volleyball coach and educator with more than two decades of experience in both indoor and beach volleyball. “We are super […]

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San Tan Charter School has hired  Kristal Harris as the school’s new varsity girls volleyball coach, varsity sand volleyball coach and P.E. instructor.

As Athletic Director Kristofer Sippel Jr. noted, Harris is a highly accomplished volleyball coach and educator with more than two decades of experience in both indoor and beach volleyball.

“We are super excited to have Kristal on campus to lead our high school girls volleyball program,” he said in  a release.

“We have an opportunity to send multiple girls to the next level in the coming years, and I feel with all of Kristal’s experience and connections, she can help elevate our program to heights we have not seen before. I think she fits right into our family environment mentality and we are looking forward to the upcoming year!”

Harris brings a deep level of technical knowledge of the game to her new role at San Tan Charter School, along with a strong dedication to youth development and a championship background, according to the school.

A standout athlete at Marcos de Niza High School, Harris was a two-time state champion, named State Player of the Year, Region Co-Player of the Year and earned MVP honors.

At the collegiate level, Harris competed as a Division I athlete, playing for Northern Arizona University as well as Arizona State University, where she earned all-tournament honors and academic awards. She went on to a successful professional career on the beach volleyball circuit.

Harris began her coaching journey in 1997 and has worked with athletes of all ages across club, high school, and collegiate settings.

She served as a physical education teacher and coach at Mesquite and Casteel high schools, as well as assistant beach volleyball coach at ASU.

Most recently she served as the college placement recruiter and a head coach for Club One Beach, helping student athletes pursue opportunities at the next level.

Harris’ teaching credentials include a master’s degree in education from NAU, a bachelor of arts in sociology from Arizona State University, and a physical education teaching certificate from Ottawa University.

As Harris noted, she is excited to join San Tan Charter School because of its positive community, strong values and student athlete philosophy.

“I was inspired by the small community, the culture of the school, and it’s in Gilbert, where I live,” she said. “It seemed like a great fit for me.

“I am looking forward to coaching and teaching at a school where everyone has fun and learns the value of teamwork, compromise, winning and losing.”

Brandon Tauscher, principal of the San Tan Charter School 7-12 Power Campus, said Harris is an ideal addition to the San Tan Charter School community.

“Coach Harris’ experience as a player and coach from the prep ranks to the pros provides our student-athletes the kind of mentorship many high schools could only dream about,” he said.

“We are certainly blessed to have her and welcome her into the San Tan family.”

Kristal Harris,


San Tan Charter School,


Kristofer Sippel Jr.,


Brandon Tauscher





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