CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State volleyball head coach Chuck Voss announced the addition of Matilda Dahlstrom (Malmo, Sweden) to the 2025 roster, as the outside hitter will join the Vikings with one year of eligibility remaining.
 
Dahlstrom comes to Cleveland State after spending the 2024 campaign at Eastern Illinois, where she appeared in 25 matches as an outside hitter for the Panthers. On the season, Dahlstrom averaged 2.07 kills per set, while also combining for 43 blocks and a team-best 21 service aces.
 
Prior to Eastern Illinois, Dahlstrom spent two years at Hillsborough Community College, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors along with All-Region and All-Conference accolades. As a sophomore, Dahlstrom led the NJCAA averaging 4.72 kills per set, while ranking fourth in the nation with 515 total kills on the year.
 
Dahlstrom played her club volleyball for Svedala, while also being part of the U20 Silver Swedish Championship team and U23 Bronze Swedish Championship team. In addition, she was part of the youth national team that captured Youth Gran Prix Silver and Silver NEVZA Swedish.

Sixteen chamber singers from Scottsdale Preparatory Academy, a Great Hearts Academy, received valuable experience Wednesday before next week’s final exams.

The group visited the Grand Canyon University Recording Studio and took advantage of its numerous facilities.

“In a word, professional,” Robin Nealy, Scottsdale Prep choir director, said of his students’ experience. “This is what takes them up a level, from high school choir to feeling like they are leaning into professionalism with their choral performances and their choral experience in general.”

The students learned every facet of the recording studio and performed as a choir, mixed in with solo acts for songs that included hits by Diana Ross and the Spice Girls.

“If you catch them in between (sets), you’ll see some of them start dancing,” Nealy said. “They’re so excited they can’t even keep their feet still. This experience is not only a momentary bringer of joy for them, but this is a lifelong memory that they cherish and look forward to and celebrate and want to show all their friends and family what they’ve accomplished.”

Nealy became inspired last year to get a recording for his students, so he sent feelers via social media. It helped that Nealy conducted a choir performance for five years at the Chandler Children’s Choir under executive director Aimee Stewart, who then recommended contacting GCU Recording Studio Manager Eric Johnson.

“It was one of the factors that got me interested in auditioning for choir and joining the choir, because I saw that last year, they had been able to record at GCU, and I thought that was just really cool and such a huge experience,” said Nila Kumara, a sophomore who has played piano for 12 years.

“In the future, I’ll be continuing music and doing as much as I can to stay involved.”

When Johnson wasn’t operating the studio equipment, he paused to interject positive feedback to the students.

The GCU recording studio experience was near the top moments of Sonja Blake’s time at Scottsdale Prep.

“It’s been so awesome, getting to be in the studio with all my friends, and getting to do this music and really tune into aspects I never heard before,” said Blake, who plans to study piano performance at the University of Arizona next fall. “I didn’t realize how fine-tuned everything was.”

Nealy believes this experience at GCU will give his underclassmen a positive vibe to the end of the school year, as well as “the momentum that we carry from this helps build the program for years to come.”

GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]

***

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Sweet Briar College is proud to announce the return of volleyball for the 2025 season. The program will bring the College’s varsity sport offerings to 12 with Alejandro “AJ” Escobar, Jr. named head coach of the team.

Sweet Briar previously offered volleyball as a varsity sport from 1994-2010 and saw success on the court with three student-athletes named to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) All-Conference Team in 1995, 2001 and 2002. The Vixens will compete as an independent during the 2025 season before petitioning to join the ODAC in 2026.

“At Sweet Briar, we believe in turning challenges into opportunities,” said President Mary Pope M. Hutson ’83. “We are heartbroken for the St. Andrews community following the announcement of the University’s closing, but we are proud to be a teach-out partner and a place of hope and continuity for their young women who will transfer to Sweet Briar. Welcoming Coach Escobar and these students will strengthen our community and marks an exciting chapter in Vixen Athletics. Adding volleyball as one of our sports reflects Sweet Briar’s commitment to providing bold women with opportunities to lead, compete, and thrive.”

Escobar comes to Sweet Briar from St. Andrews University, and brings with him some of the university’s women’s volleyball team roster following the announcement of St. Andrews’ closure on May 5. Escobar gained coaching experience at Miami United Volleyball Club in Florida, Terra Environmental Research Institute, a high school in Miami that earned a district championship win, followed by his appointment at St. Andrews as coach to both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams. Escobar played volleyball at St. Andrews as a student.

“I am so grateful for what President Hutson has provided to me, especially after the unexpected closure of my alma mater,” said Coach Escobar. “I cannot wait to continue developing what I started at St. Andrews and to support women’s athletics at Sweet Briar College.”

You can find Vixens Volleyball on X (formerly Twitter) @SweetBriarVB and on Instagram @sbc_vball.

Visit sbc.edu/apply for more information for high school seniors interested in playing volleyball at Sweet Briar College beginning this coming academic year. 

MARTIN, Tenn. – The spring 2025 semester will go down as the best in the University of Tennessee at Martin athletic department’s academic history as the Skyhawks smashed records across the board.
              
UT Martin accounted for a 3.37 Grade Point Average, 290 Athletic Director’s Honor Roll recipients (at least a 3.0 GPA) and 94 Skyhawks with a flawless 4.0 GPA. Each of those three totals are the new benchmark in department history as this is the 11^th consecutive semester that UT Martin student-athletes have produced at least a 3.20 GPA.
              
Since the AD Honor Roll program was initiated prior to the 2019-20 academic year, 3,101 Skyhawks have dialed up a spot on that prestigious list. The spring 2025 semester topped the previous record of 287 set during the fall 2024 semester.
              
UT Martin’s 3.37 Grade Point Average this spring bested the previous mark of 3.33 in both the fall 2024 and spring 2022 semesters. The 94 student-athletes with an unblemished 4.0 GPA was a massive improvement over the previous mark of 73, set in the fall 2024 term.
              
The Skyhawk equestrian program was responsible for the most student-athletes (14) with a perfect 4.0 GPA, followed by softball (13) and soccer (12). The softball team landed a whopping 68 percent of its roster on the 4.0 GPA list while UT Martin’s volleyball/beach volleyball and soccer programs each produced 43 percent of its rosters on the 4.0 GPA list. Overall, 17 of the Skyhawks’ 18 teams tallied at least one 4.0 GPA student-athlete.
              
The UT Martin football program had the most AD Honor Roll recipients (54), followed by equestrian (37) and rodeo (27). Both the Skyhawk equestrian and softball teams placed a remarkable 95 percent of their rosters on the AD Honor Roll while volleyball/beach volleyball reported 90 percent of their roster with at least 3.0 GPA’s. Overall, 17 of UT Martin’s 18 teams put at least 63 percent of their rosters on the AD Honor Roll list.
              
All but one Skyhawk sports program generated at least a 3.15 GPA in the spring 2025 semester as the lone remaining team accumulated a 2.93 GPA. The UT Martin softball team came through with the highest GPA (3.81) while equestrian (3.63), volleyball/beach volleyball (3.62), soccer (3.57) and golf (3.47) rounded out the top-five sport GPA’s.
              
Below is a list of Skyhawk AD Honor Roll recipients for the spring 2025 semester, sorted by sport. Those student-athletes with an asterisk recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
Football (54): Thomas Ansley*, Mitchell Appleton*, Bryce Bailey, Tah Mac Bright Banda, Jase Bauer, Keaton Brown, Julian Calvez, Anthony Carter, Joel Castleberry, Duston Chavis, Kaleb Costner, Tanner Crandall, Bryce Dailey, Jabaree Dawkins, Na’Drian Dizadare, Tyler Dostin, Christian Dowell, Dolapo Egunjobi, John Gentry, Javion Goins, Quincy Hamilton, Jai’Lun Hampton, Lanard Harris, Jayden House, Desmon James, Hayden King, Connon Littlefield, Aidan Maddox*, Ethan Maddox*, Burke Mickelsen, Jeff Miller, Nate Moak, Conner Mooney, Doug Newsome*, Alex Nolen, Colton Peoples, Sawyer Phipps, LaMarion Pierce, Keyshaun Pipkin, Stefan Ponder, George Psychoularis, Preston Puni*, Rashad Raymond, Chris Rhodes, AJ Robinson, Jr., Garrett Smith, Patrick Smith*,  Andrew Smithberger, Christian Stapleton, Jacob Stevenson, Drake Tabor, Josiah Tingley*, Cason Totten, Corey Yeoman
 
Equestrian (37): Gabby Adams, Lexi Bailey*, Reese Barrett, Annie Batsche, Elizabeth Becker*, Audrey Blase*, Stevie Brown, Payton Bundy, Claire Carpenter*, Kate Davis, Shelby Davis, Kathleen DeGenova, Sam Elliott, Riley Francis, Ruby Gunderson*, Riley Hayes, Lydia Jordan, Tess Kjellberg*, Lillian Laney*, Payton Lussen*, Emerson Maier, Aubrey Malone*, Brianna Marks*, Elise Mason, Mia McAfoos, Kate Mills, Audrey Morris, Ava Newsom*, Logan Putvinski*, Marley Rizzi, Madison Snyder, Zadie Stack*, Abby Tibbits, Bridget Vieau, Rileigh Weiss*, Ellie Wilburn, Olivia Wynn
 
Rodeo (27): Bentley Anthony, Rylan Austin, Noah Beshears, Shae Clever, Caleb Dunn, Riley Gossett, Garrett Houin, Lainey Hutchison, Shelby Kemper, Owen Larrick, Weston Lewis, Jordyn Litton, Josie Luttrell, Brooke Martin, Allie Maxwell*, Savannah Moran*, Tate Ondrik, Caysen Orman*, Leah Pitts, Canton Prentice*, Allie Sherman*, Seth Simpson, Cooper Stone, Drew Thomas, Rylee Wells, Anna Wilder, Kyndall Woltz
 
Baseball (24): Garner Anderson, Brock Arender, Jeb Bartle, Kaleb Baskin, Blaze Bell, Brody Capps, Houston Clark, Rett Edwards, Jalen Fithian, Gates Gerhart*, TJ Grines*, J. Henry Hobson, Silas Jones, Aidan Karns, Brandon King*, Tommy Koch*, Quin Long*, Frank Micallef, JP Nunn, Kevin Okins*, Shawn Perez*, Mason Shropshire, Jacob Sitton, Quincy Thornton
 
Soccer (23): Shayla Addington*, Allie Buchmann, Maren Cain*, Peyton Cook, Molly Corgan, Audrey Fuchs*, Parker Gelinas*, Ava Huntrods, Anna Østergaard Ibsen*, Brooke Kala*, Gretchen Marek, Abbie McHenry, Lorena Montesano, Caroline Moore*, Blanca Negrete, Izzy Patterson*, Millie Perry*, Nyeemah Prescod-Beckles, Makayla Robinson*, Ella Rucka, Joelle Stinson, Daksha Sutharshan*, Unni Wolf*
 
Volleyball/Beach Volleyball (19): Kayla Bryant, Sydney Eckhardt, Abby Freund*,  Maddy Gladson, Hannah Haislip*, Zara McCauley, Reagan McGee*, Dylan Mott*, Olivia O’Keefe, Makaelah Paulino, Kristin Phillips, Ryan Rednour*, MC Rehm, Riley Rushing*, Mia Saenz*, Dylan Sulcer*, Kylie Surratt, Amara Traiger*, Jenna Vallée
 
Softball (18): Kennedy Brown*, Kyrsten Brown*, Elly Eckrich*, Joleanna Fox, Ashtyn Green*, Kyla Harley*, Payton Harris*, Jordyn Hustey, Natalie Kreuziger, Avary Makarewicz*, Kaylin Reeves, Addie Roberts*, Alli Robinson*, Josie Sanders*, Ava Scott, Dylan Scott*, Rylee Tittle*, Carly Ward*
 
STUNT (17): Claudia Colston, Ellen Colston, Livia Comuzie, CeCelia Dollison, Emily Hartley, Natalie King*, Tembreanna Mahan, Emmy Melton, Mayce Mitchell, Ashley Myles, Kacey Reedy, Calli Beth Schlick, Braylee Smith, Ti’Aisia Taite, Emily Wilcher, Emily Wood, Ali Workman
 
Men’s Cross Country/Track and Field (17): Cam’ron Bonds, Tristen Bough*, Ethan Brinkley, Ridge Bruce, Maluke Cluver, Keagan Enicks*, Luke Johnson*, Ethan Knight, Marques Marshall II, Brady Millikin*, Angus Monro, Christian Patterson, Ben Ruscoe, Braxton Sharp, Sam Shuman, Samir Smith, David Stukey
 
Women’s Cross Country/Track and Field (13): Gabby Brown*, Janay Chapman*, Rita Eimer*, Alaina Gordon*, Holly Henderson, Abbie Lloyd, Kaitlyn Loyet, Bethany Mayers, Morgan Mitchell, Danielle Mudd*, Eliana Oquendo*, Maggie Roy, Lauren Sedberry, Reese Settle, Meg Wiginton*, JayleAna Wyatt
 
Women’s Basketball (13): Morgan Borgstadt, Anaya Brown, Norah Clark, Tia Hymon*, Mauryah Jones, Mikayla Lambert*, Shae Littleford*, Kaitlyn McCarn, Kenley McCarn*, Lexi Rubel*, Taylor Scohy*, Sophie Singleton, Abby Stephens
 
Men’s Basketball (12): Andrija Bukumirović*, Carlos Cortijo, Stefano Faloppa, Tarence Guinyard, AJ Hopkins, Lamine Niang, Filip Radaković*, Vladimer Salaridze, Afan Trnka, Damjan Vukčević*, Lucas Williams, Matija Žužić*
 
Golf (8): Luke Beadles, Luke Caldwell, Jaden Morrell, Grant Phillips, Jackson Twerdahl*, Drew Williams*, John-Gregory Wilson, Jonathan Xoinis*
 
Rifle (5): Aubrey Chenoweth, Rachel Haines*, Joey Kovach, Sadie Palfrey*, Alayna Walther 
 

VALLEY CITY, ND  (VCSUVikings.com)  Valley City State volleyball has released its fall schedule to mark the Vikings’ debut season in the Frontier Conference, head coach Michelle Meiklejohn announced.

The Vikings open the season at home on Aug. 16 against Dakota Wesleyan University. VCSU then travels to Sioux City, Iowa to face Morningside University in a non-conference game before competing at the Siouxland Invitational Aug. 22-23.

VCSU kicks off the Frontier Conference schedule on Sept. 3 when the Vikings host Mayville State. VCSU will play 22 games in the Frontier Conference season, including 11 home and 11 away contests. Frontier Conference member schools include Mayville State, Bismarck State, Dickinson State, Dakota State, Bellevue University, Montana Western, Montana Tech, Montana State University Northern, University of Providence, Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College.

The Vikings will recognize Faculty and Staff during its home game against Montana Western on Sept. 5. Parent’s Night is scheduled for Oct. 25 when VCSU hosts Rocky Mountain College and Senior Day will on Nov. 8 for its season finale against Dakota State.

The Frontier Conference Postseason Tournament is slated for Nov. 13-15 hosted by Carroll College in Helena, Mont.

ATLANTA – Stanford goalkeeper Caroline Birkel has been selected as one of 21 players to represent the USA at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica later this month.

The roster is made up of players born in 2006 and 2007, and current U.S. U-19 head coach Carrie Kveton will lead the squad before new U.S. U-20 WNT head coach Vicky Jepson takes over after the qualifying tournament.

Birkel, who enrolled early at Stanford and is entering her first season on The Farm in 2025, was one of the goalkeepers on the USA’s 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team and is the only player on this qualifying team from that squad.

The USA will take aim at one of four berths to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland and a record eighth Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship after dominant runs to the confederation crown in 2020 and 2022. Mexico won the title in 2023.

The USA will face Guyana on May 30 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local), Puerto Rico on June 1 (1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. local) and host Costa Rica on June 3 (4 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. local) in Group A play at the tournament, which will run from May 29-June 8 in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The top four finishers in the tournament will advance to represent the region in Poland in the fall of next year.

Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship. The roster is almost evenly divided between birth years with 10 born in 2006 and 11 in 2007. 

Before heading to Costa Rica, the team will train in Florida for a week, beginning on May 22. 

2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship Roster by Position (College or Club; Hometown) 
Goalkeepers (3): Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.), Sonoma Kasica (Notre Dame; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Kealey Titmuss (Penn State; Grand Blanc, Mich.)

Defenders (7): Aven Alvarez (UNC; New Hill, N.C.), Bella Ayscue (Penn State; Apex, N.C.), Edra Bello (San Diego Surf SC; San Diego, Calif.), Emma Johnson (Lexington Sporting Club – USL Super League; Greenfield, Ind.), Abby Mills (Notre Dame; Southlake, Texas), Leena Powell (Tudela FC; Culver City, Calif.), Katie Scott (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Fairview, Pa.)

Midfielders (6): Kennedy Fuller (Angel City FC – NWSL; Southlake, Texas), Peyton McGovern (Florida State; Bristow, Va.), Ashlyn Puerta (Sporting JAX – USL W-League; Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Grace Restovich (Notre Dame; St. Louis, Mo.), Kennedy Ring (World Class FC; East Greenbush, N.Y.) Linda Ullmark (UNC; Buffalo, N.Y.)

Forwards (5): Izzy Engle (Notre Dame; Edina, Minn.), Mary Long (Kansas City Current – NWSL; Mission Hills, Kan.), Chloe Ricketts (Washington Spirit – NWSL; Dexter, Mich.), Sealey Strawn (Dallas Trinity FC – USL Women’s Super League; Prosper, Texas), Mya Townes (Georgia; Aldie, Va.)

TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The eight-team 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship will feature round-robin play within two groups of four teams each. After group play, the group winners and runners-up will advance to the semifinals and qualify for next year’s World Cup. For the first time, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature 24 nations, up from 16 in the previous eight editions of the tournament. Twelve nations contested the title in 2002 and 2004, when it was held as a U-19 event. The semifinals will be played on June 6 followed by the final on June 8. All matches will take place at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela, Costa Rica.