Sports
Mark Patton
Overview: Dylan Axelrod, the 927th player chosen in the 2007 MLB Draft, pitched in Major League Baseball for both the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds Little Dylan Axelrod had wished for a miracle. He got one on Sept. 7, 2011, when he made his very improbable pitching debut in Major League Baseball. But it […]
Overview:
Dylan Axelrod, the 927th player chosen in the 2007 MLB Draft, pitched in Major League Baseball for both the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds
Little Dylan Axelrod had wished for a miracle.
He got one on Sept. 7, 2011, when he made his very improbable pitching debut in Major League Baseball.
But it wasn’t the miracle he’d requested.
His biggest wish was that his mother, Joni, would win her battle against breast cancer.
She died on his 10th birthday in 1995.
Sixteen years later, Dylan kept her close when he took the pitcher’s mound for the first time for the Chicago White Sox.
He scratched the letter “J” into the red-brick dirt behind the pitching rubber before holding the Minnesota Twins scoreless during two innings of relief.
“She knew how much I loved baseball,” Axelrod said at the time. “She knew this was my dream.
“I’m absolutely sure she did.”
He pitched in the big leagues for five seasons — three with the White Sox and two more with the Cincinnati Reds — and remains in the game as the pitching performance and integration coordinator for the Detroit Tigers.
Few outside his tight-knit, devoted family would have predicted a big-league life for little Dylan.
His father, Dennis Axelrod, nurtured his love for the sport. Grandma Lula Axelrod kept the faith and the scorebook for all his games until her death at age 90.
“I am where I am because of my dad,” Dylan said. “He raised me to be a hard worker, and his love of baseball and time spent coaching me laid my foundation.”
Axelrod grew up on the PONY League diamonds of MacKenzie Park, Santa Barbara High School’s Eddie Mathews Field, and Santa Barbara City College’s Pershing Park.
SBCC will honor Axelrod on May 31, when it inducts him into the Vaqueros Hall of Fame. The ceremony will begin with a noon reception at the Campus Center, 721 Cliff Drive.
The other Vaquero inductees are former NBA star Ron Anderson, beach volleyball Olympian Dax Holdren, women’s basketball star Carrie LaBudde-Cotter, multi-sport athlete and coach Chuck Melendez, long-time coach and administrator Ellen O’Connor, and golf team booster Diane Wootton.
Click here to purchase tickets online.
Thin Chance
Joni Axelrod made the most of her 10 years with Dylan. She homeschooled him during the last four.
“When Joni was diagnosed, and her prognosis wasn’t good, she wanted to maximize the time she had left with Dylan,” Dennis said. “She started homeschooling him as the way to do that.”
After her death, Dylan would “go behind the mound every inning to connect with Joni’s spirit, because her spirit was so incredibly strong.”
Axelrod began playing baseball a year before her death. His pitching career went much longer than any scout would have dared predict.
“Fred Warrecker liked to tell the story that when Dylan came out for his team as a sophomore at Santa Barbara High, he weighed about 120 pounds and threw maybe 75 mph,” Dennis Axelrod said. “I think that’s pretty close to the truth.
“Even by the time he graduated, he was probably only throwing in the low 80s.”
Axelrod was only the No. 3 pitcher for the Dons as a junior.
His future didn’t look more promising during the offseason when he severely dislocated his knee in a game of pickup basketball.
“He was out for five months,” his father said. “He couldn’t pitch for that long, but it just made him so determined to get back for his senior year. He worked so hard to do that.
“It might’ve been the key event to happen to him during his baseball career.”
Axelrod’s comeback was so meteoric — 10 wins in 11 decisions for the 2003 Channel League champion Dons — that he was voted as the conference’s Pitcher of the Year.
“I was probably 5-foot-9 back then, and something like 160 pounds,” Axelrod said. “And not a good 160, either. Kind of a fat 160.
“You know, limited strength. I was topping out at 80 mph back then.
“I learned how to get hitters out just by determination.”
That resolve helped him pack his growing frame with more muscle during his two years at SBCC.
He worked out religiously at Dr. Marcus Elliott’s Peak Performance Project (P3) to transform himself into a 6-foot and 195-pound pitching ace.
Axelrod also adopted a long-toss program he saw on the internet. His regimen included throwing a baseball from one football goalpost through the other — a distance of 120 yards — at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium.
“Sometimes I’d get kicked out of there by security guards,” he said, “but I’d always find a way back.”
Ace of the Vaqueros
Axelrod set the school record of 117 strikeouts while leading the 2005 Vaqueros to their first Southern California Regional berth since 1978.
They tied the school record for victories with a mark of 24-15— a record that was broken four years later.
“Teddy Warrecker was the coach,” he said, referring to the son of his high school coach. “And we had a great pitching coach, too, in Matt Hobbs.
“He was super-instrumental in my career.”
Hobbs was selected by D1 Baseball as last year’s NCAA Assistant Coach of the Year after helping the University of Arkansas win the Southeastern Conference’s Western Division.
Axelrod was the front man for Hobbs’ three-man starting rotation at SBCC that included Justin Aspegren and Tyler Davis.
“We called ourselves ‘The Big Three,’” Axelrod said. “We each threw 100 innings.
“I had the highest ERA of all of them and it was about 2.2.
“It was just fun, turning the program around, and winning was something to be proud of.”
Hobbs was also Axelrod’s pitching coach on the Santa Barbara Foresters’ summer collegiate team of 2006 that won the first of the club’s 11 National Baseball Congress championships.
“I have great memories from there,” he said. “I have some lifelong buddies from that team.”
Axelrod’s greatest memory in baseball came the following spring when he helped put UC Irvine into its first College World Series.
The last of his three NCAA tournament pitching victories came in Omaha, Nebraska, when he held Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton to just one hit in 4⅔ innings of relief.
“The path it took to get there and the guys I played with were just incredible,” he said. “We had two walk-off wins, and we were so close.
“The excitement was hard to describe, and so was the heartbreak of the loss (in the semifinals to eventual national champion Oregon State).
“We were in tears. It was like someone had died. We had to leave each other, and it was like brothers having to leave each other.”
Feeling the Draft
Axelrod became more of a baseball nomad after the San Diego Padres selected him in the 30th round of the 2007 MLB draft. He was the 927th pick overall.
He pitched in 14 different minor-league cities, returning for a second time in half of them. He had three different stints with the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A farm club of the White Sox.
He experienced success at nearly every stop, posting a win-loss record of 27-14 and 2.80 earned-run average during his five seasons in the minors.
Axelrod’s first stint in Charlotte didn’t come until two years after his release by the Padres in 2009.
He kept his career on life support by joining the unaffiliated Windy City ThunderBolts in Crestwood, Illinois.
“It wasn’t the typical route,” he conceded. “I just had to work so hard to get there.”
The long odds he faced in advancing from an independent league to the major leagues actually took some of the weight off Axelrod’s shoulders.
“I changed how I thought about baseball,” he explained. “Before, I was feeling that pressure to stay in the Padres system and move up.
“After that was taken away, I had to play for myself, and play for fun.”
Two years later, he became the first Windy City player to ever make it to the Major Leagues.
“It felt so good to me because of the people who were behind me, like my dad and my friends, and everybody who’d helped me out along the way,” Axelrod said. “I got that call and I was like shaking, pretty much … ‘Is this for real?’
“I told my dad first, and then a couple of my closest friends. I hopped onto a plane and pitched the next day.
“I know I pitched two scoreless innings, but I don’t really know how or even what happened. It was kind of a blur, you know?”
Coach Class
Axelrod’s teammates encouraged him to think about a coaching career down the line.
“People would come to me to talk about pitching, and even about the physical part of it,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of knowledge about a lot of different things that can go into sport.”
Much of that came from P3, the local center that applies sports science to its training. He even served an internship at the facility.
“They had a huge role in my career,” Axelrod said. “I can’t say enough about that.”
He passed up an offer to serve as a pitching coach in minor league rookie ball after his last season in the Miami Marlins organization in 2016.
Axelrod returned to Santa Barbara instead and accepted an offer from Foresters’ manager Bill Pintard to become his pitching coach.
“I just didn’t have the desire to be in professional baseball anymore,” he said at the time. “You kind of have your hands tied.
“You can’t create a culture on your own. You have a lot of bosses and organizational structure.”
He gave it a shot in 2020, however, when the Los Angeles Angels asked him to become their pitching coordinator.
Axelrod was among several coaches purged from the club three years later after former Angels ace Troy Percival paid a visit to their minor league instructional camp.
Percival, who managed a record of only 111-177 during his six seasons as the head coach at UC Riverside, made some condescending remarks about the coaches’ use of technology in player development.
“I’m not one who’s big on using the iPads,” he said. “I understand it. I had to understand it through college coaching.
“I just feel like we need to have coaches with eyes who can see things and put their hands on people and fix them.”
Several others in the Angels’ organization considered Percival’s observation to be way off base.
One said anonymously that Axelrod was “the best source for any player or coach to go to of anyone players had access to in the org.”
The Angels’ loss became Detroit’s gain when the American League club promptly snatched him up. Two years later its current team ERA of 3.35 ranks seventh out of the 30 MLB teams.
The Angels? They rank 27th at 5.01.
Ironically, a game 14 years ago against first-place Detroit assured Axelrod that he belonged in the big leagues.
He rewarded the White Sox for his first pitching start by striking out eight Tigers, handing Chicago a 5-2 lead when he was relieved in the seventh inning.
“It validated the journey,” Axelrod said. “All the trials, time and hard work along the way coming together to achieve what I devoted my life to.”
Fans might have thought that the “J” he scratched on the mound that day stood for “joy.”
Those closest to Dylan Axelrod knew it went much deeper.
Sports
2025 Harvard vs Claremont M-S – Men’s – Water Polo – News
Event Info Here’s how to watch the 2025 Harvard vs Claremont M-S – Men’s – Water Polo broadcast on FloSwimming. The 2025 Harvard vs Claremont M-S – Men’s – Water Polo broadcast starts on Sep 14, 2025. Stream or cast from your desktop, mobile or TV. Now available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple […]
Event Info
Here’s how to watch the 2025 Harvard vs Claremont M-S – Men’s – Water Polo broadcast on FloSwimming. The 2025 Harvard vs Claremont M-S – Men’s – Water Polo broadcast starts on Sep 14, 2025. Stream or cast from your desktop, mobile or TV. Now available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV. Don’t forget to download the FloSports app on iOS or Android! If you can’t watch live, catch up with the replays! Video footage from the event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloSwimming subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.
Sports
The Big West Women’s Soccer Notebook: Opening Whistle Awaits Teams This Week
What 2 Watch 4 – The wait is over…our 2025 Big West women’s soccer season is here! All 11 squads are ready to take the pitch during an action-packed opening week. 2024 regular-season champion and preseason favorite Hawai’i wastes no time diving into a marquee matchup, heading to Southern California to battle rival Long […]
What 2 Watch 4
– The wait is over…our 2025 Big West women’s soccer season is here! All 11 squads are ready to take the pitch during an action-packed opening week.
2024 regular-season champion and preseason favorite Hawai’i wastes no time diving into a marquee matchup, heading to Southern California to battle rival Long Beach State in a non-conference contest on opening day. The Rainbow Wahine took the last meeting 1-0, with Tatum Porter’s late strike sealing the win in last year’s regular-season finale. From there, UH heads to face (RV) Pepperdine, while the Beach will test themselves against No. 19 Texas at George Allen Field.
The ranked showdowns continue when UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton will each welcome (RV) California on Aug. 14 and Aug. 17, setting the stage for early-season statements. A new-look Cal Poly program takes on (RV) BYU on Monday, Aug. 18, for a primetime home opener at Mustang Memorial Field.
Defending conference champion UC Santa Barbara kicks off its season at Harder Stadium against LMU.
– A total of 15 matches are set to air live on ESPN+ this week. Please check the listings online below watch your favorite Big West squad in action!
2025 Big West Women’s Soccer Schedule
New Faces of The Big West
– The Big West welcomes a new crop of leaders around the conference during the 2025-26 season. A trio of programs has welcomed new head coaches with Cal State Bakersfield, UC Davis, and UC Riverside, while Cal Poly kept its hire within the league.
The Roadrunners welcome Whitney Pitalo, who most recently served as the First Assistant Coach at Boston College, aiding the Eagles to a 12-5-2 overall record and the team’s best finish in the American Coastal Conference (ACC) since 2018. CSUB earned its first pair of victories in the Big West Championship last season, before being narrowly edged in the Final in penalty kicks.
Kat Mertz joins the Aggies after orchestrating a program-changing run as head coach at NCAA Division II MSU Denver, posting a 39-20-19 overall record and a 28-12-8 mark in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) action over four seasons. UCD capped off 2024 with the best regular season record in the league at 13-5-2 and earned the No. 2 seed in the Championship behind a 6-2-2 performance in conference play.
Mike Dibbini will now be the new manager of the Highlander. Dibbini brings nearly two decades of collegiate head coaching experience to UC Riverside, boasting a career record of 303-176-52 (.619). Most recently, he built Kansas State University’s women’s soccer program from the ground up, leading the Wildcats since their 2016 debut and steering them to multiple milestones, including a Big 12 Championship appearance in 2022.
Bernardo Silva will now take the reins at Cal Poly, succeeding Alex Crozier, who led the Mustangs since the program’s inception in 1991. After leading CSUB for two seasons, he set multiple Big West program records and guided the Roadrunners to their best conference finish in history. A former Mustang assistant (2013-16), Silva compiled an 11-20-9 overall record and 6-8-6 Big West mark while coaching the ‘Runners.
2025 USCA Division I Players to Watch
– A total of four standout Big West student athletes have been chosen to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women’s Players to Watch list.
The listings are compiled and released by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college soccer leading up to the official start date for the regular season later this month. Honorees include United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and All-Region players from 2024 who are scheduled to return for the 2025 season.
| Isabella Cruz | Senior | Midfielder | Cal State Fullerton |
| Nalani Damacion | Sophomore | Midfielder | Hawai’i |
| Genavieve Fontes | R-Senior | Midfielder | UC Davis |
| Kennedy Justin | Sophomore | Goalkeeper | Hawai’i |
Superwoman
– Isabella Cruz of Cal State Fullerton has been selected as one of The Big West’s pair of 2025 NCAA Woman of the Year conference nominees.
Each year, NCAA member schools nominate graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves on and off the field of play. From there, the NCAA Woman of the Year selection process narrows the pool to the Top 30 honorees—10 from each division—before selecting three finalists from each division. The award recipient is chosen by the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics and honored at the NCAA Convention.
A second-generation Latina and standout student-athlete, Cruz has exemplified excellence both on and off the field. She completed her bachelor’s degree in communications in just 2.5 years, graduating summa cum laude with a 3.9 GPA, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in professional communications while competing in her final season of NCAA eligibility. As a team captain for the CSUF women’s soccer program, she has led with integrity, building a team culture centered on inclusivity, support, and growth.
Beyond athletics, she serves as her team’s representative on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), advocating for the student-athlete experience across campus. Her commitment to service is evident through her volunteer work with Football for Her, campus engagement efforts like promoting voter participation, and community-driven initiatives such as food drives and holiday gift collections.
In addition to her academic and service contributions, Cruz has gained hands-on experience in sports marketing as an intern with Orange County Soccer Club, and currently serves as the social media manager for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), using digital storytelling to foster connection and purpose.
International Action
– Cal State Bakersfield senior Catalina Roggerone has once again been called up to the Argentina Women’s National Team, making the midfielder’s second appearance in 2025. The Mendoza, Argentina native helped the squad reach the semifinals and secure a podium finish, placing third overall in a major international tournament.
Preseason Prognostics
-Hawai’i has been selected as the preseason favorite to capture the 2025 Big West women’s soccer title, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches. Four teams received at least one first-place vote on the preseason poll.
The Rainbow Wahine, who finished 12-8-1 overall with an 8-1-1 record in conference play last season, earned 88 points and six first-place votes to claim the top spot after earning their first-ever Big West regular-season championship.
Defending tournament champion UC Santa Barbara (8-6-9, 4-2-4 BW) ranks second with 84 points and three first-place selections, followed closely by UC Irvine (6-7-6, 4-2-4 BW) with 81 points and one first-place nod. Long Beach State (6-9-3, 3-5-2 BW) collected 74 points and a first-place vote to land in fourth, while Cal State Fullerton sits just behind in fifth at 73 points.
Cal Poly (5-11-3, 3-6-1) finished sixth in the voting at 53 points, followed by UC San Diego (3-12-4, 1-6-3 BQ) in seventh with 42 points, and UC Davis’s (13-5-2, 6-2-2 BW) 37 points placed the Aggies in eighth. Cal State Bakersfield (8-10-5, 4-3-3 BW) and CSUN (5-11-3, 3-4-3 BW) are knotted at No. 9 with 27 points as UC Riverside (2-13-4, 0-6-4 BW) rounds out the 2025 preseason coaches’ poll.
Coaches also voted on an 11-member Preseason All-Big West Team featuring standout student-athletes from across the conference. Cal State Fullerton and Hawai’i led the way with both squads having a pair of representatives on the team.
The Big West unveiled its 11-member Preseason All-Conference Team, as voted on by league head coaches. The list features top returning talent from across the conference, with Cal State Fullerton and Hawai’i leading all programs with two selections each.
Representing the Titans are forward Isabella Cruz and defender Kaylin Raibon, who finished second and third in team scoring last season.
Preseason favorite Hawai’i places midfielder Nalani Damacion, the 2024 Big West Freshman of the Year, and forward Amber Gilbert on the squad. Last season, Damacion notched seven goals, including five game-winners, while Gilbert was a consistent threat up top in 17 starts.
The preseason list also includes Cal State Bakersfield’s standout goalkeeper Kamy Anaya, who helped lead the Roadrunners to their first Big West Final in program history with a .770 save percentage. Long Beach State forward Cherrie Cox returns to the pitch after claiming the 2023 Big West Offensive Player of the Year accolade behind a 13-goal campaign.
UC Davis forward Genavieve Fontes, the league’s top scorer last season with 11 goals, earns a spot alongside UC Santa Barbara’s forward Devin Greer, who tallied 10 goals en route to 2024 Freshman of the Year honors.
Jessie Halladay led the Mustangs as a forward with 11 points in 2024, while Mihaela Perez of UC Irvine helped anchor a defense that recorded five clean sheets in 19 starts. Midfielder Yoshi Rubalcava rounds out the 2025 preseason team as CSUN’s representative after posting career-highs in both goals (5) and points (12) a year ago.
The 2025 Big West Women’s Soccer Championship is set to begin on Sunday, Nov. 2, with first-round matches hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, who will face the No. 6 and No. 5 seeds, respectively. From there, our semifinals and the title match will take place at the home venue of the 2025 regular-season champion and No. 1 seed. Semifinal action is slated for Thursday, Nov. 6, with the Championship Final set for Sunday, Nov. 9. The winner will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship.
Action across The Big West kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 14, while league play commences Thursday, Sept. 18, with four matches on the docket, kicking off a seven-week slate. Each side will play five home matches and have three bye dates throughout the Thursday-Sunday rotation, which concludes on Oct. 30.
2024 Postseason Rewind
– No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara opened its postseason run with a 2-1 win over No. 6 seed Cal State Fullerton. Freshman standout Devin Greer led the way with a goal and an assist, including the game-winner in the 73rd minute.
In the later first-round match, No. 5 seed Cal State Bakersfield made history in their Big West Championship debut, upsetting three-time defending champion and No. 4 seed UC Irvine 1-0 behind Kamy Anaya’s eight-save shutout and Isis Salazar-Ortega’s 44th-minute strike.
The semifinals at Waipi’o Peninsula Soccer Stadium in O’ahu, brought more drama. UCSB edged No. 2 seed UC Davis 3-2 in double overtime thanks to Greer’s penalty kick to reach the title match for the first time since 2018, while CSUB stunned top-seeded and regular-season champion Hawai’i, 3-0, to reach their first-ever Big West Championship final in any sport, still without allowing a postseason goal.
In the Championship final, UCSB and CSUB battled to a stalemate before the Gauchos prevailed 8-7 in a penalty shootout to claim their third Big West title, all won via PKs. The victory sent UCSB to its 10th NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship appearance.
From The Big West to the Big Leagues
– In January 2022, Long Beach State forward Lena Silano was selected 34th overall by the Washington Spirit in the third round of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Draft.
Silano was the second straight player from the Beach to be drafted and is the fourth overall Big West student-athlete to hear their name called in the NWSL Draft. Former teammate, Kaitlin Fregulia, and 2x Big West Defensive Player of the Year (2017, 2021) was selected 12th overall to the North Carolina Courage as the highest draft pick in Big West Women’s Soccer history.
Silano won the 2022 Big West Offensive Player of the Year Award and has been an All-Big West selection twice (2021, 2022). The forward was also a member of the 2022 United Soccer Coaches All-West Region First Team.
Two months later, another alum of the Big West would have an opportunity to play in the NWSL as UC Irvine alum Scarlett Camberos was signed by Angel City FC (LA), marking her return to Southern California after spending time at Club América Femenil. The former Anteater scored 13 goals and notched seven assists during her senior season.
Another monumental moment for the conference occurred during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while Quinley Quezada represented UC Riverside and the Big West on the biggest stage while playing for the Philippines. The squad suffered a 2-0 defeat versus Switzerland in the first group stage before winning its first-ever World Cup match against New Zealand, 1-0 on July 25, 2023. However, the Philippines fell in its final group match to Norway, 6-0.
Sports
The UNLV Rebels have Hired Brooke Koblitz as an Assistant Coach.
The UNLV Rebels Track and Field program has hired Brooke Koblitz as an assistant coach. She specializes more specifically in long-distance and cross-country. The team announced that she’d be joining the staff on Wednesday. Head coach Carmelita Jeter said she’s excited to have Koblitz on board in Las Vegas. “I’m very excited to add Brooke […]
The UNLV Rebels Track and Field program has hired Brooke Koblitz as an assistant coach. She specializes more specifically in long-distance and cross-country. The team announced that she’d be joining the staff on Wednesday. Head coach Carmelita Jeter said she’s excited to have Koblitz on board in Las Vegas.
“I’m very excited to add Brooke to our Rebel family,” said Carmelita. “Brooke has the knowledge, grit and grind from competing in the SEC as a collegiate student-athlete and understands what it takes to be the best. At her prior institution, she helped the program achieve goals with the same mindset we have here, Brick by Brick, along with building the ladies’ confidence not only for the sport, but for life. I’m very excited to see how her energy, passion, and competitiveness will inspire these ladies to reach their personal best and maintain a positive mindset.”
Welcome to the 702! Assistant Coach Brooke Koblitz officially joins the staff 🎰
🗞️ https://t.co/fTSpJwT1Qy#BrickBy🧱 #BEaREBEL pic.twitter.com/la7OQwH3wL
— UNLV Track & Field/Cross Country (@unlvtfxc) August 13, 2025
Prior to joining the Rebels, Koblitz had spent the past three years as an assistant track and field cross country coach at Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Tennessee. Before coaching at Trevecca Nazarene in 2022, she started up the program and coached at Nolensville High School in Georgia in 2016. She is a Georgia native from Alpharetta and also ran track herself for the Georgia Bulldogs. While with the Bulldogs, she ran in the 800m, 1500m, and mile while also competing in cross country. That includes competing in an SEC Championship as a senior.
At Centennial High School, she was a three-sport athlete and lettered in all three. The sports were track and field, cross country, and basketball. She was a state champion in the 1600m.
In addition to coaching, she has also worked as a track and field official through Vanderbilt University. She has been doing that since 2017. During her time as an official, she has officiated indoor events, including various Vanderbilt Indoor Invitationals, the SEC Indoor Championships, and the TSSAA State Indoor Championships.
The addition of Koblitz should bring experience to the program that she can share with the current Rebels cross country runners. This should be an exciting season for UNLV, who hope to compete at the highest level in 2025 – 2026 and win the Mountain West Conference. This team has shown potential and promise and hope to take that to the next level with the help of an impressive coaching staff and talented young athletes.
More UNLV Rebels On SI News
Sports
8 storylines to follow in the 2025 college volleyball season
The 2025 college volleyball season is right around the corner. Here are my top storylines for this season. 1. Can Penn State go back-to-back in its new era? Penn State ended last season back on top of college volleyball in a new era under Katie Schumacher-Cawley. We know the Nittany Lions had the biggest volleyball […]
The 2025 college volleyball season is right around the corner. Here are my top storylines for this season.
1. Can Penn State go back-to-back in its new era?
Penn State ended last season back on top of college volleyball in a new era under Katie Schumacher-Cawley. We know the Nittany Lions had the biggest volleyball dynasty with four national titles in a row from 2007 to 2010. Now they bring in one of the best players in the country and look to rebuild while staying on top.
2. Big expectations for Big Red
Nebraska heads into the season at the No. 1 spot, looking like the most dangerous lineup in the country. With a new head coach in Dani Busboom Kelly, can they live up to the hype? There are a lot of high hopes and expectations with one of the most talented lineups.
alllll the angles from our fav red-white rally 🎥 #GBR pic.twitter.com/TM7vE8o8Gn
— Nebraska Volleyball (@HuskerVB) August 12, 2025
3. New season, new rosters
Multiple teams got an entirely new look in the transfer portal — the season is going to start fast and strong. It will be interesting to see how the rosters with players from all over the country gel with one another.
SEE MORE OFF-SEASON CHANGES: Transfer portal recap
4. Marquee matchups in the first few weeks
We have incredible nonconference tournaments this year for the first time. So many top-10 matchups, top-25 matchups right out of the gates. Many of the top-10 teams. Many of the top-10 teams will probably have early records that will look a lot different than years past.
OPEN SEASON: Check out the who, when and where kicking off the 2025 season
5. Restored and revamped rivalries
It feels like we have some new fun matchups to keep an eye on, or old rivalries that have an added flair. With the rise of Texas A&M after last year’s run, that Texas vs. Texas A&M rivalry seems even more fun this year. How about Louisville vs. Kentucky — new stars on both teams. Then there’s Kentucky and Texas fighting for the top of the SEC. Or how about Penn State and Nebraska after the reverse sweep in the semifinals and as the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams. That one feels like it has some added value this season as well.
6. New portal additions projected to push UCLA toward the top
There is a lot of preseason talk about UCLA rebuilding from the portal. The Bruins have four national championships, but three were in the ’90s. This rebuild could be a push to bring UCLA back to the forefront of college volleyball.
𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐏𝐊! ✍️
The talented middle blocker with National Championship experience is officially in the Blue and Gold!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/IbYjtlZes8
— UCLA Women’s Volleyball (@UCLAWomensVB) January 15, 2025
7. Fresh faces at the helm of college volleyball
We have some new coaching eras beginning in 2025. Multiple legendary head coaches stepped down after 2024: John Cook, Ray Bechard, Mary Wise and more. We will embark on the new eras of Dani Busboom Kelly at Nebraska, Matt Ulmer at Kansas and Dan Meske at Louisville to name a few. 2025 feels like the start of a new era.
8. Who’s the next big name?
And finally: Who will emerge as superstars this season? Last year graduated a lot of very big shoes to fill, and we have high profile youngsters and freshmen to look forward to seeing on the court this season. Last year we saw names like Izzy Starck, a freshman, go on to win the national title. Who will be big-time this year? We have highly touted recruits like Abby Vander Wal at Texas or players like Stella Swenson at Minnesota who didn’t play last year.
So many question marks for this season — and what I feel like is the one of the most highly anticipated college volleyball seasons yet. .
Sports
Olympian Alex Obert Becomes First Men’s Water Polo GM at Pacific
Alex Obert has been appointed as the first-ever General Manager for men’s water polo at the University of the Pacific, marking a significant milestone in collegiate water polo. Obert is a three-time Olympian who graduated in 2016 with an engineering degree and brings a wealth of experience, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Olympics […]
Alex Obert has been appointed as the first-ever General Manager for men’s water polo at the University of the Pacific, marking a significant milestone in collegiate water polo. Obert is a three-time Olympian who graduated in 2016 with an engineering degree and brings a wealth of experience, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Olympics and multiple championships in international competition. His return to Pacific, under head coach James Graham’s leadership, is aimed at enhancing the program’s performance through a data-driven approach.
By the Numbers
- 2024 Olympic Games (Paris) – Bronze Medalist
- 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games – Gold Medalist
State of Play
- This role is the first of its kind in U.S. collegiate men’s water polo.
- Pacific’s 2025 season opens on August 30 in Providence, Rhode Island.
What’s Next
With Obert’s appointment, anticipate new strategies focusing on data analysis and athlete development as the men’s water polo team aims for greater success in upcoming competitions.
Bottom Line
Obert’s combination of athletic excellence and professional insight is poised to elevate Pacific’s water polo program, potentially changing the landscape of collegiate sports management.
Sports
Army West Point volleyball trains at Fort Indiantown Gap
Army West Point’s women’s volleyball team prepared for its season at Fort Indiantown Gap, blending volleyball and Army culture. LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — Army West Point’s women’s volleyball team found a new home in Pennsylvania this preseason. The Black Knights hit the road, spending the weeks leading up to their first match at Fort Indiantown […]
Army West Point’s women’s volleyball team prepared for its season at Fort Indiantown Gap, blending volleyball and Army culture.
LEBANON COUNTY, Pa. — Army West Point’s women’s volleyball team found a new home in Pennsylvania this preseason.
The Black Knights hit the road, spending the weeks leading up to their first match at Fort Indiantown Gap.
“It’s a great honor to host them,” said Fort Indiantown Gap garrison commander Col. Kevin Potts. “We’re a premier asset here for Pennsylvania and the National Guard itself, so having people come and utilize that [is] just a big boon for us.”
The goal for the Black Knights was to get away from the chaos of the Academy while still surrounding themselves with the culture of the Army.
“The people make this place incredible,” Army West Point’s head volleyball coach, Alma Kovaci Lee, said. “We have everything we need to have a great preseason, and I think it’s really important that we conduct our training in places where it matters. Being in Fort Indiantown Gap, we not only get volleyball, but [we get] the Army side as well.”
The team even found time for some cool experiences to help break up the hours of training each day.
“We got to go up in Blackhawks the other day with our team, which was incredible,” said senior outside hitter Norah Shattan.
Kovaci Lee added that the team has “been able to hangout together, have a campfire [and] enjoy getting to know each other — something that we can’t get in an Academy.”
When it was time to practice, however, it was the team’s serving as an escape for the service members at Fort Indiantown Gap.
“It’s something different. They can come in and catch an hour or two of them doing practice here in the morning and afternoon,” said Potts. “People could come in and hang out, watch and see what they do and how hard they train.”
The team is representing a different side of the Army.
Shattan said the athletes “have this connection at a broader level than just as a cadet that we normally see. It’s cool that we can represent the Army playing our sport that we love.”
Potts added that the girls help provide the recognition that “the Army is not just being in the field with a weapon, fighting the fight. It’s also all the things that go around that. It’s all the sporting events that go on, all the esprit de corps that goes on [and] all the camaraderie.”
As the team wraps up its preseason at Fort Indiantown Gap, its preparing to open its season on the road at NC State on Aug. 29.
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