Flathead High School on Friday announced the resignation of head coach Emily Russell, who had led the Bravettes Volleyball program for the past six years.

The Flathead Activities Department will begin the hiring process after the holiday break, aiming to present a candidate recommendation to the Board of Trustees by February, according to a press release from the school. 

“We are excited about the level of work ethic and talent that our returning players bring to the program,” Matt Allison, assistant principal and activities director, said. “The Flathead Activities mission is developing champions in life and tomorrow’s leaders. 

“We will continue to push our student-athletes and this program forward.”

Russel took the helm of the program for the 2020 season, marking a return to her alma mater where as a player she helped lead the Bravettes to the school’s most recent hardware finish at the state tournament. 

“A Flathead High School alumna and former setter on the 2012 state runner-up team, Russell returned to her alma mater with a passion for the program and a commitment to developing student-athletes both on and off the court,” the school said in the press release.

During her time as a coach with the program — one year as an assistant coach and six years as head coach — Russell led the Bravettes to the Class AA state tournament in 2021 where the team finished 1-2.

That state tournament appearance proved to be the winningest season during Russell’s tenure. The Bravettes finished the 2025 season 5-21 overall and 4-10 in the Western AA conference. Both the 2024 and 2025 seasons came to a close with 3-0 defeats in Class AA state tournament games.

“We are excited about the level of work ethic and talent that our returning players bring to the program,” Allison said. “The Flathead Activities mission is developing champions in life and tomorrow’s leaders. We will continue to push our student-athletes and this program forward.”

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KANSAS CITY, Missouri — No. 3 seed Texas A&M showed the “grit” it has displayed throughout the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball tournament in Sunday’s final, beating No. 1 seed Kentucky 3-0 to capture the program’s first national championship.

In the first all-SEC title-game showdown, the Aggies trailed by as many as six points in the first set and were down a set point. A kill by redshirt sophomore Kyndal Stowers tied the game at 24-24. A block by Ifenna Cos-Okpalla gave the Aggies a set point. And a Stowers kill sealed it.

The Aggies never trailed the rest of the way.

“As soon as we got within two, I was like, ‘Oh no’ for them,” Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison said. “They should know better on this team. This team is not going to back down.”

The Aggies had a string of upsets just to make it to the title game, starting with a regional semifinal reverse sweep of No. 2 seed Louisville, followed by a regional final upset against previously undefeated No.1 Nebraska. Texas A&M continued its upset streak by sweeping No. 1 Pitt 3-0 in the semifinals before claiming the national title against Kentucky.

“I just said, ‘We’ve been here before. We’ve been there twice. I brought up the Louisville match,” Morrison said of his team’s first-set deficit. “We talked about Louisville being down 0-2. We talked about Nebraska. We said, ‘Hey, we’ve been here.’ … I just said, ‘It’s going to take one or two points, start to get firing, they’re going to be there.'”

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In the second set, the Aggies held a consistent lead over the Wildcats, finishing 25-15 after an attack error by Kentucky. Texas A&M held onto its lead in the third set and clinched the title when senior middle blocker Cos-Okpalla’s kill brought the score to 25-20.

After leading her team with 11 kills, Texas A&M senior Logan Lednicky fought back tears as she looked back at her four-year career in College Station. The 6-foot-3 opposite hitter credited the nine seniors on her team for helping build this program.

“I was pretty emotional all day today just knowing that no matter the outcome of this game, it would be my last getting to represent A&M on my chest,” Lednicky said. “Being able to do this with these girls, end with the trophy, end like this, I just can’t even believe it.”

Stowers, who had 10 kills in the title match, claimed the Most Outstanding Player award. The transfer from Baylor medically retired because of concussions before transferring to Texas A&M. Stowers had 17 kills against Louisville, 25 against Nebraska and 16 against Pitt.

“A year ago today, I sat on my couch and watched some good friends of mine actually win this game,” Stowers said of Penn State’s victory over Louisville. “Now, to be living that is genuinely surreal. It was a journey to get here. Good days; bad days. It took this guy, sitting next to me, Morrison, believing in me after not playing volleyball for over a year and a half, to take me on his roster and coach me every single day.”

Throughout the NCAA tournament, Texas A&M credited its “grit.” The Aggies were two points away from elimination in the regional semifinals against Louisville. Since that upset, the Aggies outscored their opponents 317-276.

“It’s a testament to the work we put in in the practice gym and just generally in all of our careers,” Lednicky said after the semifinals. “It’s been a long time coming for us, a lot of work put into this moment.”

Kentucky had won four matches in a row against Texas A&M, including a four-set victory Oct. 8. Wildcats coach Craig Skinner pointed to A&M’s passing as the difference.

“They handled our serve really well early,” Skinner said. “Our serving pressure didn’t allow them to get in sync when we were down at College Station. Today, they were in sync.

“Credit their first contact with their passers of Underwood, Applegate, Hellmuth, and Stowers for really doing a good job of providing Waak opportunities to set their whole offense. It was a difficult thing to try and score points on defense.”

The Montgomery area produced two state runners-up in Class 4 and 5A in 2025 in Prattville Christian Academy and Montgomery Catholic respectively.

PCA senior Baylee Rogers highlights the Montgomery Advertiser’s All-Metro teams, being named the player of the year in a talented pool of players that saw various milestones met, and a few school records broken.

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A 2-year-old girl waiting for a heart transplant after being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy got to meet her volleyball-playing namesake.

At Children’s Nebraska, Merritt Squire is being treated for her condition, which causes the heart’s main pump chamber to be enlarged and weakened.

Named after former Nebraska volleyball and current Omaha Supernovas player Merritt Beason, when she heard of little Merritt, big Merritt wanted to meet her.

“The visit became a moment of pure joy for the family. “These are the things that really ground you, and almost humble you in a way, to remember that little girls and kids are out here fighting for their lives every single day,” Beason said.

“To have a little girl sharing the same name as you, who is so strong and fighting every single day, is just something you can’t put into words,’” per the post on Children’s Nebraska’s website.

Merritt has received a Berlin Heart, a mechanical pump to help circulate blood, while she waits for a heart donor.

“We support not only the patient but also the family as best as we possibly can through that process,” said Dr. Jason Cole, medical director of the Advanced Pediatric Heart Failure & Transplant program. “Opportunities like these give our families a chance to take a step back, take a breath and to enjoy the moments while they’re here.”

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MILWAUKEE – On Monday, Susie Johnson announced the addition of transfer Kameron Stover to the roster for the upcoming volleyball season.
 
Stover will join the Panthers this spring after an impressive freshman campaign at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio.
 
“We are so excited to add Kami to our program this spring,” commented Johnson. “She has a ton of athleticism and competitiveness and has proved that she can compete day after day, which is what we have been looking to add to our program.” 
 
Stover was a force for the Cavaliers in 2025, finishing the season 16th among all Division II players in total kills with 452. That mark ranked third among all freshmen at the Division II level and also led all players from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
 
In addition to her kill total, Stover led the GMAC in kills per set (4.30) and total points (507), while also pacing the league in points per set (4.83). She finished 10th in the league in service aces (30), and 14th in digs (299). Stover also recorded 33 kills in a match, the most by any GMAC player since the 2022 campaign.
 
Following her freshman season with the Cavaliers, Stover was selected as the conference’s Freshman of the Year and earned First Team All-Conference honors. She was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Midwest Region Freshman of the Year and later added Division II Conference Commissioners Association Second Team All-Region accolades.
 
Stover played at Marengo Highland High School in Ohio from 2021-24, where she amassed 1,770 career kills, the ninth-most in recorded state history. As a junior, she tallied 636 kills, the seventh-most in state history, and followed that up with another 567 as a senior. Her 48 kills in a match against Plain City Jonathan Alder as a junior ranked third all-time for a single match in Ohio.
 
She was a two-time First Team All-State selection and earned Third Team honors as a sophomore. A three-time First Team All-District and All-Conference selection, Stover also earned All-Region accolades from this AVCA as a senior and is the program’s kills record holder for career, single-season, and single-match.
 
Stover joins incoming freshmen Olivia Doerre, Emma Dufft, Kayla Landerud, and Hope Wagner, who announced their commitments to Milwaukee in mid-November.