RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky University’s beach volleyball program has finalized its schedule for the 2026 spring season, head coach Jeff Patton announced Tuesday.

The 2026 campaign follows another historic year for EKU, securing the program’s first-ever victory in the ASUN Tournament.

The Colonels open the season co-hosting the Cincy Clash in Cincinnati with Morehead State on Feb. 20-21.

EKU will face Liberty, Austin Peay, Morehead State, and Tusculum during the two-day event. Last season, the Colonels went 3-1 at the tournament, highlighted by 5-0 victories over Liberty and Austin Peay.

EKU continues its early-season road slate Feb. 27-28 at the Beach Bears Bash in Springfield, Mo.

The Colonels are set to take on Lindenwood, Missouri State, Southwest Baptist, and Central Arkansas. EKU was 2-0 against Central Arkansas last season, including a 3-0 sweep in the ASUN Tournament.

March begins with a trip to Jacksonville, Fla., for the Duuuval Duals on March 6-7.

EKU will face Mercer, Jacksonville, Florida International, and North Florida during the weekend.

The Colonels remain on the road for a midweek stop at the Day of Duals in Atlanta on Wednesday, March 11.

At the event, EKU will match up against Georgia State, Austin Peay, and Tennessee Tech.

After a brief break, EKU returns to competition March 27-28 at the Shoals Beach Bash in Florence, Ala.

The Colonels will face Tusculum, North Alabama, Austin Peay, and Spring Hill. Last season, EKU earned a 5-0 victory over Tusculum, while its most recent matchup with North Alabama came in the ASUN Tournament.

EKU returns to Richmond for EKU Sand Fest on April 3-4, welcoming Chattanooga, Stevenson, Liberty, and Morehead State for Senior Weekend. 

The Colonels went 4-1 at home last season, highlighted by a 5-0 sweep of Morehead State.

The regular season concludes April 10-11 at the Scenic City Showdown in Chattanooga, Tenn.

EKU will face Georgia State, North Alabama, UT Martin, and Chattanooga during the two-day event.

Postseason play begins April 22-24 as the Colonels travel to Huntsville, Ala., for the ASUN Championships.

The full 2026 schedule, including times and locations, is available online.

RICHMOND, Va. — Brian Liebowitz opened the new year with some new hardware as he earned his first career CAA Track Athlete of the Week award on Tuesday.

The Seawolves opened 2026 with the TCNJ Invitational at The Armory in New York City. Liebowitz led the way with the team’s lone win in the event after setting a new PR in the 3,000m with a time of 8:33.52. Of the 25 other runners in the event, the next closest time was a whole five seconds behind the sophomore.

Liebowitz and the rest of the squad are back at The Armory this Friday at 9:30 a.m. for the Ramapo College Invitational.

For an inside look at the Seawolves track & field program, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Valpo volleyball senior libero Emma Hickey (Granger, Ind./Penn) was recognized Tuesday for her stellar work both on the court and in the classroom over the course of her four-year career, as she was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team.
 
The MVC Libero of the Year and an AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region selection this season, Hickey ranked 11^th nationally and second in the MVC in 2025 with 5.06 digs/set, capping a collegiate career where she ranked among the top-15 nationally in each of her four seasons. She was a five-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week selection, giving her nine weekly honors for her career — tied for third-most in MVC history.
 
Hickey closed her career with 2,665 digs, 17^th-most in NCAA D-I history. She closed the 2025 campaign as the active career leader in digs across all divisions and owned over 600 more digs than the next-highest D-I athlete.
 
In the classroom, Hickey owned a 3.936 GPA (as of the time of voting) as a civil engineering major. She was the 2025 MVC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a three-time member of the MVC Scholar-Athlete Teams. Hickey has earned the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award, been named to the MVC Honor Roll and received Valpo Presidential Academic Honors. She is also a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.
 
Hickey is the fourth different Valpo volleyball player to earn Academic All-America honors, combining for five such accolades, and is the first since Rylee Cookerly was named to the Academic All-America First Team in the fall of 2021. Valpo Athletics now boasts a total of 42 Academic All-Americans, 30 of which have come in the last 22 years — with at least one such honoree in 19 of those 22 years.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Ole Miss track & field throwers Akaoma Odeluga and Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan have swept the SEC Field Athlete of the Week awards, the conference office announced on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Odeluga set the SEC lead in both the women’s shot put and weight throw after her winning performances last week at Kentucky’s Rod McCravy Memorial to open the 2026 indoor season. Odeluga took the weight throw crown on a massive five-foot PR of 22.95m/75-03.50, which ranks second nationally and fifth on Ole Miss’ stacked women’s weight throw all-time list. In the shot put, Odeluga had her best open ever at her winning toss of 17.92m/58-09.50, which also ranks second nationally and leads the SEC by nearly three feet.
 
Robinson-O’Hagan, three-time NCAA Champion and watch list member for The Bowerman, also took the SEC lead in men’s edition of both the shot put and weight throw. He won the shot at an NCAA-leading 20.76m/68-01.50, the best mark this early into the collegiate season (Jan. 10) in available records (since at least 2008). In the weight, Robinson-O’Hagan was the top collegiate finisher at 23.78m/78-00.25, which ranks third nationally.
 

Ole Miss track & field heads to Nashville this week for the Vanderbilt Invitational, which is set to run Jan. 16-17.
 

ACADEMIC ALL AMERICA TEAMS

MOREHEAD, Ky. —

It was a storybook season for volleyball senior M.E. Hargan with a plethora of accolades on and off the court, and she’s added yet another to her trophy case. Hargan earned a spot on the prestigious Division I Academic All-America team, as selected by the College Sports Communicators. Hargan is a third-team honoree.

Only 21 student-athletes among the thousands in DI earned Academic All-America, and she is the lone representative from the Ohio Valley Conference.

“I am super honored and grateful to be recognized at this high level for all the hard work I’ve been putting in the last couple of years,” she said. 

She is the seventh all-time Eagle volleyball student-athlete to be an Academic All-American and the first since Olivia Lohmeier in 2021. Others include Emma Keough (2011), Holly Evans (2010), Missy Blanford (1988), Kristen Pedersen (1982) and Tessa Fraki (1982).

Hargan was first named academic all-district and earned that honor for the third consecutive season. She also earned the highest individual scholastic award in the league, the OVC Scholar Athlete.

Hargan, from Elizabethtown, Ky., wrapped up her indoor collegiate career in November as the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was named Honorable Mention AVCA All-South Region. She has a 3.88 lifetime grade point average in veterinary science.

She led the Ohio Valley Conference with 493 kills this season (27th nationally), averaging 4.61 kills per set and ranking 15^th in the country in NCAA Division I. Her 569 points (5.32 points per set average) ranked 21st in the nation overall and 11th in per set.

One of Morehead State’s most prolific hitters, Hargan finished her career with 1,488 kills – ranking third in program history for the modern era (2008-present when rally scoring changed to 25-point sets). Her 493 kills this season were the third-highest total in the modern era in the Eagle record book. Hargan finished with three seasons in the top 10 in program history for kills.

 

Her 2,575 total attacks’ tally is the second-highest in the program’s modern era. She also finished with 956 career digs, ranking ninth in the records. Her 98 career service aces and 36 career block solos both rank 10^th in the program, as does her 439 career sets played.