Sports

Men’s Volleyball Takes 19th Trip to NCAA Tournament

Published

8 months ago

May 7, 2025

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The sixth-ranked Pepperdine men’s volleyball team opens 2025 NCAA Tournament play as the fifth seed against seventh-ranked and fourth-seeded Loyola Chicago with first serve set for 4:30 p.m. PT Thursday, May 8.

COVERAGE – The quarterfinals and semifinals are to be streamed on ESPN+ with the championship airing on ESPN2. Tickets, stat and watch links can be found on pepperdinewaves.com.

FAMILIAR TERRITORY – No strangers to Columbus, the Pepperdine men’s volleyball squad will open its 19th NCAA Tournament berth against seventh-ranked and fourth-seeded Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinal round. The Waves won their first NCAA Championship in CBus, with two five-set wins over Ohio State (semifinals) and UCLA (finals) in 1978 with Marv Dunphy at the helm. Pepperdine has won a total of five championships since that year, also earning the trophy in 1985, 1986, 1992 and 2005.

LAST TIME OUT — With arguably the toughest route to the championship, Pepperdine ripped through the MPSF Tournament two weeks ago, defeating the likes of #11 GCU (QF), #2 UCLA (SF) and #5 USC (F) en route to its seventh league trophy in program history. Outside Ryan Barnett was named MVP after leading all hitters in the bracket with 4.75 kills per set while recording 57 total kills through nine sets. The redshirt junior earned career-highs in 23 kills, 25.5 points and 11 digs against USC. Ilay Haver also had a nice run through the three matches, but shined in the championship contest, recording 18 digs to go with a .950 reception percentage and 11 kills. Libero Jacob Reilly and oppo Cole Hartke also made the All-Tournament team.

ALL-AMERICAN FELLAS — Five members of the team were honored as AVCA Division I-II Men’s Volleyball All-America selections, announced earlier this week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Outside hitter Ryan Barnett was named to the AVCA First Team, while Cole Hartke and Jacob Reilly earned Second Team honors. Gabe Dyer and James Eadie received Honorable Mention accolades. Barnett ranks in the top-25 nationally in four statistical categories: aces per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and points per set. The redshirt-junior leads the Waves kills per set (3.65) and is second on the team in points per set (4.37). He recorded double-digit kills in 21 of 22 matches played, including a season high 23 kills in the MPSF Tournament championship against USC. Barnett also tallied 45 aces and 119 digs on the year. Hartke is the highest scoring freshman in the country, averaging 4.38 points per set. The freshman totaled 335 kills in 92 sets, hitting at a .310 clip. He averaged 3.64 kills and 0.52 blocks per set. Reilly earned the only libero nod on the first and second team as we tallied 185 digs this season and collected a season high 12 digs in the MPSF Tournament championship against USC. He also added 42 assists in 28 matches. Reilly also completed the MPSF regular season as the most efficient libero in the conference, recording the least amount of reception errors and resulting in a .958 reception percentage. Dyer directed the Pepperdine offense to a .328 team hitting percentage, which ranks eighth in NCAA Division I-II. He averaged 9.66 assists per set and added 29 blocks, 176 digs, and 9 service aces over 29 matches. Eadie recorded 124 kills (1.61 per set) while hitting .410 across 23 matches. He leads the waves with .974 blocks per set while gathering a total 0f 75 on the season.

FOTY — Freshman opposite Cole Hartke completed the 2025 MPSF season at fourth for kills per set (3.64) and services aces per set (.46), as the conference awarded him
with Freshman of the Year. Hartke produced double-digit kills in 18 regular season matches, including in all 12 of MPSF competition. He had a 24-kill outing, just two kills off the MPSF season-high, with a .475 clip against Loyola-Chicago (Jan. 30). He was named MPSF/Molten Offensive Player of the Week twice this year (Apr. 7, Mar. 3), following a 36-kill and 33-kill MPSF series vs. Grand Canyon and USC, respectively. Hartke, the only freshman named to this year’s All-MPSF first team, is Pepperdine’s fifth MPSF Freshman of the Year recipient (Ethan Watson, 2024; Jonathan Winder, 2005; Sean Rooney, 2002; Scott Wong, 1998).

ALL-MPSF SELECTIONS — Ryan Barnett, Jacob Reilly and Gabe Dyer also earned All-MPSF honors, landing on the first team, second team and honorable mention lists, respectively. Barnett ranks among the league’s top hitters and servers, sitting third in aces (43), eighth in hitting percentage (.341), and tied for sixth in kills (315). Reilly leads the MPSF in reception efficiency and ranks sixth in digs (163), while Dyer is fourth in assists (884) and eighth in digs (160), also tallying multiple career-high performances this season.

FAMILY TIES – Libero and recent serving ace Brendan Read will have a little more on the table against Loyola Chicago as his brother– Jake Read– will be playing across the net in a Ramblers uniform. Hailing from Newport Beach, the brothers are only separated by a couple of years, as Brendan– a senior– graduated from Pepperdine last week and Jake is currently in his sophomore season in Chicago.

ON THE RAMBLERS – As a team, LUC ranks fifth in the nation in aces per set (1.82), first in assists per set (12.5), third in blocks per set (2.57) and first in kills per set (13.35). The Ramblers finished the 2025 regular season 22-3 while remaining undefeated in nonconference play. In March, the team defeated No. 7 CSUN, seeing their highest-ranked competition of the season go down in five sets. LUC blew through the MIVA Tournament with three triple-set wins en route to the conference crown. In January, the Waves attempted to reverse sweep the Ramblers while meeting in Malibu but were bested by Loyola Chicago 3-2. Pepperdine fell into a three-game slump that week after taking top-ranked Long Beach State to five sets just days before the Ramblers and Waves met. LUC leads the all-time record with Pepperdine at 3-1.

POTENTIAL OPPS — Should the Waves win on Thursday, the likes of either top-seeded Long Beach State or eighth-seed Belmont Abbey Saturday, May 10 at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET in the semifinals.

FOLLOW — Follow the Waves on Facebook and X, @PeppVolleyball, and follow the team on Instagram and TikTok, @peppmvb. Get all the most recent schedules, results and more on www.PepperdineWaves.com.

ROSTER NUMBERS — The Waves are returning 11 players this season, including five starters, while also adding 15 new faces to the squad. MPSF Freshman of the Year, Ethan Watson, returns for Pepperdine after coming in second on the team for total blocks, posting 74 throughout his 60 sets played. Outside hitter, Ryan Barnett, ranked in the top five in three separate statistical categories for the team last season, including posting 200 kills, 82 digs, and 14 service aces throughout his 80 sets played. Sophomore setter, Ryan Graves, is also returning for his second year after leading the team in assists as the key playmaker for Pepperdine last season. Graves posted 596 assists 18 kills, and five service aces during the 2024 season.

FRESH FACES — Pepperdine has 15 newcomers this season, including 11 freshmen and four transfers. Outside hitter, Cole Hartke joins the Waves as a three-time JVA All-American, Volleyball Magazine All-American, member of the U21 Men’s National Team, and won gold this season at the Norceca Pan-Am Championship. Outside, Jose Gomez also joins the squad after having international experience playing with Cuba’s U19 and U21 National teams, playing in three Norceca Pan-Am Cups. Joining the Waves in January is freshman Grant Lamoureux who served as the captain for the U19 National Indoor Team this summer at the Norceca Continental Championship, helping the team capture a gold medal. He is a two-time AAU All-American and a three-time JVA All-American, and in the sand placed ninth at the Beach 2024 U19 World Championships in China. The Waves’ transfer crew includes graduate student brothers George and Gabe Dyer who came to Pepperdine after playing for UC San Diego and USC, respectively. Jacob Reilly joins Pepperdine from Concordia University Irvine, after playing two seasons as a libero for the Golden Eagles.

2024 SEASON — Pepperdine concluded the 2024 campaign ranked #10 in the country. The Waves went 17-11 overall and finished fifth in the MPSF regular season after tallying a 5-7 league record. The Waves faced Stanford in the MPSF Tournament, falling in the first round.

COACHES — Returning for his fifth season as an associate head coach, Matthew Pollock will rejoin the sidelines for the Waves. With Pollock on the staff, the Waves advanced to the NCAA Tournament and finished with a #5 ranking in both 2021 and 2022. Pollock played for the Waves from 2009-12 and was a starter middle blocker in his final two seasons, earning All-MPSF honors as a senior. He played professionally in Finland, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy and Germany. Luke Reynolds joined the Waves’ sideline this summer after serving as a head coach for the University of Charleston’s program. He also was recently hired as Team USA’s collegiate national men’s team assistant coach in 2024. While with the Golden Eagles for three seasons, Reynolds led the team to 44 wins and a .543 winning percentage. He garnered EIVA Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the program to a 22-7 record with a 14-match winning streak to open the season. That year, the team entered the AVCA national coaches polls for the first time in program history. Will Craft also joined the staff as an assistant in July 2023, bringing a wealth of playing and coaching experience at both the professional and collegiate levels. He most recently served as the head men’s coach at Dominican (DIII) and was named Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year. He was an All-American at Carthage before playing with SVG.

STAY CONNECTED
Keep up with all things Pepperdine Athletics by following the Waves on X and Instagram and find more on PepperdineWaves.com.

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Sports

‘Dons Open 2026 Season on Arnie Ball Court

Published

14 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball program begins the 2026 season on the Arnie Ball Court, hosting Missouri S&T on Saturday (Jan. 10) and NJIT on Sunday (Jan. 11).

Game Day Information

Who: Missouri S&T

When: Saturday, January 10 | 2 PM

Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court

Live Stats: Link

Watch: Link

Tickets: Link

Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne

Game Day Information

Who: NJIT

When: Sunday, January 11 | 5 PM

Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court

Live Stats: Link

Watch: Link

Tickets: Link

Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne

Know Your Foes

Missouri S&T finished the 2025 season 11-14 and dropped a five-set bout to Maryville in the IVA semifinals to conclude the year. The Miners return all seven players from their main rotation for the 2026 season. Three of those players, Nate Meyer (First Team), Tyler Johnwick (Second Team) and Aaron Sallade (Second Team) were 2025 All-IVA selections. Missouri S&T fired off the ninth most nationally in total team attacks per set last season, averaging 28.51 a frame. The Miners also ranked top-10 nationally in digs per set, notching 9.75 a set. Missouri S&T was led offensively by now seniors Meyer and Sallade, both finishing the year with more than 3.00 kills per set. Junior Grant Edmonds ran the offense at the setter position for the Miners a season ago, averaging 8.60 assists per set while starting all 25 matches. Bartosz Chmielewski held a team high 196 digs from the libero position in 2025. Middle blocker Johnwick finished the season fifth nationally in hitting percentage (.448).

NJIT ended their 2025 season at 14-13, 8-4 in EIVA play. The Highlanders’ season ended at the hands of Penn State in the EIVA semifinals. NJIT were able to beat two ranked opponents last year: No. 20 George Mason and No. 19 Penn State. The Highlanders return only one of their four players to average over 2.00 kills per set, sophomore Wiktor Nowak. Sophomore Bruno Figueiredo ran the Highlanders offense in the setter position, averaging 9.24 assists per set. NJIT started the season 0-2 against No. 2 Hawaii. Freshman André Aleixo led the Highlanders with 3.00 kills per set in the two contests.

Series Histories

The ‘Dons won the only meeting between Purdue Fort Wayne and Missouri S&T. The Mastodons swept the Miners in 2023.

Purdue Fort Wayne holds a 15-5 series history lead over NJIT. The Highlanders have closed the gap in the last four meetings, winning all four since 2020.

Preseason All-MIVA

Logan Muir was selected for the Preseason All-MIVA Team on December 15. Muir was named to the 2025 All-MIVA Second Team following last season. The Junior led the Mastodons in points (464.5), kills (391) and service aces (41) last year. He was second in the MIVA in kills per set (4.39), aces per set (0.41) and points per set (5.19) during conference play. Muir’s 5.09 points per set ranked fifth in the nation. The California native also was 10th in the MIVA in hitting percentage with .299. Muir recorded double-digit kills in 19 of the ‘Dons’ 26 matches. He hit a career-high 23 kills in three sets at McKendree, the third most in the program’s rally scoring era.

Fresh Faces

Purdue Fort Wayne begins the 2026 season with a roster refresh, adding five freshmen and two transfers. The additions include Carlo Huisden (OH), Joaquin Jones (S), Vince Spadoni (OH), Jean Paul Gonzalez (OH), Owen Banner (OH/OPP), Ethan Skalski (OH/OPP) and Brody McAfee (OPP/MB).

2025 In a Nutshell

Purdue Fort Wayne finished the 2025 season at 11-15, 4-12 during MIVA play. The Mastodons finished seventh in MIVA standings and took on No. 12 McKendree in the MIVA quarterfinals, falling in three sets.

Coming Up

The Mastodons will travel to Lindenwood for the Under Armour Challenge on January 16 and 17. The Mastodons play Menlo at 5 PM ET on January 16 and then CSUN at 5 PM ET on January 17.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

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Sports

John Cook interview ahead of Supernovas season opener

Published

30 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska legend and one of volleyball’s most iconic figures John Cook sat down with 10/11 Thursday to talk about the upcoming Omaha Supernovas season.

The former Nebraska volleyball head coach joined the organization as co-owner and general manager in August after announcing his retirement that January.

Cook shared details about his new role and transition from collegiate volleyball to professional volleyball.

“This has been a pretty easy transition for me because this is similar to what I’ve been doing,” Cook said. “If you look at it, you’re just trying to put all this group together, give them everything they need to perform their best I mean that’s the bottom line. That’s my job is to give them every opportunity to be the best that they can become.”

Cook said he was inspired to get involved in the organization when he noticed the amount of mothers and daughters attending Supernovas matches last season.

One of Cook’s goals for the Supernovas was to build a team around great culture. That helped guide the organization during recruitment season.

“It’s a first-class organization and so it was easy to find players that wanted to come here and then also fit what we were looking for in culture and being competitive.”

Fifteen players are on Supernovas roster this season, including two former Nebraska players, opposite hitter Merritt Beason and Leyla Blackwell.

“We wanted to create and built a team that the fans would recognize and relate to and I think that’s one of the reasons why people are so passionate about about the Supernovas,” Cook said.

Watch the Supernovas at 7 p.m. Thursday when they take on the San Diego Mojo at CHI Health Center in Omaha.

Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

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Sports

Blazers Back in Action at Birmingham Crossplex This Weekend

Published

43 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

BIRMINGHAM – UAB Track & Field returns to the Birmingham Crossplex on Friday and Saturday for its first meets of 2026. On Friday, events will kick off at 1 p.m. while Saturday events begin at 9 a.m.

THE FIELD

Among the teams participating with the Blazers this weekend will be Auburn, Chattanooga, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Troy, and UT Martin.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR

Last year’s Blazer Invite was canceled due to winter weather events.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Blazers’ last meet came on December 5 at the Birmingham Icebreaker at the Birmingham Crossplex. Leticia Quingostas started her senior season strong in the 300m. The senior from Brazil placed ninth overall out of 28 athletes and won heat 4 with a time of 40.51 seconds. The freshmen middle distance duo consisting of Kelly Hughes and Katelyn Valtos made their college debuts in the 1000m. Hughes (3:05.08) and Valtos (3:06.08) finished sixth and seventh overall respectively. Valtos’ time was tops in heat 2. The Green and Gold rounded out the day with true freshman Sarah Hopkins competing in the Weight Throw. Hopkins finished her day with a mark of 14.58m on her final successful throw, which ranks third-best in school history for Indoor Weight Throw.

MEET INFORMATION

Fans can access live results, meet information, and the entire meet schedules on uabsports.com/sports/womens-track-and-field.

ENTRY TO THE CROSSPLEX

Only credit cards will be accepted on the campus of the Birmingham Crossplex.

FOLLOW THE BLAZERS

To keep up with UAB Track & Field, follow @UAB_TF_XC on Instagram and X.

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Sports

Glover, Catamount Volleyball Add Pair of Transfers for 2026

Published

46 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina head volleyball coach Karen Glover finalized her 2026 roster with a pair of transfers, adding middle blocker Brookelyn Nance (Gardner-Webb) and Sophia Marini (Daytona State), as both are set to join WCU for the spring semester in advance of the 2026 season. Nance will have three years of eligibility with the Catamounts, as Marini has two years with WCU.

Marini and Nance join a quartet of student-athletes who will join the program in the fall of 2026 in setter Leilani Ramos (Jupiter, Fla.), outside hitter Taylor Baggett (Fayetteville, N.C.), middle blocker Aiyana Harris (Mansfield, Texas), and outside hitter Ashlyn Cobb (Delray Beach, Fla.), who each signed back in November to join the Catamounts.

Sophia Marini – 6-0 – RS – Daytona State / Hagerty HS / Oviedo, Fla.

Marini comes to Cullowhee after spending the past two seasons at Daytona State in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Oviedo, Fla. native appeared in 45 matches totaling 156 sets over two years at Daytona State. During her two years with the Falcons, she totaled 246 kills, ranking third on the team last season with 152. She finished with a single-game, season-best 11 kills against Polk State (Sept. 27) and 10 vs Salt Lake CC (Aug. 29).

Marini contributed on defense with 65 blocks over her two seasons, including 44 in 2025. She garnered FCSAA All-Tournament team honors from the conference in 2025 after a standout performance in a pair of tourney matchups with 10 kills, five blocks, and four digs over seven sets. She also received “Battle at the Beach” all-tournament honors during the opening weekend for Daytona State, as she contributed on both ends of the stat sheet.

Brookelyn Nance – 6-2 – MB – Gardner-Webb / Hickory Ridge HS / Hickory, N.C.

Nance joins the WCU family after spending her debut collegiate season at Gardner-Webb out of the Big South Conference. A product of Hickory, N.C., Nance comes to the Catamounts after totaling 113 kills spanning 75 sets throughout 22 matches in 2025 with the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Nance totaled a season-high 10 kills against Norfolk State during the early part of the season, as she had five matches posting over a .300 hitting percentage.

On the defensive end, Nance helped lead Gardner-Webb to the second-best blocking team in the Big South, finishing with 67 rejections. Before her stop in Boiling Springs, she was an all-conference selection at Hickory Ridge High as a prep senior, surpassing 200 kills in both her junior (293) and senior (234) seasons. She played club volleyball for Carolina Juniors.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).

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Sports

UT Arlington Student-Athletes Excel in Classroom in 2025 Fall Semester

Published

59 minutes ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

ARLINGTON, Texas – As UT Arlington student-athletes achieved championship success in competition, the foundation was laid in the classroom.

As a collective, UT Arlington student-athletes combined for a 3.125 grade point average in the Fall 2025 semester while holding a 3.123 overall department GPA. Of the 11 athletics units, all 11 teams earned at least a 2.9 GPA during Fall 2025, led by women’s golf with a 3.438 GPA, just ahead of baseball with a 3.281 GPA.

Those teams were followed by women’s basketball (3.229), volleyball (3.190), men’s tennis (3.116), women’s track & field (3.070), men’s basketball and women’s tennis (3.054), men’s golf (3.013), softball (2.967) and men’s track & field (2.964).

This is the 24th semester in a row that the athletic department held a cumulative department GPA above a 3.0. Overall, 10 of the 11 programs hold a 3.0 GPA or better with all 11 holding a 2.95 GPA or better.

2025 Fall Team Grade Point Averages

Program	Fall GPA	Overall GPA
Women’s Basketball	3.229	3.271
Women’s Golf	3.438	3.261
Baseball	3.281	3.251
Volleyball	3.190	3.216
Men’s Golf	3.013	3.133
Softball	2.967	3.079
Men’s Tennis	3.116	3.074
Women’s Tennis	3.054	3.054
Women’s Track & Field	3.070	3.031
Men’s Basketball	3.054	3.022
Men’s Track & Field	2.964	2.959
Department Total	3.125	3.123

— #BuckEm —

FOLLOW THE MAVS SOCIALLY
For up-to-date news, photos and videos, follow UTA Athletics online at UTAMavs.com or via several social media accounts on X @UTAMavs, Instagram @UTAMavs and Facebook /UTAMavs.

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Sports

Volleyball’s Ryan Windisch Promoted to Associate Head Coach

Published

1 hour ago

January 8, 2026

Your Sports Nation

TUCSON, Ariz. – Ryan Windisch has been promoted to Associate Head Coach of Arizona Volleyball after three years on staff as an assistant coach, head coach Charita Stubbs announced on Thursday.

“I am thrilled to announce Ryan’s promotion to Associate Head Coach,” Stubbs said. “He has been on my staff since the beginning and is extremely knowledgeable about the game of volleyball which has helped our program grow over the past three years. I am thankful to have him on staff and look forward to seeing him continue to grow with our program.”

Windisch, who coached the defensive specialists and setters in the 2025 season, helped the team reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018 and finish sixth place in the Big 12. In 2025, he helped the defense total 1,632 digs and average 14.57 digs per set. Windisch also helped Arizona’s setter rank second in the Big 12 with 10.63 assists per set during the 2025 season.

In Windisch’s second year on staff, the Wildcats won the 2024 NIVC Championship with a 24-9 overall record. Windisch helped the defense record 1,849 digs which ranked 10th in program history for digs in a single season. During his three years on staff, Windisch has coached AVCA All-American Jordan Wilson and six All-Conference performers.

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