During much of the last three sets, if you closed your eyes for a moment, you could almost forget you were in Lexington.
Against an upper-tier Minutemen group riding a 10-game win streak at the end of April, the Milford boys volleyball team transformed the small gym into a home away from home. The junior varsity squad’s booming cheers from the bleachers ignited the bench, who echoed every holler in a regular season matchup with a state quarterfinal feel. And on the court, super-charged junior outside hitter Gus Da Silva traded hits with Lexington’s Ale Luciani in a five-set thriller Milford lost by just two points.
Lexington ranks at No. 5 in the latest Div. 1 power rankings, with the state tournament almost a week away. It’s drawn praise as the leading candidate to break up the Bay State Conference’s grip on the Final Four.
The Scarlet Hawks, with Da Silva as their only returning starter from a trip to the state semifinals last year, rank No. 22.
“That game really showed us how good we are defensively and how good we can be,” Da Silva said. “The hype-ness, especially from our JV team and freshman team, if it wasn’t for them, I think we would’ve struggled a lot. They really boosted us as a team and our energy just skyrocketed. I think that’s what really pushed us that game. It was a good game. It felt like a home game, I can’t lie.”
Milford has a history of tenacity in numbers, wearing hearts on sleeves and producing a storm of energy that’s hard for opponents to bottle up. Last year’s senior-laden group, led by stars Alex Guerra and Arthur Gomes, showed a strong, team-wide friendship at the heart of it every day with Da Silva – a culture the junior focuses on maintaining this year.
To Scarlet Hawks head coach Andrew Mainini, that’s Da Silva’s superpower, outside of his talents as one of the state’s better outside hitters. And when Milford competes with Lexington, or beats a Cambridge (ranked No. 6) in five sets, or leads sets against Div. 1 and Div. 2 powerhouses Newton North and Agawam, that unity shines bright.
“I think off of the court, he is someone that the entire team likes, and he makes them laugh, and he brings the team together socially,” Mainini said. “The way he interacts with his teammates is really positive, and that has really brought the team – a pretty inexperienced team that was very new to each other – he has really brought the team together. And when we play defense, we often look like a well-oiled machine with a lot of chemistry. And I think that is partially because Gus has kind of united everyone as friends.”
“I want to be like a team that has a lot of chemistry and enjoys playing with each other, no hatred,” Da Silva added. “You know, that’s my focus. … We’re always hanging out. We’re always eating lunch (together). After practices or games, we’re always like together, you know, bonding as a team. So, that’s our primary goal, is just being together. When we’re at our low, we stay together, and when we’re achieving, everyone’s supporting each other.”
There’s a lot to Da Silva’s game that makes him a player to watch. Newton North and Lexington struggled at times to disrupt his hitting, which Mainini says comes from a dynamic swing that produces at the toughest of angles. The team is strong with its serve-receive, of which Da Silva is one of its best at. He’s been a standout passer.
When asked of those contributions when Milford is at its best, Da Silva points to the team. But when the Scarlet Hawks struggle, which has come in waves in an 11-8 record, the junior feels responsible for it.
“I have to take, like, the blame for it,” Da Silva said. “Everyone looks up to me, so I have to be a great role model to everyone. And sometimes I don’t do that. But I’m trying to keep myself at a very high standard for the most part.”
Milford, which has high expectations for what it can do in the state tournament despite its ranking, has shown more positives than negatives.
Milford High’s Gus Da Silva, a junior, works on his game during practice this week. He’s one of the state’s best outside hitters. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
An upset loss to Taunton to share the new Hockomock League title with it was something Mainini felt Da Silva took pretty harshly. A 3-0 loss to Acton-Boxboro earlier in the week was frustrating, too. But in the first two sets, Milford was seemingly full control.
Against Newton North, which eventually lost top outside hitter Simon Vardeh to injury late in the third set, Milford led or competed well into at least the middle of all four sets in a 3-1 loss. Agawam is Div. 2’s leading title favorite, and Milford led in sets against it as well. The five-set win over Cambridge was a match Da Silva especially thrived in.
“I think when we play our best,” Mainini said. “it’s because (Da Silva) is, you know, bringing the team together and pushing them forward.”
Consistency is the key, and Da Silva has worked hard on his leadership to limit the low moments. Da Silva admits the pressure he feels with jumping from a role player last year to a central leader this year, a pressure that’s been both enjoyable and difficult. But he’s taking it in stride, and is focused on guiding the Scarlet Hawks as they look to improve their close-outs to sets.
“We’re really playing well until that closing moment (in the losses),” he said. “We just need to sense a little bit of blood, and athletes close the game every time. … Really it’s just working harder every day.”
Passion for the sport comes almost naturally for Da Silva, who dropped other sports to focus on volleyball and work as a barber. He plays for Smash volleyball in the offseason, and has made friendships and improved there, too.
“(Volleyball) means a lot (to me),” Da Silva said. “It’s like, my safe space, in a way. It brings me closer to my friends. It’s like, really calming and it’s just peaceful, you know?”
Milford High’s Gus Da Silva, a junior boys volleyball star, is driven to be the best teammate he can be. (Libby O’Neill/Boston Herald)
With those friends, he’s looking forward to making some noise in the state tournament. The whole team – bolstered by junior Diego Inacio-Santos, sophomore Sam Abreu and a well-balanced defense – is too.
“We’re ready, and we’re excited to potentially be the underdog who gets a couple upsets in the tournament,” Mainini said. “We know that we are more talented than a (22) seed.”
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Just two days after winning a national championship, Jamie Morrison and Aggie volleyball announced the signing of two Division One transfers.
Texas A&M added graduate transfer and All-American Natalie Ring from Marquette and Ohio State’s Kaia Castle.
Volleyball is one of six revenue-sharing sports at Texas A&M, and following the national title match, Morrison acknowledged the university’s financial commitment to recruiting.
“Our administration’s really stepped up and said, hey, we really want you to be competitive on the national landscape. And I couldn’t be more grateful for that,” Morrison said.
Ring led the Golden Eagles to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and landed on the All-America third team. She was also named a unanimous All-Big East selection. She had a career-high 29 kills in a close loss to No. 2 Louisville in the NCAA Tournament.
The Madison, Wisconsin native ranked No. 16 in the nation with 4.60 kills per set.
“We are excited to add Natalie to our Aggie family here in Aggieland,” Morrison said. “She brings a wealth of experience as a well-rounded outside hitter and is a relentless competitor who consistently raised her level against the best competition. The 12th Man is going to love her fire, spirit and the way she plays the game.”
Castle is a redshirt sophomore and averaged 1.94 kills per set as a middle blocker.
“We value speed at the middle blocker position and it’s rare to see someone with Kaia’s length who can move the way she does,” Morrison said. “Beyond the physical tools, she is an incredible human. I truly enjoyed every part of the recruiting process with Kaia and can’t wait to have her here in Aggieland.”
Castle recorded 91 blocks this year for the Buckeyes and broke the program’s single-match block record with 15 against Troy.
The Aggies were quick to get to work on building for next season and remaining at the top of the college volleyball landscape.
“We’re going to sit down, and we’re going to enjoy this as much as we possibly can,” Morrison said. “And then we’re going to get to work and go do it again.”
Seventeen Lake Orion High School student-athletes signed national letters of intent on Dec. 17 to their sports careers at the collegiate level. Photo by Joseph Goral
ORION TWP. — Seventeen senior athletes signed letters of intent at Lake Orion High School on Dec. 17 to play sports at the collegiate level.
The athletes represent eight sports – swimming, lacrosse, soccer, football, baseball, cross country, dance and track and field.
“Congratulations to all of you on joining a small group of high school athletes around the country that get the opportunity to pursue their athletic careers while pursuing their education,” LOHS Athletic Director Chris Bell said.
Several coaches joined Bell to introduce the athletes honored last week
Swimming
Briana Hernandez will swim for Wayne State University where she plans to study biochemistry or chemical biology. Hernandez scored a team-leading 218 points this season, finished first 11 times, was a key member of LOHS’s state team, and is fourth all time in school history for the 50-meter freestyle event.
Samantha O’Kronley (left) and Leo Cassell sign letters of intent on Dec. 17 to play college sports. Photos by Joseph Goral
Maddox LaMothe will continue his swimming career at St. Olaf College in Minnesota and study music education. LaMoth will be a sprint freestyle and breast stroke specialist at St. Olaf College. He has scored 149 points, finished first 12 times and is a league champion in the 100-meter breast stroke event at LOHS.
Lacrosse
JC McClung will play lacrosse at Saginaw Valley State University. McClung has been a varsity starter at Lake Orion since her sophomore year, scored 27 points during her junior year, and will be a captain during her senior season.
Brielle Coventry will play lacrosse at Lewis University in Illinois where she will study aviation administration. Coventry has also been a varsity player since her sophomore year, has scored 75 goals, and was named to the all-state third team in 2025 and to the all-OAA Red team.
Curtis Meech will continue his lacrosse career at Lake Erie College, and began playing lacrosse for Lake Orion Community schools 10 years ago. Head lacrosse coach Chris Wood said Meech is a vocal leader and a reliable, lead-by-example defender.
Maddox LaMothe (left) and Brooke Armstrong sign letters of intent to play college sports.
Quentin Rohlfing will play lacrosse for Kalamazoo College. In his three years playing LOHS lacrosse, Wood said Rohlfing established himself as a relentless competitor, a quick learner in the mid-field, and said Rohlfing is a hard-working individual.
Soccer
Brooke Armstrong will play soccer at Michigan Technological University where she will study biochemistry. Armstrong earned district and league honors during the spring and is a fierce competitor that LOHS is thankful to have on their team, head varsity coach Amanda Hutchinson said.
Lilly Brodoski will play soccer for Calvin University where she will study politics, philosophy and economics. She has been on LOHS’s soccer team since her freshman year, earned league honors her sophomore and junior years, along with the OAA Sportsmanship Award, and is a versatile player who can contribute in many positions on the field, Hutchinson said.
Seniors JC McClung (left) and Brielle Coventry are introduced on Dec. 17.
Football
Leo Cassell will play football at Alma College and study biology. A defensive and offensive lineman, Bell called Cassell a smart player who knows the game, and said he works hard, is unselfish, and was willing to play whatever role his team needed.
Brody Thompson will play football for Northwood University where he will pursue a business degree. Thompson predominantly played quarterback for the Dragons, is a threat running and throwing the football and won a leadership award last season, Bell said.
Alex Hensley will also play football at Northwood University. A starting inside linebacker, Bell described Hensley as an old-fashioned, Orion-tough physical football player. Hensley was also a captain last season, led the Dragons in tackles for the last two seasons and was selected to the all-league team and all-region first team this season.
Quentin Rohlfing (right) and Curtis Meech are introduced by boys varsity lacrosse head coach Chris Wood before a crowd at Lake Orion High School on Dec. 17.
Ryan Rocheleau will play football for Western Michigan University. Bell called Rocheleau the best tight end in Lake Orion History. Rocheleau caught 30 passes for more than 500 yards and five touchdowns, was selected to the all-league first team and all-region first team and was a team captain.
Baseball
Ozzie Schons will play baseball at Alpena Community College where he will study mathematics. Head varsity baseball coach Andy Schramek said Schons chose Alpena Community College for its culture.
Riley Bendle will play baseball at Kellogg Community College and pursue a career as a doctor. Schramek said Kellogg Community College will give Bendle the chance to develop as a player for two years before transferring to a university.
Dance
Samantha O’Kronley will dance at Alma College where she plans to study sports medicine. O’Kronley has been in Lake Orion’s dance program since seventh grade, and was described as always dependable and hardworking by a teammate.
Lilly Brodoski signs a letter of intent to play soccer for Calvin University.
Cross country and track and field
Max Houvener will be running cross country and competing in track and field at Oakland University. Houvener qualified for the state finals in the 3,200-meter relay his freshman year, and finished no lower than 10th in any race over the last two years, except for at the state finals, varsity coach Andrew McDonald said.
Mikaela Redman will be competing in track and field at Northwood University. McDonald called Redman a very versatile athlete, and a leader in the school’s track-and-field program for the last four years.
Mikaela Redman signs a letter of intent on Dec. 17 to compete in track and field at Northwood University.
Utah State women’s volleyball head coach Rob Neilson has been hired by BYU, ending his six-year tenure with the Aggies. BYU announced the hiring on social media Tuesday afternoon.
Neilson is an alum of BYU, having played for the Cougars’ men’s volleyball team from 2003-06 as a setter. He also spent 10 years as an assistant coach for the men’s team at BYU, even serving as its interim coach in 2011.
Utah State hired Neilson in 2020, following a 2019 season where the Aggies had gone a program-worst 2-28. USU went 5-10 in Neilson’s first season but then went on to win Mountain West titles in three straight seasons from 2021-24.
This season the Aggies not only won both the Mountain West regular season and conference tournament titles, they went undefeated in conference play and in the conference tournament, capping off what was ultimately a 22-game winning streak with a first-round upset victory in the NCAA Tournament against Tennessee.
Neilson ends his tenure at Utah State with an overall record of 112-59, winning three regular season Mountain West championships, two conference tournaments and winning MW Coach of the Year three times. He also took USU to four NCAA Tournaments with a record of 1-3 in those games.
In a statement, Utah State Director of Athletics Cam Walker expressed thanks to Neilson for his tenure.
“I am grateful for Rob’s leadership of our volleyball program, including multiple conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances,” Walker said. “The profile of Utah State volleyball has been elevated and we expect that standard to continue under new leadership. We will be efficient and aggressive in our pursuit of the next leader of Utah State volleyball and will begin an immediate national search.”
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida volleyball announced the addition of setter Bri Denney to the Gators’ 2026 roster.
After earning her BBA in business management from Baylor, Denney will join the program as a graduate transfer in spring 2026 and pursue her master’s in business entrepreneurship.
“In our search for a setter, Bri jumped off the page as the perfect fit for us,” said Florida Head Coach Ryan Theis. “She is a great teammate, great student with starting and coming off the bench experience in high level power 4 volleyball. We are excited to get her in the gym in January.”
“I chose the University of Florida because of the program’s history of national success, outstanding facilities and resources and the opportunity to compete in the SEC,” Denney said. “The coaching staff is exceptional and I’m excited to continue to grow as a student athlete and a person under their leadership. Campus is beautiful and I have the opportunity to be near my brother. It truly felt like the perfect fit. Grateful for this next chapter, go Gators!”
Denney is the fifth newcomer to join the Gators for the 2026 campaign. Florida previously signed incoming freshman opposite/outside hitter Nadi’ya Shelby and announced the addition of three transfers last week: outside hitter Kamryn “Kami” Chaney, middle blocker Brianna “Bri” Holladay and outside hitter Selena Leban.
Bri Denney
Position: Setter
Class: Graduate Student
Height: 6-0
Hometown: San Marcos, California
Previous Teams: Baylor
High School: Santa Fe Christian School
At Baylor Honors:
2023 Academic All-Big 12 First Team
2025 (Redshirt Junior): Played 50 sets across 15 matches with five starts … Opened the season with a career-high 31 assists in a 3-1 win over South Alabama (8/29) … Followed up with 29 assists in a 5-set win over No. 10 SMU (8/30) … Tallied 20 assists win a 3-1 road win at LSU (8/31) … Returned from injury to distribute 15 assists at No. 8 Arizona State (10/8) … Had 16 assists against No. 12 Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
2024 (Redshirt Sophomore): Traveled with the Bears and played in the Foreign Tour matches in Austria, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia in June 2024 … Came into the match against No. 22 TCU to set (10/6).
2023 (Sophomore): Saw action in three matches on the season … Played in two sets against No. 7 Minnesota in the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge … Played against No. 19 Ohio State … Saw action in one set against Stephen F. Austin … Did not see action for the rest of the season due to injury, redshirted.
2022 (Freshman): Her first season with the Bears … Dealt with injury for the first part of the season … Saw action in three sets across two matches.
High School: Bri grew up in San Diego, CA where she played volleyball since the age of 10 at Southern California’s top two clubs; Wave and Coast. She played on their 1s teams every year with the exception of 11s & 14s, when she played on the 2s. Her teams always played in the highest divisions at the USA National Championships, placing 1st in the National division on her 13-1s team and 5th in the Open division on her 15-1s team. Bri has been trained by top club coaches and was privileged to train closely in her high school years with Fiapo Guilherme Tenius, (7x Olympic medalist coach for Brazil, US & Canada). She graduated from Santa Fe Christian School in 2022. In high school, she was First Team All-League, won second place in Division I, named Varsity Invitational Classic All-Tournament Team, and was Team Captain… In 2019 she and her team finished third in the Coastal League and second in DI postseason; in 2021, they finished second in the league and sixth in DI Postseason … Bri was named National Honors Society, Principal’s Honor Roll, California Scholarship Federation Gold Seal Bearer and an Academic Letterwinner. In addition, she was a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes while dedicating a lot of her time to volunteering.
Personal: First name is Brianna but goes by “Bri” … Daughter of Monica and Robb Denney … Father, Robb, played rugby at the national level for the Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) on their Super League Team. She has one older brother, Colin, who played baseball at Biola University his freshman year, as a catcher, then graduated from Liberty University after transferring and is now an Investment Advisor in Tampa, FL.
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Gray’s Creek’s Taylor Baggett’s senior season was one for the record books.
The Bears’ outside hitter and defensive specialist capped her high school career with a dominant final season that helped Gray’s Creek get to put together a ground-breaking year as the first high school volleyball team in school and county history to make it to an NCHSAA Final Four.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – St. Olaf College recorded its second-highest-ever finish in the fall standings of the Learfield Directors’ Cup by placing 15th out of 429 NCAA Division III institutions, as the standings were announced on Tuesday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).
St. Olaf accumulated 241.0 points – its second-highest total ever in the fall – to rank 15th out of the 178 NCAA Division III institutions who earned points this fall. The initial release of the standings included all of the fall results except for the championship game of the NCAA Division III Football Championship. Neither of the institutions competing in the football title game can surpass St. Olaf regardless of the outcome of that game.
The Learfield Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based athletics program, awarding points based on each institution’s national finishes in the NCAA Championships. This fall, St. Olaf’s men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, and women’s volleyball teams contributed to St. Olaf’s point total.
Men’s soccer earned 83 points by advancing to the national semifinals for the second time in program history. Men’s cross country collected 63 points thanks to its 13th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Volleyball added 50 points with its second-round appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball Championship, while women’s cross country picked up 45 points after placing 29th nationally.
This year marked the sixth consecutive fall that St. Olaf has finished among the top 30 institutions in NCAA Division III, with the 15th-place finish being one spot shy of the t-14th finish in 1996-97 for the highest in school history. It was also St. Olaf’s sixth top-20 and eighth top-25 fall finish in the history of the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which first included NCAA Division III in 1995-96.
