Sports

Mize gets title; Indians thirds

Randy LefkoSports Editor LAKELAND – Keystone Heights High’s 119 weightlifter Elijah Mize was not a returning district or region or state weightlifter, but the sinewy powerhouse took to his weight group with a vengeance and came away with a Traditional state title at the Class 1A weightlifting championships in Lakeland on Saturday. “I wasn’t a […]

Published

4 months ago

April 17, 2025

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Randy Lefko
Sports Editor

LAKELAND – Keystone Heights High’s 119 weightlifter Elijah Mize was not a returning district or region or state weightlifter, but the sinewy powerhouse took to his weight group with a vengeance and came away with a Traditional state title at the Class 1A weightlifting championships in Lakeland on Saturday.

“I wasn’t a big part of the team last year, but something clicked in the past year and here I am,” said Mize, who waged a battle to tie with Imagine School’s Angel Vazquez to finish with a 400 pound total after two hours of battle to have his journey come down to a wait and see final lift by Vazquez.

“We just kept lifting, not saying much, but watching closely,” said Mize. “I’ve never been in a tight battle like this and tried to just stay in my own game.”

After clean and jerks of 155 and 175, Mize missed at 190 after Vazques rolled into a plus 20 pound lead with lifts of 185, 190 and 195.

“He wasn’t missing,” said Mize. “I had to make up pounds somewhere and took a shot at my second bench press.”

In the bench, which with the Clean and Jerk and Bench Press added to together for the Traditional score, Mize put up a 210 first lift to Vazquez’ 195.

“I wanted to see what his reaction would be knowing I had better bench press lifts still in me,” said Mize, who won his region title with a 240 final bench press.

Knowing he only made up 15 of the 20 pounds of his gap from the Clean and Jerk, Mize went big and jumped to 225 for his second lift and got his green lights for good. Vazquez hit at 205 to leave the duo tied at at 400 total.

Both lifters missed in their final lifts; 245 for Mize, 210 for Vazquez with Mize, weighing in at 115.90 pounds earning the gold with Vazquez at 117.10.

“We knew it would be close and we also knew he was lighter,” said Keystone Heights coach Steve Reynolds, who finished with two third place finishes for the Indians, who were chasing a return to the state title podium from a few years ago. “We needed everyone to hit all three lifts in their weight classes and we came up short.”

In the team scores, Fort White won in Olympics with 24 points with Williston second at 16 and Keystone Heights third at 13.

In Traditional, Fort White won again with 27 points with Baker High seocnd at 20 and Keystone Heights third again with 13.

“I have said before that the smaller schools in this area and in south Florida have a little bit of an advantage of getting better as coaches are getting better and smarter at perfecting the techniques of their lifters each year,” said Reynolds. “At regions, Fort White was third with us second and West Nassau first in Traditional. In Olympics, we won with Williston second and Fort White third. It is just a matter of being on on the day at state.”

In Olympics, Mize finished fourth with Vazquez winning the outright title with a 345 total. Mize totaled 310.

For the Indians, in Olympics, Colton Hollingsworth was third in Olympics with Aiden Nobles 10th, both at 129; Clark Byrnes was seventh at 154; Layton Wright was fifth at 169; Kyle Perkins was eighth at 199; Logan Madden-Moore was eighth at 219; Brayden Wester and Pete Bostic were ninth and 10th at 238 and Jackson Herman was third at Unlimited.

In Traditional, Keystone Heights had Dylan Currington, eighth at 119; Hollingsworth second at 129; Jagger Lancaster eighth at 154; Damien Dunlap 10th at 154; Zane Leger sixth at 199; Perkins eighth at 199; Trase Wooden ninth at 219; and Wester seventh at 238.

119: Elijah Mize KHHS (310 total Olympics, 400 total Traditional), Dylan Currington KHHS (290 total Olympics, 345 total Traditional)

129: Colton Hollingsworth KHHS (355 total Olympics, 425 total Traditional), Aiden Nobles KHHS (300 total Olympics, 325 total Traditional)

154: Damien Dunlap KHHS (460 total Traditional), Jagger Lancaster KHHS (460 total Traditional)

169: Layton Wright KHHS (425 total Olympics, 485 total Traditional)

199: Kyle Perkins KHHS (480 total Olympics, 565 total Traditional), Zane Leger KHHS (460 total Olympics, 565 total Traditional)

219: Trase Wooden KHHS (445 total Olympics, 530 total Traditional), Logan Madden-Moore KHHS (450 total Olympics)

238: Brayden Wester KHHS (465 total Olympics, 585 total Traditional), Pete Bostic KHHS (440 total Olympics, 525 total Traditional)

UNL: Jackson Herman KHHS (525 total Olympics, 595 total Traditional)

Related Topics:big coach green group matter Olympics sports team weightlifting white

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Hubert Kós Claims 200m Backstroke Gold with Record-Breaking Swim

Hubert Kós (m), Pieter Coetze (l), and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (r) Hungarian swimmer sets new European benchmark in 200m backstroke at Singapore World Aquatics Championships. Hungary’s Hubert Kós surged to gold in the men’s 200-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships on Friday, delivering a stunning performance that shattered the European record and reaffirmed his place […]

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3 minutes ago

August 2, 2025

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Hubert Kós (m), Pieter Coetze (l), and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (r)

Hungarian swimmer sets new European benchmark in 200m backstroke at Singapore World Aquatics Championships.

Hungary’s Hubert Kós surged to gold in the men’s 200-meter backstroke at the World Aquatics Championships on Friday, delivering a stunning performance that shattered the European record and reaffirmed his place among the sport’s elite.

The 22-year-old Olympic champion touched the wall in 1:53.19, slicing nearly a full second off his previous Hungarian record (1:54.14) and breaking the 2021 European record of 1:53.23, previously held by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov.

Kós entered the final as the third-fastest qualifier, having clocked 1:54.64 in the semifinals. Remarkably, just an hour before that race on Thursday, he had clinched bronze in the 200m individual medley—a testament to his resilience and stamina.

Hubert Kós in Singapore. (Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor)

The final, held exactly one year to the day after the 2024 Paris Olympics 200m backstroke showdown, featured several returning swimmers from that Olympic field. With five personal bests set in the semifinals, expectations were high for a fiercely contested final.

South Africa’s Peter Coetze, fresh off a victory in the 100m backstroke, led the early pace. But Kós stayed close, executing a powerful final turn to emerge ahead at the last 50 meters.

For a fleeting moment, he was even on pace to challenge Aaron Peirsol’s longstanding world record of 1:51.92.

Though the world mark remained untouched, Kós’s performance was enough to hold off the charging Coetze and rewrite the European record books.

This victory marks Hungary’s 36th gold medal in the history of the swimming world championships, and Kós’s second medal in Singapore following his medley bronze. His triumph cements Hungary’s continued presence on the global swimming stage and signals even greater promise as the 2028 Olympic cycle begins.

Dávid Bethlehem Tops Global Rankings in Open Water Swimming

The 21-year-old athlete improved his previous position by four places.Continue reading

Via MTI; Featured image: MTI/Illyés Tibor

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JUDGE: SFA must temporarily reinstate women’s golf, bowling and beach volleyball

The injunction allows for the sports to participate in the 2025-26 seasons, while a final decision waits in the future. NACOGDOCHES, Texas — CBS19 has confirmed with sources a judge has granted an injunction, forcing Stephen F. Austin State University to temporarily reinstate women’s golf, bowling and beach volleyball. The injunction allows for the sports […]

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26 minutes ago

August 2, 2025

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The injunction allows for the sports to participate in the 2025-26 seasons, while a final decision waits in the future.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — CBS19 has confirmed with sources a judge has granted an injunction, forcing Stephen F. Austin State University to temporarily reinstate women’s golf, bowling and beach volleyball.

The injunction allows for the sports to participate in the 2025-26 seasons, while a final decision waits in the future.

On Jan. 17, SFA announced its upcoming beach volleyball schedule — just months after the team wrapped up the most successful season in school history. But 125 days later, those same athletes were told they’d never play for SFA again.

Players like Sophia Myers had just returned home for summer break when they received a surprising message.

“I got up and. There was a message at 8:15 in the morning from our compliance saying, hey, mandatory Zoom call at one. And so everybody in our group chat is texting like, ‘what do you guys think this is? Just kind of waiting from eight in the morning till 1 p.m. was just kind of — it was torture, honestly.”

During that Zoom call, the team was blindsided: SFA was cutting the beach volleyball program.

Hours later, the university released a public statement: men’s and women’s golf, women’s beach volleyball, and even the two-time national champion women’s bowling team were all being eliminated.

“We even had girls who had committed two days before to our school, to our team, and they’re sitting in on the Zoom call. And it was just kind of like, ‘hey guys, thanks for joining.’ And then they just dumped probably the worst news we could have heard about our program on us,” Myers said. “It was just me, my teammates, and our head coach and our assistant coach, and she asked us, ‘does anybody have anything to say,’ and everybody was just in tears crying.

Myers recalled being mad and frustrated. She asked how is this allowed under Title IX?

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education or athletic program receiving federal funds.

This is where Arthur Bryant, a longtime civil rights attorney, came in. Myers and five other athletes turned to him to fight for their teams.

On June 30, the athletes filed a federal lawsuit claiming sex-based discrimination and seeking to stop SFA from eliminating the women’s beach volleyball, bowling and golf teams.

“Well, we have two goals with this lawsuit. The first is to immediately stop the elimination of these teams, but the larger and even bigger, more important goal is to get SFA to comply with the law and treat women and men equally when it comes to participation opportunities going forward, ” Bryant said.

Bryant’s team says they have uncovered more than a decade of Title IX noncompliance at SFA.

Under Title IX, athletic opportunities must reflect student body demographics. SFA’s undergraduate population is 63% female.

Before the cuts, women made up just 47% of the athletic program. After the cuts, the women’s sports make up 42%.

“That’s way off. It’s mass sex discrimination. To actually get in compliance with Title IX, SFA would have to add over 200 opportunities for women to play sports,” Bryant said.

Instead, Bryant’s team says SFA has cut every women’s sport added since 2003. The only men’s sport added in that time —baseball — is still active.

The university cited budget issues and looming revenue-sharing rules in Division I sports as reasons for the cuts.

“You can’t discriminate against women to make money,” Bryant said. “You can’t discriminate against women to avoid losing money. You can’t avoid discriminating against women because some people would rather support men’s sports or watch men’s sports than women’s sports. Doesn’t matter.”

The university promised to honor athletic scholarships for affected athletes, but Myers wasn’t on scholarship. As a walk-on, she now relies solely on academic aid.

“You’re going to walk on, and we’ll be able to give you money later, is what the coach told me,” Myers said.

The school is also allowing these athletes to transfer, but changing colors just isn’t as easy as walking through the portal, especially for athletes like bowling, whose transfer portal had already closed.

“We had only a couple of days to get ourselves in the portal and start communicating with coaches, essentially. And I only had one school in mind, and unfortunately, that school had already filled all their spots because the portal had already been open for some time,” Myers said. “So it made things extremely difficult, and also, not to mention, if I wanted to transfer, there would be a good bit of my credits of school that wouldn’t transfer over.”

Bryant noted that normally schools would notify athletes of much sooner than SFA, such as the beginning of the school year rather than the end.

“SFA announced at the very end of the year when people had already put down money for housing for next year, when they’ve put things in storage, when they’ve left and gone out of the state, when clients have gone, miles and miles and miles away,” Bryant said. “It couldn’t have been worse just how it affected these young women and the men and the team that was eliminated. Just the way it was handled was truly disturbing.”

Despite all this, every woman involved in the lawsuit has decided to stay at SFA. Their legal team has filed for a preliminary injunction, hoping the court will reverse the cuts immediately so the teams can have and prepare for a season.

“Beach volleyball isn’t something that you can just hop into,” Myers said. “It’s a very physical sport, and it takes a lot of endurance, and you can’t just stop playing and then show up in August and say, ‘hey, I’m on the team.’”

And compete in the sport these women love.

“It is really hard to accept and swallow. Honestly, I just — I have no words when I talk about it, because it does affect me, and I know volleyball isn’t forever, and that’s why I chose a school like SFA, so that I could do academics along with it. But it’s like, these are my last four years to finish my sport and, like, be done and come to terms with that. But not knowing it was my last season, and not knowing that was my last time with my teammates is just really — it’s just so sad,” she said.

When asked for comment on the lawsuit, SFA released the following statement, “The university takes its Title IX obligations seriously and is prepared to respond through the legal process. As this is an ongoing legal matter, the university will not comment further at this time.”

Bryant said he strongly believes they’re going to win this case.

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Judge rules against Stephen F. Austin in Title IX case

A gender discrimination lawsuit against Stephen F. Austin State University could have national implications after U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale ordered SFA to reinstate three women’s sports teams Friday, Aug. 1. Six Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) athletes from the women’s bowling and beach volleyball teams filed a class action lawsuit in the […]

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44 minutes ago

August 2, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Six Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) athletes from the women’s bowling and beach volleyball teams filed a class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against their school this summer claiming Title IX discrimination after the university announced in May it would be cutting those two programs and men’s and women’s golf effective the end of the 2024-25 academic year. “The decision was based on sustained departmental budget deficits and the anticipated financial impact of upcoming revenue-sharing requirements with Division I athletes” SFA athletics said in a press release.

The plaintiffs sought to keep the school from axing these programs.

SFA argued that the plaintiffs’ case is based “exclusively on a three-part test contained in guidance and interpretation documents,” rather than the Title IX statute itself. Defendant lawyers urged the court to disregard the policy interpretation handed down by the U.S. Department of Education 46 years ago, citing the 2024 Supreme Court ruling Loper-Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. If the court declined, however, defendant lawyers claimed SFA still complies with Title IX under the 1979 guidance.

After two days in court, spanning 17 hours and 14 witnesses, Judge Truncale issued a written ruling in favor of the plaintiffs. SFA has been ordered to reinstate all three women’s teams. Truncale affirmed that the Loper-Bright case cannot be applied to Title IX in what plaintiff attorney John Clune called an “incredibly important” win for gender equity in sports.

“If a court were to find that Loper-Bright meant that the Department of Education was not allowed to rely on policy interpretations of their own regulations, the entire framework for compliance with gender equity in sports would be thrown out the window,” Clune told USA TODAY. “You’d still be required to have gender equity in sports, but what that means and how you decided would no longer exist.

“… Really happy about the ruling, but we’re not surprised by the ruling. If you follow the law, this is what the outcome should be.”

SFA has 30 days to file an appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to federal rules of appellate procedure. Spokespersons for the athletic department and university did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Should SFA file an appeal, it would likely seek expedited or emergency treatment of this appeal, as fall classes begin Aug. 25.

What is the three-part test?

Under the Department of Education’s three-part test, a school can be in compliance with the participation aspects of Title IX in any one of the following ways:

The number of male and female athletes is substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments; or
The institution has a history and continuing practice of expanding participation opportunities responsive to the developing interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex; or
The institution is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.

The plaintiffs in this case argued that SFA violated all three prongs. The plaintiffs filed a report by former chief executive officer of the Women’s Sports Foundation, expert witness Donna Lopiano, Ph.D., to prove such. Using EADA data and annual NCAA participation reports, Lopiano wrote that women made up 62.8% of SFA’s enrollment during the 2023-24 academic year but less than 35% of SFA’s varsity athletes.

SFA cited the 2024 Supreme Court ruling Loper-Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo in an effort to have the three-part test thrown out. The Supreme Court’s decision made in favor of Loper-Bright overturned a 40-year precedent known as “the Chevron doctrine” directing courts to defer to government agency interpretations of “ambiguous” laws. But Judge Truncale wrote in his decision that Loper-Bright is about an agency’s interpretation of a statute, not an agency’s interpretation of its own regulation. He also wrote that Loper-Bright does not overturn any case law that previously interpreted policy. Thus, it does not apply to Title IX’s 1979 policy interpretation.

Breaking down the Title IX lawsuit against Stephen F. Austin State University

Sophia Myers, Kara Kay, Ryann Allison, Elaina Amador, Berklee Andrews and Meagan Ledbetter filed a class action lawsuit on June 30 against Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) after it announced the elimination of women’s beach volleyball, women’s bowling and men’s and women’s golf on May 22. The six plaintiffs, represented by renowned Title IX attorneys Clune and Arthur Bryant, are current athletes on the women’s beach volleyball and bowling teams.

They argued that the university violated Title IX by depriving them of equal opportunity in intercollegiate athletics and sought an emergency preliminary injunction to preserve the three women’s programs “and all other women’s teams at SFA, until this case is resolved.”

“Title IX mandates that schools provide equal participation opportunities for men and women to compete in intercollegiate sports,” the initial complaint read. “Nonetheless, SFA has a long history of depriving female athletes of an equal opportunity to participate. Consistent with that history, SFA opted to further discriminate against women in violation of Title IX by eliminating three successful women’s teams: beach volleyball, bowling, and golf. SFA’s decision undercuts Plaintiffs’ civil rights and, if permitted to move forward, will irreparably harm their academic and athletic careers.”

SFA, represented by Marlayna Marie Ellis and Sheaffer Kristine Fennessey of the attorney general’s office, argued that the plaintiff’s case is based “exclusively on a three-part test contained in guidance and interpretation documents, rather than the statute or 1975 implementing regulation.” Defendant lawyers urged the court to disregard the three-part test but affirmed that SFA is Title IX compliant regardless, citing the test’s first and third prongs.

The first prong requires “the number of male and female athletes is substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments.” The third requires “the institution is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.” Defendant lawyers claimed there is “no strict rule” defining “substantially proportionate,” and that SFA “effectively accommodates the interest and abilities of women, despite the discontinuation of the women’s beach volleyball, bowling, and golf teams.”

Financial pressure from House settlement not valid defense for cutting women’s sports

SFA opted into the House settlement, where schools are able to pay athletes directly starting this athletic year with a $20.5 million cap per institution. These new financial pressures are why athletic director Michael McBroom said the decision to cut teams was made.

The athletic department reported a $1 million surplus during the 2024 fiscal year, with about $24 million in institutional support out of $28.8 million in total operating revenue. In FY2023, SFA reported a $61,000 deficit, with $19.4 million in institutional support. And in FY2022, SFA reported a $275,000 deficit, with $17.7 million institutional support.

Plaintiffs argued, successfully, that “budgetary constraints are not a legitimate defense to Title IX.”

“The funding of those revenue-sharing payments for football players and men’s basketball absolutely cannot come at the expense of women’s sports,” Clune said. “So this is a huge message to schools across the country. Whatever you have to do to figure out how you’re going to fund your revenue-sharing payments, it’s not going to come at the expense of women’s opportunities to participate in sports. That’s a big deal.”

Reach USA Today Network sports reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

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Lane Kiffin’s daughter Presley flexes USC-gold bikini for beach volleyball tradition

Lane Kiffin’s youngest daughter Presley Kiffin just flexed her official USC Trojans volleyball uniform. Now, she flexed a USC gold bikini for a big Manhattan Beach, California tradition. The Ole Miss Rebels coach’s 18-year-old daughter Presley just graduated high school in Southern California after playing in the powder puff girls football game. Dad even came […]

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1 hour ago

August 2, 2025

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Lane Kiffin’s youngest daughter Presley Kiffin just flexed her official USC Trojans volleyball uniform. Now, she flexed a USC gold bikini for a big Manhattan Beach, California tradition.

The Ole Miss Rebels coach’s 18-year-old daughter Presley just graduated high school in Southern California after playing in the powder puff girls football game. Dad even came to graduation in his favorite Ole Miss blazer.

Presley just had a beach hang with mom Layla Kiffin on Fourth of July before the two part ways when she goes to college and the reconciled wife of Lane Kiffin heads to be with dad and Presley’s sister Landry, 20, and Knox, 16, in Oxford Mississippi.

RELATED: Lane Kiffin shares sweet moment with reconciled wife Layla before Ole Miss season

Presley Kiffin and Layla Kiffin / Lane Kiffin/Instagram

On Friday, Presley was mom again for the big annual Charlie Saikley 6-Man Beach Volleyball Tournament in Manhattan beach where it’s quite the scene. Presley and friends hit the “Sixer” in USC gold colored bikinis.

RELATED: USC-bound Lane Kiffin daughter Presley and volleyball co-eds rock pickleball fits

Presley (second from right) / Presley Kiffin/Instagram

Mom Layla posted video of her playing as well.

Layla Kiffin/Instagram

Presley will soon be trading in the sand for the hardwood as a Trojans freshman volleyball player in the class of 2025.

There are now two Kiffins to root for in college athletics.

Presley Kiffin (left) and USC teammates / Layla Kiffin/Instagram

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Rosters Announced For USA Water Polo Futures Cadet & Youth Training Trips

Story Links Irvine, CA – August 1 – A host of rosters have been announced for current and upcoming USA Water Polo Futures training trips for athletes at the Youth and Cadet level. Congratulations to all the athletes and coaching staff selected. Futures Youth Boys – Athens, Greece Adam Afar Ryder […]

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1 hour ago

August 2, 2025

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Irvine, CA – August 1 – A host of rosters have been announced for current and upcoming USA Water Polo Futures training trips for athletes at the Youth and Cadet level. Congratulations to all the athletes and coaching staff selected.

Futures Youth Boys – Athens, Greece

Adam Afar

Ryder Bjork

Jasper Feldman

Tanner Gorman

Caden Keene

Caleb Kulak

Jack Lansing

Calvin Lubsen

Cade O’Hare

Lucas Pearce

Salvatore Recca V

Mason Tunney

Neveh Yechiely

Cutter Leach

Nicholas Austen

Staff

Austin Ringham

Staurt Sokil

Apostolos Karagiannis

Lesly Brown

Bryan Lynton

Futures Cadet Boys – Athens, Greece

Lincoln Bott

Asher Chemerinski

Arda DeMiryurek

Dane Fishback

Ren Fujikake

Zane Kieckhafer

Austin Miller

William Mills

Walter Mundt

Jack Wieman

Henry Gorsche

Wyatt Warkentin

Mark Stoneham

Baron Ounjian

Mattias Purcell

Staff

James Staresinic

Luke Chandler

Caleb Terzich

Futures Youth Girls – Budapest, Hungary

Ellison Brush

Isabella Jurgensen

Margaret Ryan

Natalie Whitfield

Delaney Hook

Mia Fabros

Julia Gustafsson

Quinn Arroyo

Eden Coughran

Kiernan Hogan

Eve Webb

Bethany King

Christina Flynn

Sydney-Anne Kring

Lily Holloway

Staff

Melissa Seidemann

Douglas Eichstaedt

James Collie iii

Lyric Soto

Jacob Melger

Futures Cadet Girls – Budapest, Hungary

Juliana Horton

Gia Jacob

Siena Doble

Natalie Arata

Catherine Bambury

Abigail Billish

Blake Hofley

Isabella Masdiaz

Amaya Dresevic

Louise Walls

Eva Johnson

Paige Segesman

Taytum Banda

Teodora Diaconu

Gianna Adams

Joslyn Cox

Staff

Brenda Villa

Gina Castagnola

Christopher Vidale

Alyssa Diacono

Regional Youth Boys – Belgrade, Serbia

Pierce Bateman

Brendan Bogansky

Asher Brunner

Dane Fox

Oliver Geheb

Landon Heuer

Julius Hoxaj

Jack Lindberg

Dylan McManus

Daniel Mirejovsky

Thomas Singleton

Nicholas Zimmerman

Samuel Eastaugh

Robert Norell

Staff

Petar Momolovich

Benjamin Hoffschneider

Regional Cadet Boys – Belgrade, Serbia

Anthony Albus

Ethan Allen

Colton Coney

Koanui Keaulana

Lucas Levy

Filip Malezanov

James McRae

Tabari Morgan

Atirau Morton

Mason Nordquist

Joan Prats

Martin Robredo

Cole Sharp

Luke Welton

Staff

Joseph Molina

Trevor Campbell

Marko Dzigurski

Regional Youth Girls – Belgrade, Serbia

Ruth Garcia

Kaileilani Harvey

Kaylani Zhang

Courtney Smith

Katherine McCullough

Kamryn Sallas

Isabella Recker

Ellyssa Brandt

Cecilia Elena Caligiuri

Maile Farden

Staff

Nicholas Alexander-Frosig

Farrah Kunkel

La’akea Dedrick Gum

Emily Blackwell

Regional Cadet Girls – Belgrade, Serbia

Logan Davidson

Skylar Flowers

Emily Jensen

Hana Kulasic

Leihiwa McElheny

Margaux Purcell

Harper Rich

Amanda Myott

Samantha Maldonado

Leonna Castro

Emma Daniel

Matilda Ogle

Eleanor Kriplen

Kathleen McCarthy

Staff

Kirby Kaptur

Courtney Johnson

Emily Blackwell

Robert Juhas

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Ukrainian Duo Reaches Quarterfinals at 2025 European Beach Volleyball Championship | Ukraine news

A landmark event took place in the history of Ukrainian beach volleyball: the pair Tetiana Lazarenko and Maryna Hladun reached the quarterfinals of the Women’s European Championship for the first time, defeating the German duo Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann in the round of 16 match. At this tournament, Ukraine was represented by three pairs: […]

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2 hours ago

August 2, 2025

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At this tournament, Ukraine was represented by three pairs: Lazarenko/Hladun, Yeva Serdiuk/Daria Romaniuk, and Valentyna Davydova/Angelina Khmil. After the group stage, two Ukrainian duos advanced to the playoffs – Lazarenko with Hladun and Davydova with Khmil.

In the round of 16, Lazarenko and Hladun were the first to take the court, facing the German athletes Linda Bock and Louisa Lippmann, who are ranked 54th in the world. The Ukrainians lost the first set 16-21, despite having an early lead. However, in the second set, they managed to turn the game around, winning 21-19.

In the deciding set, trailing 2-5, the Ukrainians made an impressive comeback and finished the match with a score of 15-10, which allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals of the Women’s Euro 2025.

This result is the best ever for Ukraine in the history of women’s beach volleyball at the European Championships. Previously, the highest achievement was reaching the round of 16, which Lazarenko and Hladun also accomplished in 2024. At the previous championship, the Ukrainians won their group but were eliminated in the first playoff round.

Among men, the best result is the bronze medals won in 2023 by the duo of Serhii Popov and Eduard Reznik.

UPDATED: In the round of 16, the pair Valentyna Davydova/Angelina Khmil also competed, facing the two-time European champions from Latvia, Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova. The first set ended with a loss for the Ukrainians 25-27, they won the second 21-16, but in the deciding set they failed to convert five match points and lost 18-20.

Thus, only one Ukrainian pair – Hladun and Lazarenko – will compete in the quarterfinals of Euro 2025 in beach volleyball. Their opponents will be the Dutch Mila Kenink and Raisa Schoon. The match is scheduled for Friday, August 1, at 16:00 Kyiv time.

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