Mizzou football hired Gaurav Verma as its director of football strategy and finance, the program announced Friday.
In his new role, Verma will oversee budget management, contract analysis and long-term strategic planning for the Tigers.
“We are really excited to add Gaurav to our program,” MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz said in a news release. “His NFL experience, as well as his business background, will help us navigate revenue sharing and contract management.”
Verma arrives with experience in college athletics and professional sports administration, most recently working as a salary cap specialist for the Denver Broncos.
“I’m thrilled to join Mizzou Football at such a transformative time,” Verma said. “With college football evolving rapidly through revenue sharing and strategic roster management, I’m excited to apply my background in finance and the NFL to help Mizzou build sustainably competitive teams on the sport’s biggest stage — the SEC.
“I want to thank Coach Drinkwitz for this opportunity and can’t wait to help build on the program’s success as we compete for national championships.”
Verma’s hiring comes as Mizzou continues to expand its off-field infrastructure under Drinkwitz, with an emphasis on operational efficiency and resource management.
Norfleet named to Mackey Award Watch List
Missouri junior tight end Brett Norfleet was named to the Mackey Award Watch List on Friday.
The John Mackey Award — which was won by former Mizzou standout Chase Coffman in 2008 — annually honors the nation’s top tight end.
Norfleet caught 18 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns in 2023 despite battling injuries late in the season. He was named a Freshman All-American and earned SEC All-Freshman honors.
In 2024, expectations for Norfleet were high, but injuries again limited his production. He still made eight starts and finished with 26 catches for 235 yards and two touchdowns, though the breakout year many anticipated was hindered by time missed.
The St. Charles product is expected to be a focal point of the Tigers’ offense this fall, with offensive coordinator Kirby Moore emphasizing a larger role for the tight end position.
Former Mizzou defensive line coach Davis joins Rock Bridge staff
Former Missouri defensive line coach Al Davis joined the football staff at Rock Bridge High School, head coach Matt Perkins announced Wednesday.
“Coach Davis brings a wealth of expertise in the game of football and a passion that will drive us to a new level,” Perkins said in a post on X.
Davis stepped down from his role with the Tigers in May after three seasons of coaching multiple All-SEC performers and helping lead Mizzou to back-to-back double-digit-win seasons.
At Rock Bridge, Davis will assist Perkins in developing a program that has consistently competed in Missouri’s highest classification. His addition brings power conference experience to the Bruins’ sideline before their season and home opener against Park Hill at 7 p.m. Aug. 29.
The NCAA Division I volleyball tournament’s second round concludes on Saturday.
No. 1 seeds Nebraska, Texas and Pitt all swept their first round matches and play again Saturday. Kentucky, the fourth No. 1 defeated No. 8 UCLA in the second round on Friday to advance to the Sweet 16.
Cal Poly defeated No. 4 seed USC in the second round of the tournament play on Friday, the biggest upset of the tournament thus far. Stanford also got an early scare from Utah Valley, losing the first set before rallying. Cardinal setter Logan Parks did not play in the match.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball Final Four will be held at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. It’s the third time since 2010 that the venue, formerly known as the Sprint Center, has hosted the volleyball national championship.
What time is NCAA volleyball tournament?
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
Start time: Eight matches, beginning at 6 p.m. ET Saturday. Match-by-match times below.
How to watch NCAA volleyball tournament
The 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament will air across the ESPN and ABC family of networks. All first- and second-round games can be found streaming on ESPN+, ESPN’s subscription streaming service, and Fubo, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers.
Watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament live with Fubo (free trial)
Follow along with USA TODAY Sports for live updates, scores and schedule for the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament:
Live results of Saturday’s NCAA women’s volleyball tournament
Minnesota 2, Iowa State 0
The Gophers win the first two sets 25-22, 25-21.
SMU 1, Florida 0
The Mustangs win the first match 25-11.
TCU 1, Texas A&M 1
The teams are knotted at one set each.
Nebraska 1, Kansas State 0
Nebraska goes for the it’s 32nd win of the season.
Texas 3, Penn State 0
Texas eliminates defending champion Penn State, 25-16, 25-9, 25-19.
Pittsburgh 3, Michigan 0
No. 1 seed Pitt won 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 to eliminate Michigan.
Louisville 3, Marquette 2
Louisville staved off an upset 21-25, 25-11, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12.
Kansas State defeated No. 8 San Diego 21-25, 25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 15-12
Final: Pitt 3, UMBC 0
No. 1 Pitt swept UMBC 25-10, 25-17, 25-13
Final: Penn State 3, South Florida 1
No. 8 Penn State defeated South Florida 25-23, 12-25, 25-21, 25-19
No. 8 Penn State took the first set 25-23, while South Florida took the second set 25-12. The defending champions won the third set 25-21 and the fourth 25-19 to win, 3-1.
Final: Iowa State 3, St. Thomas-Minnesota 2
No. 5 Iowa State defeated St. Thomas-Minnesota 21-25, 25-13, 25-16, 21-25, 15-8
St. Thomas took the first set 25-21, while Iowa State took the second, 25-13, and third, 25-16. St. Thomas forced a decisive fifth set by taking the fourth 25-21, but Iowa State closed it out 15-8 in the fifth.
Final: Louisville 3, Loyola Chicago 0
No. 2 Louisville swept Loyola Chicago 25-17, 25-9, 25-12.
Final: TCU 3, Stephen F. Austin 0
No. 6 TCU swept Stephen F. Austin 25-8, 26-24, 25-20.
Final: Florida 3, Rice 0
Florida swept No. 7 Rice 27-25, 25-23, 25-19.
Final: Michigan 3, Xavier 0
Michigan swept No. 8 Xavier 25-19, 25-15, 25-23
Final: Marquette 3, Western Kentucky 0
Marquette swept No. 7 Western Kentucky 25-22, 25-21, 25-16.
Here’s a look at the 31 teams that earned automatic berths to the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament by virtue of winning their conferences:
ACC: Stanford
American: Tulsa
American East: UMBC
Atlantic Sun: Central Arkansas
Atlantic 10: Loyola Chicago
Big East: Creighton
Big Sky: Northern Colorado
Big South: High Point
Big Ten: Nebraska
Big 12: Arizona State
Big West: Cal Poly
CAA: Campbell
Conference USA: Western Kentucky
Horizon: Wright State
Ivy: Princeton
MAAC: Fairfield
MAC: Toledo
MEAC: Coppin State
Missouri Valley: Northern Iowa
Mountain West: Utah State
NEC: LIU
Ohio Valley: Eastern Illinois
Patriot: American
SEC: Kentucky
SoCon: Wofford
Southland: Stephen F. Austin
SWAC: Florida A&M
Summit: St. Thomas
Sun Belt: Arkansas State
WAC: Utah Valley
WCC: San Diego
When is the NCAA volleyball Final Four in 2025?
Dates: Thursday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 21
The two semifinal matches in the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament will take place on Thursday, Dec. 18 and will be followed three days later by the national championship game on Sunday, Dec. 21.
NCAA volleyball tournament champions
Penn State is the reigning NCAA volleyball champion, having defeated Louisville in four sets last year in the national title game. It was the Nittany Lions’ eighth volleyball championship since 1999.
Here’s a look at the past 10 NCAA volleyball champions:
KINGSTON, R.I. — Sophomore thrower Emma Reaves (Westminster, Md.) placed first in the shot put, headlining the women’s track and field team’s first-place finish in the team’s tri-meet with the University of Rhode Island and Stonehill College, winning with 104 points.
UNH’s men’s track and field team finished in third with 89 points, while URI won the meet with 96 points and Stonehill closed with 91 points.
In addition to Reaves’ win, the following Wildcats placed:
Women’s Long Jump
Sophomore Sarah Moore (Lisbon, Maine), first place (5.75m)
Graduate student Autumn Agri (Stratham, N.H.), second place (5.35m)
Junior Audrey Thornton (Freedom, N.H.), third place (5.28m)
Men’s Long Jump
Freshman Rio Calle (Weare, N.H.), fourth place (7.01m)
Women’s Triple Jump
Men’s Triple Jump
Sophomore Ethan Palmer (Bowdoin, Maine), third place (14.60m)
Women’s Shot Put
Reaves, first place (14.38m)
Freshman Payton Goulding (Cumberland, R.I.), third place (11.86m)
Sophomore Ruby Prentiss (Falmouth, Maine), sixth place (11.13m)
Men’s Shot Put
Women’s Weight Throw
Reaves, first place (17.87m)
Goulding, third place (15.23m)
Junior Briana Danis (Hooksett, N.H.), fifth place (15.06m)
Prentiss, sixth place (14.31m)1.5
Men’s Weight Throw
Senior Liam McGovern (North Kingstown, R.I.), first place (19.79m)
Abaka-Amuah, second place (19.53m)
Senior Jack Washam (Nashua, N.H.), third place (17.73m)
Women’s High Jump
Men’s High Jump
Junior Gunnar Sokol (Berwick, Maine), seventh (1.90m)
Sophomore Samuel Grube (Dover, N.H.), ninth (1.90m)
Men’s Pole Vault
Men’s 1 Mile
Women’s 60m Hurdles
Women’s 600m Run
Men’s 600m Run
Sophomore James Gecek (High Bridge, N.J.), seventh (1:25.58)
Women’s 60m Dash
Nada, first (7.71)
Moore, second (7.72)
Thornton, third (7.88)
Sophomore Eva Roberts (Derry, N.H.), fifth (7.92)
Men’s 1000m Run
Women’s 300m Dash
Thornton, second (42.43)
Sophomore Brooke White (Barnet, Vt.), fifth (42.90)
The ACU track and field team opens its indoor season by competing in the McFerrin 12-Degree Invitational on the campus of Texas A&M on Saturday. The meet will be a low-key meet designed to get in some competition before the Christmas break.
Joining ACU and host Texas A&M in the field will be Baylor, Sam Houston State, SMU, and UTSA.
This meet will be the first competition for several newcomers to the program. There are plans to have three 4×400 relays for the women and the men and some of the newcomers will only run on the relays this weekend.
ACU entries for the men include: 60 (Horatio Brooks); 300 (Gage Heighten); 1000 (Evan Martin); Mile (Benjamin Castro, Vincent Luffey); 3,000 (Mark Barajas, Carlos Cortez); 60 hurdles (Canaan Fairley, Miguel Hall); high jump (Canaan Fairley); long jump (Horatio Brooks); weight throw (Rhet Punt, Matthew Udemba).
There will also be a large relay pool to fill out the three 4×400 relays and this pool includes newcomers who will only be competing in the relays – Durrell Collins, Abraham Olufemi-Dada, Nickens Lemba – and two returnees also running solely on the relays this weekend – Ethan Krause and Ryan McMeen.
ACU entries for the women include: 60 (Lauren Foxworth, Darinasia Taylor, Kee’Lani Whitlock, Neriah Williams, Morgan Morris, Halle Gunter, Jaeden Thomas); 300 (Morgan Morris, Kaycian Johnson); 600 (Madelyn McFadden, Anna Vyn, Gracee Whiteaker, Jalyn Childers); 1000 (Emma Santoro); Mile (Lola Buentello); 60 hurdles (Hana Banks, Nele Huth, Natalie Poe, Skyla Riedel); high jump (Kaia Anderson, Kennadi Payne, Natalie Poe); long jump (Halle Gunter, Nele Huth, Skyla Riedel, Jaeden Thomas); shot put (Sterling Glenn, Ciara Tilley, Mariana Van Dyk); weight throw (Sterling Glenn, Mariana Van Dyk).
Because the McFerrin Invitational will not have a triple jump in the meet, two Wildcats took part in the OU Winter Field Fest. Arthur Jenkins recorded a 14.94m triple jump, while Mackenzie Flaugher went 11.70m.
The McFerrin 12-Degree Invitational will be held in the Murray Fasken Indoor Track on the Texas A&M campus. The field events will begin at 2 p.m. and the running events at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Coach Miles Smith: I’m excited to see our kids compete. They have been working hard. We have a lot of newcomers who are getting their first taste of collegiate competition, so it will be fun to watch them compete. Our goal is to come out healthy and learn what we need to work on over the next few weeks before the bulk of our season kicks off in mid-January.
BOSTON – The Elon University women’s track and field team opened its indoor season with two members of its distance squad competing at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener on Saturday at the BU Track and Tennis Center.
Senior Sarah Petitjean led the Phoenix in the 3,000 meters, posting a personal-best time of 9:49.97 to place 52nd in a field of 95 runners.
In the 5,000 meters, junior Hannah Weber also set a personal record with a time of 16:29, improving her previous best by nearly three seconds.
ON DECK
Elon will be idle for the winter break before returning to competition on Jan. 17 at the Mondo College Invitational at the JDL Fast Track Complex.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The App State women’s track and field team opened the 2025-26 indoor season at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-Off on Saturday. A new meet record, set by the 4×400-meter relay quartet of junior Nicole Wells, seniors Damyja Alejandro-Ortiz and Daye Talley, and junior Jayla Adams, punctuated the day’s action.
“This was a great season opener for all event groups to knock the rust off from months ago. The athletes are really motivated to be back from break and start the season.” said director of track & field/cross country Damion McLean. “Expectations are high this season, so we have to stay motivated on an elite level to be competitive.”
Wells, Alejandro-Ortiz, Talley, and Adams stopped the clock at 3:45.76 for a new meet record in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. The previous meet record was 3:49.07, set in 2021 by Duke’s Jenna Crean, Lauren Hoffman, Megan McGinnis, and Kiara Ekeigwe. The Mountaineers were two seconds shy of the App State school record of 3:43.85, which was set at the 2023 Sun Belt Indoor Championships. Earlier in the afternoon, Adams and Talley finished third (24.39) and fifth (24.77), respectively, in the women’s seeded 200 meters. Adams remains third in the App State all-time list with her personal best of 24.22, which she set during the 2024 campaign. In the women’s unseeded 200 meters, sophomore Kaitlyn McLeod placed fifth with a time of 25.04.
In her collegiate indoor debut, freshman Alana Braxton posted a pair of first place finishes in the women’s triple jump (12.32m (40′ 5″)) and women’s long jump (5.87m (19′ 3.25″)). Fellow freshman Ashlynn Wimberly landed second with a leap of 12.14m (39′ 10″) and sophomore Jahaila Wright placed sixth with a leap of 11.60m (38′ 0.75″) in the women’s triple jump. With a leap of 5.31m (17′ 5.25″) freshman Kelly MacBride rounded out the top 10 in the women’s long jump.
Senior Ava Studney placed first in the women’s pole vault, recording a clearance of 3.95m (12′ 11.5″).
Junior Kendall Johnson placed second with a time of 7.50 in the women’s 60 meters, coming within 0.08 of her personal best and program record of 7.42, which she set at last season’s SBC Indoor Championships. Wells rounded out the top 10 in the women’s 60 meters with a time of 7.73.
With a time of 2:18.09, senior Addison Ollendick-Smith placed fourth in the women’s 800 meters. Ollendick-Smith, who stands second all-time in the program record book, was seven seconds shy of her personal best of 2:11.13, which she set last season.
With a personal best toss of 14.70m (48′ 2.75″), junior Dianna Boykin placed eighth in the women’s weight throw. Sophomore Emily Edwards placed eighth with a toss of 12.17m (39′ 11.25″) in the women’s shot put and rounded out the top 10 in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 14.03m (46′ 0.5″).
Up Next
The Mountaineers will resume the indoor track and field season with the UNC Asheville Collegiate Opener at Tryon International on Jan. 10.
No. 2 seed Arizona State volleyball is back in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons.
The Sun Devils defeated Utah State in four sets (25-15, 25-18, 22-25, 25-15) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Desert Financial Arena on Friday, Dec. 5.
“It was really special for me,” senior outside hitter Bailey Miller said. “I was one of the only ones last year when we got upset (in the second round), so I think going into it, all the girls just wanted to recognize all the girls who didn’t get to go to the Sweet 16 last year and took it seriously. It was really special.”
ASU’s return to the Sweet 16 offers a sweeter follow-up to last season’s second-round exit after the Sun Devils earned a hosting bid for the first two rounds. As painful as it was for coach JJ Van Niel, he chose not to let last year cloud the current success.
“I don’t reflect back,” Van Niel said. “That’s negative, but it’s just moving forward. Every year is a new shot, but last year was very painful. Mostly, because I didn’t think we played our best volleyball.”
With few players remaining from last year, Van Niel wasn’t sure how ASU’s season would go and if they’d repeat as Big 12 champions and NCAA Tournament hosts. But his team has done both and added more with a Sweet 16 berth.
“I really had no idea this year what we were going to look like,” Van Niel said. “It’s 100% a new lineup and I’m really proud of these kids because they’ve fought and they’ve scrapped. They’ve all gotten better through the year and they’ve earned this Sweet 16, it’s a really special group.”
What was key for ASU was their defense against a scrappy team that rarely went down in one swing. The Sun Devils were up to the task as they benefited from USU’s 21 attack errors.
USU’s strong offense forced ASU’s middle blockers to front the middle, exploiting their right-side players. While the middle blockers didn’t get as many kills as they did in the first round, it opened the floor for Miller, Noemie Glover and Tatum Parrott.
Miller led ASU with 18 kills on .471 hitting and two errors, a stark improvement from her first-round performance. Glover didn’t commit any errors and had 17 kills on .531 hitting. Parrott added 13 kills.
ASU was serving well again as the Aggies sided out 56.3% of the time, including less than half the time in the first set. Miller’s three aces helped ASU finish with a 7-5 advantage in service aces.
“They’re a great offensive team and their middle (blockers) were very active,” Miller said. “We haven’t really seen a lot of that, so it definitely took some adjusting. But in the end, that’s our bread and butter, being able to adjust and be ready.”
The Aggies got their first lead since early in the first set when they started with an 8-5 edge over ASU in the third set. Instead of putting them away like in the first two sets, ASU had trouble against USU’s attack.
As the third set neared the end, neither side scored twice for six consecutive points until USU got a 24-22 lead over ASU. The Aggies then scored off a bad set from ASU’s Sydney Henry.
The Aggies were strong to start the fourth set, but ASU’s 6-0 run midway through the set helped the Sun Devils gain the separation needed and eliminate them.
The Sun Devils will travel to Lexington, Kentucky, and play No. 3 Creighton in the regional hosted by No. 1 seed Kentucky, either Dec. 12 or 13.
ASU capped off an impressive season at home where it went 16-0, and only dropped eight sets in those games.
Reach the reporter at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com, as well as @jennarortiz on X.
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