BIRMINGHAM – For the third time in the 2025 season, UAB right-handed pitcher Colin Daniel has won American Conference Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

The junior from Corner, Alabama tossed a complete game shutout on Friday night against Rice. Daniel struck out a career-high 13 batters, did not allow a walk or a run, and had a strike percentage of 73%. Daniel now ranks 3rd in the American Conference in Innings Pitched (68.2), 3rd in Walks Allowed (12), tied for 7th in Wins (5), 8th in ERA (3.80), and 8th in Strikeouts (62).

Player of the Week

Ty Hodge, R-Jr., INF, UTSA

 

Pitcher of the Week

Colin Daniel, Jr., UAB

 

Honorable Mention

Connor Maryniak, Sr., INF, Charlotte

Mike Szlurma, Gr., P, Charlotte

Ethan Norby, So., P, East Carolina

Carlos Jacome, So., INF, South Florida

Gavin Schulz, Sr., DH, Tulane

Daniel and the Blazers return to action on Tuesday, April 29 as they host the Alabama State Hornets at Young Memorial Field at 6 p.m. Tickets are $2 at the gate only.

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With the calendar inching closer towards May, the high school spring sports season has entered league championship and CIF-SS playoff mode.

Local track & field, swim, boys volleyball, beach volleyball and softball squads provided updates on their teams heading into a critical week at Monday’s Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Press Luncheon at Harry’s Plaza Cafe.

Busy Playoff Week Ahead

The CIF-SS boys volleyball and lacrosse playoffs begin this week, while the girls beach volleyball season rolls on with quarterfinal matchups.

San Marcos and Santa Barbara High are the last local teams standing in the CIF-SS beach volleyball postseason brackets.

The Royals will hit the road to take on Redondo Union on Tuesday at 2 p.m. for the Div. 1 quarterfinals. San Marcos defeated Oaks Christian, 3-2, in the first-round matchup.

“All eight of the teams still in the division are ranked in the top 25 nationally,” San Marcos head coach Tim Loomer said. “We played [Redondo Union] a couple of weeks ago and lost, but we were really competitive. So we have an opportunity and it’s going to be great.”

Meanwhile, the Dons will host Long Beach Wilson on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at East Beach in the Div. 2 quarterfinals. Santa Barbara has defeated Foothill Tech (5-0) and St. Joseph of Lakewood (3-2) so far.

On the indoor court, six local squads will begin their quest for a CIF-SS title this week.

The Channel League champion San Marcos Royals will host Claremont for the Div. 3 opener on Tuesday inside the Thunderhut. Meanwhile, the Tri-Valley League champion Bishop Diego Cardinals will be on the road against Wiseburn DaVinci on Tuesday.

“We hope to have a good run,” San Marcos head coach Dave Goss said.

In Div. 4, Santa Barbara High will host Elsinore on Wednesday at 6 p.m. inside J.R. Richards Gym. Carpinteria High, slotted into Div. 8, will also begin the playoffs at home against Los Amigos on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Laguna Blanca will head down to take on Ramona High on Wednesday at 6 p.m. for the Div. 6 playoff opener.

Dos Pueblos earned a first-round bye in Div. 4 and will await the winner of Fontana or Westminster, who the Chargers will host on Saturday at 6 p.m. inside Sovine Gym.

As for lacrosse, there will be three local girls teams and three local boys teams vying for a CIF-SS championship.

After an undefeated regular season, Dos Pueblos will look to keep it rolling with a home matchup against either El Segundo or Orange Lutheran in the second round of the Div. 2 bracket on Friday at 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, in the Div. 3 playoffs, Santa Barbara High will host Woodbridge and Cate will be on the road against Millikan. Both games are set for Monday at 5 p.m.

On the girls side, San Marcos is fresh off its second straight Channel League title and will welcome Laguna Beach to Warkentin Stadium for the Div. 2 opener on Monday at 5 p.m.

On Tuesday at 5 p.m., Dos Pueblos and Cate will begin the Div. 3 playoff bracket. The Rams are on the road against Beckman, while the Chargers will host Paloma Valley.

Track & Field, Swim League Championship Week

While most sports are entering their first playoff matchups, the local track & field and swim teams will compete in their respective league championship meets this week.

On the track, San Marcos, Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos will head down to Ventura to compete in the Channel League championship meet on Thursday.

“It’s a great venue and a great place to compete. Usually there’s some big marks there,” Santa Barbara High head coach Olivia Perdices said. “Channel League is always a dogfight in every event, so we’re looking forward to having some fun with San Marcos, DP and the rest of the league down there.”

The Royals’ boys team is fresh off a Santa Barbara County title, while the Chargers placed in the top three in both the boys and girls meets.

Carpinteria High will host this year’s Citrus Coast League Track & Field championship meet on Thursday at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium. The Warrior girls will look to make some noise, as they went a perfect 6-0 in the regular season.

Bishop Diego track & field will compete in their league finals on Friday at Ventura College.

In the pool, San Marcos will host the Channel League Championship meet, with prelims beginning on Tuesday and the finals taking place on Thursday.

Carpinteria High will begin the Citrus Coast League championship meet with prelims on Tuesday at Hueneme High.

Student-Athletes in Attendance

San Marcos Girls Beach Volleyball: Charlotte Hastings, Paige Hoadley

Santa Barbara High Softball: Laila Hernandez, Alanah Salas

Santa Barbara High Track & Field: Malachi Johnston, Emmanuel Malpica, Marina Lopez, Madeleine Van Bebber

San Marcos Softball: Riley Zant, Emilia Morales

San Marcos Track & Field: RJ Robles, Harlyn Griffin, Oliver Werkhoven

Carpinteria High Swim: Tyson Lee, Madison Lee, Izzy Scott, Massimo Bonilla-Zakosek

Carpinteria High Track & Field: Hector Bernal, Melanie Avalos

Bishop Diego Swim: Tierney Clark

Bishop Diego Softball: Pilar Alvarez, Keke Flores

Bishop Diego Track & Field: Frank Macias, Kainoa Pa’ahana

San Marcos Boys Volleyball: Ayden Welch, Matteo Burdick, Keanu Ngyuen

Dos Pueblos Track & Field: Cullen Gully, Clehann Howard, Quentin Holland

Dos Pueblos Swim: Talia Marshall, Bower Ribbons

INDIANAPOLIS — No. 1 UCLA has been awarded the No. 2 seed for the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship as announced by the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Committee on Monday evening.

The nine teams that will be vying for the 2025 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship include seven teams that were placed in the bracket and the remaining two teams will compete for the last berth in the bracket via an opening-round game on May 7.

The opening-round game will be contested May 7 and it features Wagner (21-8) vs. McKendree (21-7). The winner of that game will be placed in the bracket to face No. 1 Stanford (22-1) in the first round on Friday, May 9, at 9:00 a.m. PT. All rounds of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship will be played at IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind., and will be hosted by Indiana University and Indy Sports Corp. The 2025 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament.

Rounding out the bracket will be No. 4 Hawai’i (21-4) facing California (19-5) in Game 2, with No. 2 UCLA (19-5) competing against LMU (20-11) on Friday, May 9 at 1:00 p.m. PT in Game 3. Game 4 will pit No. 3 USC (27-4) against Harvard (26-6) at 3:00 p.m. PT. Please reference the bracket for all game times (which are listed in ET on the PDF).

Conferences receiving automatic qualification include the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining three teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions (UCLA, USC, and California).

The first round and semifinal games will be streamed on ncaa.com. The national championship will take place at 9:00 a.m. PDT/12:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday, May 11 on ESPNU.

This is UCLA’s 23rd appearance in the NCAA Championship and 29th overall Championship appearance. The Bruins have won 12 national titles, including going undefeated a year ago and winning their eighth NCAA Championship. UCLA enters the 2025 NCAA Championship with an all-time record of 45-14 (.763) in NCAA Tournament games. Last year the Bruins opened up the 2024 NCAA Championship with a 17-7 win over Wagner and then defeated Stanford, 10-8, in the semifinals before beating California on the road, 7-4.

INTERACTIVE BRACKET: The full schedule for the 2025 tournament

The Big 12 had 12 programs selected to compete in the 2025 NCAA Division I Tennis Championship with five men’s teams and seven women’s teams receiving bids.

On the men’s side, TCU (22-3) will look to defend their national title as they garnered the No. 2 seed and will host the regional round in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the Horned Frog’s 35^th NCAA tournament berth and will be the 10^th consecutive season that TCU will host.

Arizona (24-4) collected the second host spot for the Big 12 after winning the Conference Championship. The Wildcats are the No. 10 seed and will take on Denver in the first round before a potential battle with the winner of Harvard and Washington.

UCF (21-8) grabbed the third host spot for the Conference and will take on Miami (Fla.) in the first round. A win for the Knights would advance them to the second round for a match against either Florida or USF.

Arizona State (12-11) will clash with Southern California in the San Diego Regional. The winner will play the victor between No. 6 seed San Diego and UC Irvine in the second round.

Baylor (22-10) will go head-to-head with Nebraska in the College Station Regional with the opportunity to play No. 16 seed Texas A&M or Rice in the following round with a win. It is the 27^th straight year that the Bears will play in the opening round of the bracket.

In the women’s Championship, Texas Tech (22-2) secured the highest seed at No. 11 and will host the Lubbock Regional after winning both the 2025 Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championship title and regular season crown. The Lady Raiders will play Boston University with the potential to play FIU or Stanford in the second round.

After finishing runner-up at the 2025 Big 12 Championship, UCF (22-3) will play Furman in the first round of the Raleigh Regional with the winner playing the winner of No. 12 seed NC State and Charleston Southern.

Arizona (19-10) heads to the Charlottesville Regional and will open with a contest against Illinois. A win would push the Wildcats through to the second round for a bout with either the No. 7 seed host Virginia or FDU.

Arizona State (14-9) makes their 39^th appearance in the tournament with a matchup with Ole Miss in the first round of the Ann Arbor Regional. The victor of No. 3 seed Michigan and Youngstown State awaits the winner in the second round.

Baylor (20-5) will play in its fifth consecutive NCAA tournament as the Bears are slated against Boise State in the Austin Regional. The winner will advance to play either No. 14 Texas or Grand Canyon.

Kansas (14-11) will travel to the Chapel Hill Regional and take on South Carolina. The winner will take on the host, No. 5 seed North Carolina or VCU.

Oklahoma State (19-7) will travel to the Norman Regional and take on Tulsa in its 26^th tournament appearance. A potential draw against the winner of No. 6 seed Oklahoma-Denver looms for the second round.

Baylor will host both the men’s and women’s national championships at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, beginning May 15.

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Staff claimed victory over students, 18-16, in Palo Alto High School’s annual student-versus-staff game on Thursday during lunch in the Peery Center Big Gym. 

The staff quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The students responded by leveling the score at 4-4 and briefly shifting the momentum. Despite the students’ efforts, errors and a foul widened the gap, bringing the score to 11-8. The first set concluded with the staff’s victory at 18-16. The second set ended abruptly with the staff’s victory at 3-2 when the lunch bell rang.

The volleyball match sparked friendly competition between the staff and students while fostering a stronger sense of community. According to Campus Supervisor Mayerly Short, the friendly rivalry helps to make teachers seem more approachable.

“This student-vs-staff volleyball game makes it so that the staff doesn’t seem as authoritative, it’s just more fun for everyone,” Short said.

According to freshman participant Nicolo Resmini, a lack of communication was a reason for the students’ loss.

“The team was not communicating well, and our services were not hitting the correct areas the coaches were calling,” Resmini said. “We just need to improve that for next year. I thought our offense was okay, but our defense was not so good.”

According to Spirit Commissioner Arabella Guinle, events such as this lunch event are important to reduce pressure on students.

“It’s [rallies] are important, especially during the second semester, as school gets tough, especially for upperclassmen,” Guinle said. “I want people to let loose enough and just have fun. The school pressure is a lot, and through these events, it raises awareness that we’re all human, and it’s important to take and have fun.”