The moment of truth arrived … and Bella Jones rose to the occasion.

Leaping as high as she could from her right-side position, the Redondo Union senior angled a crosscourt kill that clipped the top of the net and dropped into the open court to complete a 12-21, 21-14, 15-13 comeback for Jones and partner Kara Namimatsu to lift the Sea Hawks to a thrilling 3-2 dual victory over defending champion Mira Costa in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 beach volleyball final Saturday afternoon at Long Beach City College.

The Bay League rivals had split the first four matches, with Redondo Union winning on the first two courts and Mira Costa prevailing on the last two, so the championship came down to Court 3, where Jones and Namimatsu were down 11-8 to the Mustangs tandem of Lily Sprague and Allyn Hilt before rallying back to take a 14-12 lead on an ace by Jones. Sprague’s spike landed on the baseline to stave off the first championship point, setting the stage for Jones’ heroics.

“I told Kara let’s go out swinging … win or lose I’m going to be aggressive,” said the teary-eyed Jones, who is headed to San Diego State to play indoor volleyball. “I was really nervous and it wasn’t the best swing, it hit the tape, but all these girls mean so much to me and I wanted to win it for them.”

It was only the second time Jones and Namimatsu had played together — the first being two days before in the semifinals.

“We had an injury so we switched our lineup on the bus for JSerra and we just went with it,” Jones confessed. “Yesterday we served and passed to each other for about an hour and that helped.”

Redondo Union’s Abby Zimmerman lofts the ball over Mira Costa’s Simone Roslon in the Southern Section Division 1 girls’ beach volleyball final.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“Our chemistry works well together and in the timeouts our coach told us to trust in each other, trust in your training,” added Namimatsu, a junior transfer from Bishop Montgomery and early USC beach volleyball commit.

The result was practically a carbon copy of the Sea Hawks’ semifinal triumph, only that time it was Abby Zimmerman and Avery Junk winning 15-13 in the third set of the deciding match on Court 1. On Saturday, the pair swept Mira Costa’s top duo of Olga Nikolaeva and Simone Roslon, 21-17, 21-14.

“This is a really big win for us and it’s really exciting to have all five matches going on at the same time,” said Zimmerman, an All-CIF junior outside hitter who is going to California for indoor. “Our coaches trusted me and Avery to go up against their best. It was just our day.”

“We beat them earlier this year which gave us confidence that we could do it but we lost to them in the finals the last two years so we knew we had to play our best,” added Junk, a senior head to Florida State to play beach with twin sister Addy, who won 22-20, 20-17 on Court 2 with partner Leah Blair.

Mira Costa juniors Audrey Flanagan and Anabelle Redaelli prevailed easily 21-11, 21-18 on Court 4 while sophomores Lerin Rosenthal and Sammy Nammack won 21-17, 25-23 on Court 5.

On March 4, Redondo Union snapped Mira Costa’s 170-match winning streak spanning over a decade (the majority of them coming in Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League play before the CIF sanctioned beach volleyball). Mira Costa won the rematch 5-0 on March 26 and was poised for a three-peat.

Saturday, however, belonged to the Sea Hawks.

A similar scenario unfolded in the first dual Saturday morning and the ending was equally dramatic as Long Beach Poly’s Simone Millsap and Alyssa Luna overcame a match point on Court 4 to win the deciding set 17-15, with Millsap serving an ace to clinch the Jackrabbits’ 3-2 triumph over Anaheim Canyon in the inaugural Division 3 final.

Long each Poly celebrates its 3-2 triumph over Anaheim Canyon in the Southern Section Division 3 girls’ beach volleyball final Saturday at Long Beach City College.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“My thought was ‘I need to get this in,’” Millsap said of her last serve ag ainst Canyon’s Erin Ly and Hannah Huang. “I just closed my eyes and envisioned it going to the left corner— and luckily it did.”

Poly’s Aleeya Salima and Lindyn Foster pulled out a 13-21, 21-17, 15-11 win on Court 1 to level the score.

“Going into the last set we knew it come down to us and I think it was about 8-8 when we heard cheering and saw everyone running over to our court that we knew for sure,” Millsap said.

“When a game’s going point by point, your goal is to get the last two,” said Luna, who was called up from JV to play with Millsap in the third round of the playoffs. “Our indoor team won CIF in November so this is extra special.”

The second match of Saturday’s championship tripleheader pitted two Long Beach schools against each other and again it came down to Court 4, where Wilson sophomore Iyla Alvarado and junior Jane Morrison prevailed 21-19, 18-21, 15-11 over Millikan’s Mikayla Brumbelow and Johanna Swerdloff to secure the title for the Bruins.

Moments later, Rams juniors Sophia Orbiso and Aubrey Greene pulled out a 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 win on Court 2 but by then Wilson had already clinched. Millikan was trying to avenge 3-2 and 4-1 losses in Moore League play.

Long Beach Wilson’s Sadie Calderone is defended at the net by Millikan’s Bethany Arnold in the Division 2 final Saturday at Long Beach City College.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

“It was 2-1 at that point, but I was like ‘we need to do this!,” Morrison said. “It helps having people there supporting me. Even though we’d beaten them twice this is the finals and we knew it could go either way.”

“No matter what’s going on with the other matches, we want to win ours,” Alvarado added. “This is our second year playing together, we have good chemistry, we talk strategy and pride ourselves on being mentally stronger than the other team.”

GREENCASTLE, Indiana — Wabash captured its 11th North Coast Athletic Conference outdoor track and field championship and 20th track and field title overall by winning the 2025 NCAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday afternoon at DePauw University.
 
Wabash scored 172.5 points to outdistance Denison University in second place with 137.5 points. Wittenberg, the pre-championship favorite to win the men’s title, finished in third place with 130.5 points. DePauw finished in fourth place with 110 points, followed by Ohio Wesleyan (83.5 points), Oberlin (69 points), Wooster (52 points), Kenyon (40 points), and Hiram (24 points).
 
The 11 outdoor titles extend the Wabash record for NCAC titles. The Little Giants have won five championships in the past seven years.
 
Head coach Clyde Morgan, associate head coach Tyler McCreary, and assistant coaches Emile Conde, Mitchell Kessler, Dillon Frederickson, and emeritus track and field coach Robert Johnson were named the NCAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Staff of the Year.
 
“We dedicated this meet to former Wabash Dean of Students Tom Bambrey,” Morgan said after the meet. “Tom (who passed away earlier this year) was dedicated to the sport from his time as an athlete, as a dean at his alma mater, and after he retired as director of athletics of the College. We definitely felt his presence throughout the weekend.”
 
Senior Brayden Curnutt earned NCAC Men’s Distance / Mid-Distance Runner of the Year honors. He broke the NCAC championship meet record by winning the 5,000-meter run in 14:40.54, breaking the old mark of 14:45.50 set by former Wabash runner Paul Christian in 2019.
 
Will Neubauer won the 800-meter run by finishing in 1:52.84. Teammates Haiden Diemer-McKinney and David Adesanya added second and fourth-place finishes. Diemer-McKinney earned all-conference honors with his runner-up performance, crossing the finish line in 1:54.82. Adesanya placed fourth overall with a time of 1:56.70.
 
Wabash earned six of the top-eight places in the discus throw, led by Quinn Sholar’s second-place finish with an all-conference mark of 45.83 meters (150 feet, 4 inches). Evan Furuness was named the NCAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, adding a fourth-place finish in the discus with his effort of 42.06 meters (138 feet) to his other meet accomplishments. He won the shot put on Friday and earned all-conference honors with a third-place finish in the hammer throw.
 
Jordan Tate finished fifth in the discus with a top effort of 41.59 meters (136 feet, 5 inches). Jakob Van Pelt added a sixth-place finish with a season-best throw of 41.26 meters (135 feet, 4 inches). Oostman scored a seventh-place finish with his toss of 41.25 meters (`35 feet, 4 inches).
Owen Smith took second place in the 400-meter hurdles, earning all-conference honors with his personal-best time of 54.83.
 
Carter Leininger scored a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 10.77. Tanner Brooks placed eighth overall in the finals with a time of 11.00. Leininger also earned a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash by crossing the line in 21.76.
 
Ryan Papandria placed fourth overall in the javelin throw with a toss of 51.61 meters (169 feet, 4 inches). Jake Oostman scored a sixth-place finish with his throw of 49.92 meters (163 feet, 9 inches).
 
Kannon Chase earned a fourth-place finish in the high jump by clearing a season-best height of 1.90 meters (6 feet, 2.75 inches). Oostman placed sixth in the high jump with his season-best height of 1.85 meters (6 feet, 0.75 inches).
 
Mike Holsclaw produced a leap of 12.65 meters (41 feet, 6 inches) to finish in seventh place in the triple jump.
 
Smith, Leininger, Nate Joven, and Brooks combined to finish fourth in the 4×100-meter relay with a combined season-best time of 42.15. Leininger, Smith, Diemer-McKinney, and Adesanya combined to finish the 4×400-meter relay in 3:24.08 to place seventh overall.
 
 
 

GULF SHORES, Ala. – For the first time in school history, TCU Beach Volleyball (31-5) is headed to the NCAA Finals to compete for the National Championship. After clocking both No. 7-seeded Texas and No. 6-seeded Cal Poly on Saturday, the Horned Frogs will face the No. 4-seeded LMU Lions in the finals on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN. 

TCU remains the best in Texas after sweeping the Longhorns 3-0 in the quarterfinals. In the all-time series, the Horned Frogs improved to 42-0 against teams from the Lone Star State.  

In the semifinals against the Mustangs, TCU’s AVCA Top Flight honorees propelled the Frogs to the title dual: Daniela Alvarez/Tania Moreno, Anhelina Khmil/Ana Vergara and Allanis Navas/Sofia Izuzquiza.  

It was the first point for the No. 1 duo of Alvarez/Moreno this weekend. The two have yet to drop a dual in the four years they’ve been to Gulf Shores. Khmil and Vergara remain undefeated, notching their 20th win together this season.   

TCU improved to 6-6 all-time in the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship.  

Quick Hits against No. 7-seeded Texas 

• TCU took all the first sets against the Longhorns to take an early lead.  

• Anhelina Khmil and Ana Vergara notched point one at the No. 4 spot: 21-13, 21-12.  

• Sofia Izuzquiza and Allanis Navas notched point two at the No. 3 spot: 21-15, 21-15.  

• To clinch a spot in the semifinals, Hailey Hamlett and Maria Gonzalez notched point three at the No. 2 spot: 21-19, 21-19.  

• With their win over the Longhorns, the Horned Frogs maintained their lead in the all-time series, stretching to 4-0.  

• The sweep over Texas is the 15th for TCU this season.   

Quick Hits against No. 6-seeded Cal Poly  

• The Olympic duo of Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno notched the first point for the Frogs at the No. 1 spot: 27-25, 21-12.  

• The pairing is now 15-4 on the season together.   

• The undefeated No. 4 pairing of Khmil/Vergara notched point two: 25-23, 21-18.  

• The two are now 20-0 on the season together.   

• Hamlett/Gonzalez dropped in a three-set battle at the No. 2 spot: 15-21, 21-17, 12-15.   

• The duo moved to 11-3 on the season together.  

• To propell TCU to its first appearance in the final title match, Izuzquiza/Navas notched point three at the No. 3 spot: 21-13, 18-21, 15-13.   

• The freshman and senior duo are now 25-2 together on the season.  

• The win over the Mustangs stretched TCU’s record in the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship to 6-6.   

• The Horned Frogs maintained their lead in the all-time series against Cal Poly, extending to 6-4.  

Up Next  

No. 2-seeded TCU will take on No. 4-seeded LMU. The title match for the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship will be live at 9:30 a.m. CT on ESPN.  

After eight NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship tournaments, the queens of the sand have resided in Southern California. And that might continue this year, but if so, it will be a new local team reigning supreme.

Loyola Marymount will play for its first national championship Sunday in Gulf Shores, Alabama, after taking out four-time defending champion USC in the quarterfinals Saturday, followed by a 3-2 upset of top-seeded UCLA in the semifinal.

In doing so, LMU ensured that, for the first time since the tournament began in 2016, the national championship would not feature a team from UCLA or USC. The tournament was not played in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Coached by John Mayer, who is in his 10th season, fourth-seeded LMU (38-6) will take on second-seeded Texas Christian (31-5), which is also playing for its first national crown, at 7:30 a.m. PT Sunday (ESPN). The Horned Frogs advanced to the final with a 3-1 victory over sixth-seeded Cal Poly after blanking rival Texas, seeded seventh, 3-0 in the quarterfinal.

The Lions’ path was far from easy as they won three consecutive points to knock off the Bruins (32-7), who were seeking their third title and first since 2019.

Kenzie Brower and Jessie Smith got UCLA on the board with a 21-17, 21-12 win on court three over Lisa Luini and Abbey Thorup. Maggie Boyd and Sally Perez then defeated Anna Pelloia and Michelle Shaffer 25-23, 21018 on court one to put the Bruins within a point of their sixth national-title appearance.

LMU wouldn’t be denied. Chloe Hooker and Vilhelmiina Prihti took down Peri Brennan and Natalie Myszkowski 22-20, 21-16 on court two, followed by Isabelle Reffel and Magdalena Rabitsch rallying on court four for a 16-21, 21-14, 15-12 triumph over Alexa Fernandez and Kaley Mathews.

That meant all eyes on court five, where LMU’s Giuliana Poletti Corrales and Tanon Rosenthal were locked in a battle with Ensley Alden and Harper Cooper. The Lions opened with a 21-18 win, but the Bruins responded to win 21-19. The third and final set ended 15-12, with Poletti Corrales tapping a winner down the left side to kick off the celebration.

The Lions advanced to the semifinal by ousting USC, in search of its seventh trophy, by a 3-1 count.

LMU opened the quarterfinal by winning the first sets at all five positions against the fifth-seeded Trojans (27-11). Luini and Thorup helped pave the way to victory on court three with a 21-17, 21-18 defeat of Maya Gessner and Mabyn Thomas, followed by Poletti Corrales and Rosenthal putting LMU up 2-0 with a 22-20, 21-16 win over Madison Goellner and Kaileigh Truslow on court five.

USC’s Delaney Karl and Ella Larkin cut the lead in half by knocking off Rabitsch and Reffel by a 15-21, 21-14, 15-9 score on court four. The Trojans’ rally and hopes were dashed soon after when Pelloia and Shaffer posted a 21-13, 14-21, 15-7 top-court win over Zoey Henson and Madison White.

UCLA kicked off the day with a 3-0 dispatching of eighth-seeded Florida State. The team of Brower and Smith earned the first point with a 21-10, 21-12 victory on court three.

Minutes later on court two, Brennan and Myszkowski won 21-15, 21-15 to get the Bruins within one. Boyd and Perez needed three sets on the top court but wrapped it up 21-19, 19-21, 15-11 to propel the Bruins to the semifinals.