DES MOINES — A quartet of distance runners from the Central College men’s and women’s track & field team started the program’s appearance at the 115th Drake Relays Thursday night.

Peyton Steffen (junior, Marion) was the top finisher for Central, taking 10th in the women’s 5,000-meter run open division. She clocked in at 16 minutes, 42.09 seconds to become the third-fastest runner in program history.

Jack Brown (sophomore, Norwalk) was 12th in the men’s 5,000 meters open division, cracking the program’s top-10 list with a time of 14:52.37. Addison Parrott (sophomore, Danville) also had a 12th place finish, running the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:53.33

Senior Randy Jimenez (senior, Liberty Center, Southeast Warren HS) was 34th in a deep men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase race in 9:31.17

Friday will be a busy day of action for the Dutch competing at both the Drake Relays and the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola.

 

By: Contact: Hannah Hirst; Assistant Athletic Communication Director

PITMAN, N.J. – The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) has officially announced its 2025 Men’s Volleyball All-Conference selections, and New Jersey City University (NJCU) was well-represented with three standout student-athletes earning recognition for their exceptional performances this season. Sophomore outside hitter Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill) and freshman outside hitter Matt Peralta (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) were named to the All-NJAC First Team, while junior setter Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) received Honorable Mention honors.

Marcus Pardasie (Paramus, N.J./Cresskill), one of the most decorated players in the region this season, earned his second consecutive First Team All-NJAC honor. A dynamic sophomore outside hitter, Pardasie led the Gothic Knights in nearly every major offensive category. He tallied a program-best 452 kills and 33 service aces, while ranking second in digs (223) and blocks (34.0). He started 29 of NJCU’s 31 matches and played in 103 total sets. His conference-leading 4.39 kills per set and 508 total points—over 50 more than any other NJAC player—highlighted his dominance throughout the season. He also ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.313), fifth in digs per set (2.17), and ninth in service aces per set (0.32). Pardasie’s stellar year earned him a long list of accolades, including four NJAC Player of the Week selections, two Skyline Conference Player of the Week honors, a national AVCA Division III Player of the Week recognition, and a selection as NJAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Joining Pardasie on the First Team is freshman outside hitter Matt Peralta (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack), who made an immediate impact in his debut collegiate season. Peralta finished second on the team with 250 kills and 27 service aces, while adding 151 digs and 23 blocks. He started all 25 matches in which he appeared, playing in 84 sets. Peralta ranked in the NJAC top ten in several statistical categories: fifth in kills per set (2.98), 10th in hitting percentage (.245), eighth in service aces per set (0.32), ninth in digs per set (1.80), and fifth in total points (291). His breakout year also earned him Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year, First Team All-Skyline honors, and numerous weekly awards from both the Skyline and NJAC, including NJCU Rookie of the Week (twice), Skyline Rookie of the Week, and NJAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Rounding out NJCU’s all-conference selections is junior setter Alex Casais (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne), who was named Honorable Mention All-NJAC, the first such honor of his career. Casais anchored the Gothic Knights’ offense with a team-leading 992 assists, averaging 10.23 assists per set—second-best in the NJAC. In addition to his setting duties, he contributed significantly on defense and in transition play, ranking third on the team in digs (157), fourth in blocks (30.0), and third in service aces (24). His consistency and leadership earned him a spot on the All-Skyline First Team as well.

The Gothic Knights concluded their 2025 campaign with a 23-10 overall record, including a 16-2 mark in Skyline Conference play. They finished third in the NJAC standings with a 1-2 conference record. The 23 victories set a new program record for wins in a single season and marked the sixth time NJCU has reached the 20-win milestone (2005, 2006, 2009, 2022, 2024, 2025). Under head coach Carlo Edra, the team has now reached 20 or more wins in four different seasons, including three in the last four years.

For the latest news, updates, and information on New Jersey City University sports, visit njcugothicknights.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Gothic Knights news by following NJCU Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

 

 

 

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lindenwood beach volleyball (15-13, 4-6 OVC) advanced to their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference semifinal appearance after defeating Morehead State and Tennessee Tech in back-to-back matches. The Lions have now made the OVC semifinals for the second time in their first three seasons as a program.

MATCH ONE

#4 Lindenwood – 3

#3 Morehead State – 0

The Lions started elimination day with a 3-0 sweep over the Eagles of Morehead State (14-12, 7-3 OVC) marking the first time this season the Lions have defeated MSU. Lindenwood was able to pull off their first sweep of the tournament after the first three pairs won.

 

Myah Hough and Sienna King started the day off with two closes matches winning in two sets over the fives pair of Hollan Everett and Courtney Fitzgerald by scores of 21-19 and 21-19.

 

Gabby Belcher and Aubrey Sheppard continued their strong weekend with a three-set win in the fours over Brenna Bommer and Shea Hefner. The undefeated duo won by scores of 21-19, 18-21 and 16-14.

 

Abby VanBuskirk and Taylor Gentemann wrapped up the sweep picking up their first win of the weekend after taking down Peighton Isley and Amelia Nott in a three set battle. After leading 1-0 after the first set, the Lions’ three pair fell in the second but responded in a big way winning the third 15-6. Both the ones and twos matches went unfinished as the Lions advanced to take on Tennessee Tech.

MATCH TWO

#4 Lindenwood – 3

#5 Tennessee Tech – 2

In what was the closest match of the week thus far, the Lions pulled off an incredible 3-2 win over Tennessee Tech to keep their season alive. Lindenwood went a perfect 4-0 against the Golden Eagles this year as they inch closer to the championship match.

Belcher and Sheppard have become the only Lions’ pair thus far to start the OVC Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. The fours picked up the first point of the match in the fours after defeating Emma Pabon and Elena Wallace 21-14 and 21-18.

Tennessee Tech went on to take both points in the fives and threes as they took a 2-1 lead over the Lions. Hough and King lost in a tightly contested two set match by scores of 23-25 and 14-21. VanBuskirk and Gentemann also fell by scores of 16-21 and 17-21.

Coming down the wire, the ones pair of Abby Jacobs and Annalie McWhorter tied the match at 2-2 with an impressive two set sweep over Bella Powell and Jordan Karlen. The Lions even the series with scores of 21-13 and 21-19.

It all came down to the two pair as Nyah Wilson and Katie Bockhorst battled Alayna Pierce and Brooke Amann. After TTU took the first set 12-21, Wilson and Bockhorst responded coming back multiple times to take the second set by a score of 22-20. After trailing by two points early in the third and final set, the Lions responded with a come from behind victory winning 15-12 and helped the Lions to their second consecutive OVC semifinals appearance.

Lindenwood will now battle #2 UT Martin on Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 a.m. CT for a chance at a trip to the OVC Championship match against #1 Chattanooga. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The App State men’s and women’s track & field team opened competition at the Penn Relays on Thursday with a new program record and four personal bests on the evening.
 
In the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, redshirt senior Calbert Guest stopped the clock at 8:42.01 for a personal best and new school record. Guest surpassed the previous record of 8:51.28, which was set in 2022 by Ryan Brown. In Thursday’s race, Guest placed sixth overall and became the first App State men’s distance athlete to qualify for the USATF Elite Championships.

“Calbert put himself in a position to race and forget about the clock,” said men’s distance coach Brad Herbster. “He competed well tonight and it is a nice accomplishment getting the school record, establishing a regional mark, and obtaining the USA Championship minimum mark. There are big things ahead as we move into the championship season.”

 

Junior Ethan Lipham recorded a personal best of 3:46.82 to win his heat and finish 10th overall in the men’s 1,500 meters. He rose to fourth in the App State all-time list in the event.

 

Senior Emma Russum clocked a personal best of her own with a time of 16:30.30 in the women’s 5,000 meters. She placed 23rd overall and moved to fourth in the program all-time list.

 

With a personal best of 14:13.82, freshman Thomas Wlazlowski rounded out the night, placing 33rd in the men’s 5,000 meters. He remains third in the program top-10 in the event.

 

App State will resume competition at the Penn Relays at noon on Friday with the men’s long jump. The Mountaineers’ first event on the track will be the women’s distance medley relay (DMR) at 12:05 p.m.

 

App State at the Penn Relays Schedule

Friday, April 25

12 p.m. College Men’s Long Jump (College)

12:05 p.m. College Women’s Distance Medley Relay (College)

12:20 p.m. College Men’s Distance Medley Relay (College)

12:30 p.m. College Women’s Pole Vault (College)

3:10 p.m. College Women’s 100 meters (Prelims)

3:30 p.m. College Men’s 100 meters (Prelims)

4 p.m. College Men’s Pole Vault (College)

4 p.m. College Men’s Triple Jump (College)

4 p.m. College Women’s Triple Jump (College)

6:10 p.m. College Women’s Sprint Medley (Championship of America)

 

Saturday, April 26 

11:30 a.m. College Men’s Pole Vault (Championship)

2:30 p.m. College Women’s Pole Vault (Championship)

**3:40 p.m. College Women’s 100 meters (Championship)

**3:45 p.m. College Men’s 100 meters (Championship)

5 p.m. College Women’s 4×800-meter Relay (College)

5:10 p.m. College Men’s 4×800-meter Relay (College)

 

Montana State volleyball and head coach Matt Houk will put a stamp on its off-season practices when its hosts Providence in its annual spring scrimmage on Saturday from 2-4 p.m. in Shroyer Gym.

The two Montana schools will participate in controlled drills during its morning session (10 a.m.-noon) before playing its afternoon match which is free and open to the public.

MSU’s match against the Argos marks the fourth scrimmage of the spring season for the Bobcats. Montana State also had scrimmages against Gonzaga, Montana, and Utah State.

“It was really important to play those scrimmages,” Houk said. “You can do some things in your own gym and feel like things are going a certain way, but until you put it out there against somebody else, and they’re doing things you don’t see every day, or they’re taking advantage of things that maybe we don’t take advantage of against each other, you don’t really get a good sense of where you’re at.”

Led by seniors Camryn Greenwald, Lauren Lindseth, and Madilyn Siebler the Bobcats will look to improve upon its sixth place Big Sky Conference finish from last fall.

“We’re going to rely on our seniors to do their jobs well,” Houk said. “This is year three for us with this group which means we’re going to be more demanding of them to take control of the court. We need them to lead by words and action.”

Houk will also look for returners Karli Heidemann and Joelie Spelts to make big contributions.

“We saw Karli and Joelie take some really big steps in the right direction this spring,” Houk said.

For the first time in program history, the Bobcats have a pair of freshmen who graduated high school in the fall and enrolled at MSU for spring semester. Teagan Jaynes, a 6-foot setter from Dundas, Minn., and Elli Tufto, a 6-foot outside hitter from Prior Lake, Minn., jumpstarted their collegiate careers in early January.

“Anytime an incoming freshman decides that’s something they want to do, and it’s their choice, it accelerates development,” Houk said. “Volleyball is a really hard sport in that they come in August, and you’ve got twenty-ish days to try to train before you play your first matches.

“As a freshman, you’re not only stepping out there to play matches right away, but you’re also trying to go to school for the first time, you’re living away from home for the first time, you’re sharing a room with someone brand new and you’re going through all these ‘firsts’ all while trying to win volleyball matches.”

Houk believes the young duo has adapted well to being away from home and connecting with the Bobcat returners.

“We’ve had good, bad and everything in between,” Houk said of spring drills. “That’s what you hope for. You get a good look at all the things, so you hopefully walk away from the spring training block with a good sense of what your strengths are, but also a good sense of your weaknesses.”

Houk wants his team to leave everything they have on the court during Saturday’s scrimmage.

“I told them I wanted nothing left in the tank,” he said. “That will be a good check if this has been a good spring.”

 

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. [SCHEDULE & RESULTS | BRACKET] – The 2025 NAIA Women’s Beach Volleyball Invitational second day started with four pool play matches and concluded with four teams remaining.

Pool Play Notes

• Five pairs remained undefeated through the final four pool play matches on Friday morning: Corban (Ore.) pairs 2, 3, 4; The Master’s (Calif.) pair 1; Park (Mo.) pair 2. The Corban 4’s team, Alexis Adebodun and Gabriela Engels,  were the only pair that did not drop a set.
• Only one pair clinched the match for the team at the 3’s position on Friday, while the remaining three matches were clinched at the 5’s position.
• Corban (Ore.) was the only team to go undefeated in pool play.

Quarterfinals

The eight qualifying teams were seeded in the bracket based on their pool play performance. Bracket play changed from playing to completion to playing to decision. After quarterfinal play, Corban’s 2, 3 and 4 pairs, as well as Park’s 2’s pair, remain undefeated in the tournament. Every pair has dropped at least one set after quarterfinal play. 

Park (Mo.) def. Webber International (Fla.), 3-1

In the first wave, the two and four pairs split with the Pirates winning at the 2’s (2-1) and the Warrios at the 4’s (2-1).

The three and five pairs played in the second wave. Park took a one-match lead with the 5’s pair (2-0) of Daniela Gomez and Angelina Rodriguez. It came down to the 1’s and 3’s position and Luna Martins and Mafalda Bras came through for the Pirates with a 2-0 win to secure the 3-1 win for Park to advance to the semifinals.

OUAZ (Ariz.) def. The Master’s (Calif.), 3-2

The first wave ended in a split decision with OUAZ winning at the 2’s position (2-0) and The Master’s winning at the 4’s position (2-0).

The Spirit regained the lead with a 2-0 win from Diana Enriquez and Shea Marovich at the 5’s position but the Mustangs were not done yet as Grace Colburn and Violet Avila tied the match score 2-2 for TMU with a two sets to one win at the 3’s position.

It came down to the 1’s pair where the teams battled through three sets before Summer Hanks and Amey Rainaud won to send OUAZ to the semifinals.

This was the only match that required all five matches to be played before reaching a winning decision.

Southern Oregon def. Mobile (Ala.), 3-0

Southern Oregon was the only team to win in a three-match sweep. All three matches finished in two sets. The decision came from the 1’s position where Madi Gray and Tessa Zimmermann snagged the win that sent the Raiders to the semifinals.

Corban (Ore.) def. Arizona Christian, 4-1

Corban (Ore.) took a 2-0 lead with wins at the 2’s and 4’s positions.

Arizona Christian attempted a reverse sweep as Haley Brown and Riley Brown won 2-0 at the 1’s position to put the Firestorm on the board.

However, Cammie Masanda and Danae Stokes at the 3’s position had other plans and won 2-0 to clinch the match for the Warriors.

The 5’s pair finished 2-0 right after the 3’s clinched the match to secure Corban’s 4-1 win.

At the conclusion of day two, three of the four Pool A teams advanced to the semifinals. Corban is the only Pool B team to advance out of the quarterfinals. 

In the quarterfinals, two 1’s pairs and two 3’s pairs clinched the match for their team.

Saturday, the remaining four teams will battle for a chance to win the 2025 Battle for the Red Banner. The semifinals will begin at 11 a.m. ET and the finals will start at 2 p.m. ET.