PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers women’s volleyball is kicking off the summer with a foreign tour of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Italy from May 25-June 5.

In addition to sightseeing and cultural experiences, the Scarlet Knights will play six total matches against professional and local organizations with a pair of matchups each during their stops in Belgrade, Serbia, Maribor, Slovenia and Milan, Italy.  

The trip begins in Belgrade, Serbia, where the Scarlet Knights will get to visit the riverside Savamala quarter, the city’s creative headquarters, Belgrade Fortress, Mt. Avala and the Belgrade Design District, along with matches against Lajkovac and Stara Pazova.

The trip continues with a visit to Zagreb, Croatia, that includes the sights of St. Mark’s historic 13th-century church and the colorful Dolac Market before heading to Maribor, Slovenia.

In addition to meeting up with OTP Banka and OTP Banka Branik on the court in Slovenia, RU will spend time at the Maribor city center, Dras Center and  Pohorje Mountain.

The Scarlet Knights will then head off to Italy, which will include stops in Venice, Milan, Verona and Lake Como.

While in Venice, Rutgers will experience the city’s water taxis and visit Piazza San Marco and Doge’s Palace.

RU will also take on CABIATE 2 in Milan while also getting to visit the Castle, Duomo Scala and the sites of central Milan.

The trip will wrap up with a day trip to Lake Como before returning to Milan for the final match of the trip versus Nazionale Ita Juniores.

 

Stay tuned to @RUVBall on social media and ScarletKnights.com for a live blog covering the culture, competition, and experiences during the trip. 

 

Follow Rutgers women’s volleyball on Facebook, X and Instagram.

 

– RU – 

GENEVA, OHIO – The #6 Rowan Men’s Track & Field is tied for sixth with eight team points after day one of the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio turning in an All-American and a new school mark.

UPDATED RESULTS

Damitrius Hester was runner-up in the javelin as the sophomore hit a new personal best with a top throw of 66.55 meters to repeat as All-American

The 4×100 relay of Shamar Love, Robert McKinney, Elijah Hendricks, and Evan Corcoran broke its own school record in the preliminaries, clocking in with the fourth-fastest Division III time of 39.97.

In the 200 meter prelims, Hendricks (21.22) and Rajahn Dixon (21.13-PR) will move on the finals.

Nana Agyemang just missed an All-American nod as the senior was 17th in the long jump (6.89 meters)

Jason Agyemang was in action in the 400 meter hurdles (56.92) as was the 4×400 relay (3;16.03), but neither did not qualify for the finals.

Action continues on Friday with Profs in action in the 110 meter hurdles (J. Agyemang, Kwaku Nkrumah, Jamir Brown, and Anaias Hughes), the high jump (Jamile Gantt, Arrington Rhym, Noah Wampole), and 100 meters (Love).
 

During the first two frames of Thursday night’s District 6 Class 3A Championship at Tyrone Middle School, the Altoona boys’ squad either held the lead at times or kept things just close enough to have a chance.

State College, however, just had a couple extra plays, and in the third matchup found a big enough run as they remained a thorn in the side of the Mountain Lions. State High held strong for a 25-23, 25-22 win in the first two sets, respectively, before finishing off Altoona in set three 25-16 for the title.

“I have never been more proud of a group of guys,” Altoona coach John Saboe said. “We’ve struggled all season to maintain our confidence. I thought in games one and two, we kept our confidence, we kept fighting. We put ourselves into a little bit of two-point hole. We’d catch up, and we fall back, we’d catch up, and we’d fall back.

“We just couldn’t get over that two-point deficit that we kept creating for ourselves. We made it a little tough in the first game with some missed serves, but we still battled. The guys were still believing, and that was the biggest thing we really wanted to get through with these guys.”

Altoona’s Saturnino Yohn sets the ball for one of his teammates against State College.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Following an Altoona kill from Luke Mitchell, which helped cut the deficit late in set one to two, State High’s Deondre Sheffy stymied the rally with three of his 10 kills, including the deciding finish to end the first set.

During the second in what felt like a sequence one step forward, one step back, Lukas Weathersbee stuffed one into open space for one his 10 kills to tie the second set at 18.

“I’m so proud of Lukas Weathersbee,” Saboe said. “The guy had an outstanding game. We challenged him (Wednesday), and he rose to the occasion. All season we said we need you to do the things that our team needs.

“Tonight, he did everything that our team needed. I’m so proud of him for what he brought to the table for our guys tonight. He found holes, he found seams, he found the block.”

But Derrick Campbell answered with a pair of finishes on his own as he registered 10 of them with 12 digs and 13 assists before Sheffey finished off the second set to put State up 2-0.

Luckas Keiter had 13 digs while Amir Cyrus added 16 assists.

“They played well, they passed the ball well,” State College coach Larry Campbell said. “I felt like we were in control the whole way. I think our problem was we played tight most of the night. Our serving wasn’t bad –four aces to 11 errors — 37 kills, we hit under .200 as a team. Defensively we were a little better and that made a difference.”

In the third set, with the Little Lions leading by three, a pair of Altoona attack errors, along with four crucial kills from Campbell, helped spark the decisive 11-5 run.

“We’re starting multiple freshmen and first-year players,” Campbell said. “They’ve gotten better. Coming into this, I was kind of wondering where we’re going to be beyond this. We’re minus a kid who is going to Ohio State. You don’t take away power 5 commits and then you’re rocking and rolling. We’ve had to change a lot.”

Altoona will graduate five seniors from this year’s team and Saboe is grateful for the progress they helped the Mountain Lion program make.

“Five guys who have really grown, who have brought great contributions to our team all season,” Saboe said. “They’re a fantastic group of individuals who just worked so hard and have provided so much stability for our underclassmen.”

Saboe is also optimistic about the Mountain Lions future as the team closes 2025 with a record of 4-11 as part of a demanding Mid Penn Conference.

“I thought our program took some good steps this year,” he said. I thought our guys did a good job; I thought we really improved and I’m anxious for what the future holds for us.”

State College will travel to McDowell for the District 6-8-10 Class 3A Subregional Championship next week at a site and time to be announced. Both teams will advance to the PIAA Playoffs.

SERVICE POINTS

ALTOONA: Terza 5, Coldwell 2, Mitchell 4, Huey-Kish 7, Weathersbee 2, Yohn 2

Records: Altoona (4-11), State College (8-5).

Principal Steve Clark shared plenty of stories and tidbits at the 29th annual commencement ceremony Thursday celebrating Sierra High’s Class of 2025.

This was the class that had the highest ELA (English Language Arts) scores at the school for the past two years.

“You’ve excelled in the classroom, community, and the athletic arena,” said Clark, who gave a shoutout to the flag football program and its 11-1 record in the Valley Oak League.

He also acknowledged Colins Schluer and his record goals in water polo – he’s the son of Manteca Unified board President Stephen Schluer, and will be attending the University of Alabama.

The Timberwolves, in all sports this year, had a collective 3.45 grade point average. “You were true student athletes,” Clark said.

Graduation displayed the musical talents at the school.

For starters, Oliver Naven performed the National Anthem to the crowd at Daniel Teicheira Memorial Stadium – on electric guitar.

Mapuana Toutai, who also plays guitar, did her song “Bloom” currently streaming on Spotify.

Music teacher Rick Hammarstrom – he along with science teacher Chris Courtney, Social Science instructor Dan Cunial (one of the originals of the school), English teacher Janet Sanders, and campus monitor Diane Silva are all retiring at the end of the school year – jammed once again with the band consisting of seniors Santiago Pachalian, Brock Felt, and Faka’osi Latu, and sophomores Gonzalo Pachalian and Cooper Mahoney, to the tune, “Pocket Change.”

Among the student speakers were valedictorian Nicole Allison, salutatorian Siddharthan Gopendran, and senior class President Alexa Jimenez Moya.

Clark noted that Allison’s “senioritis” was taking four AP classes this year. “She got all A’s,” he said.

She responded, by saying: “I didn’t set out to be valedictorian – my goal was just to apply myself.”

Allison was introspective on her high school journey in “finding brings you joy and passion.” For her, it’s art.

Clark indicated that she has 22 full sketchbooks.

Gopendran went to nine different schools prior to Sierra High. None could properly pronounce his first name, Siddharthan, he recalled.

Along the way, he learned a lot about himself, in particular, finding ways to adapt along the way,

“Adaptability is the greatest skill,” Gopendran said, for which he credits this for allowing him to be the best version of himself.

Moya praised the support she received from family and friends during her time at Sierra, basking in the moment of graduation.

“It’s a great day to be T-Wolves,” she proclaimed.

#Ballers manager Chad Pinder tossed in B2. The umpire crew lost control of the game for a few minutes LOL. No 1B coach for a minute and they call time. Just an embarrassment from the crew. pic.twitter.com/wLsA8lOgmG

— FutureSox (@FutureSox) May 23, 2025

This Memorial Day weekend, the last four Brandeis student-athletes will be competing at their respective NCAA Championships.

Starting on Friday, first-years Sarai Sealy of New York, New York, and Peterly Leroy, of Malden, Massachusetts, will be competing at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Cleveland, Ohio. Sealy enters the meet as the second seed in the triple jump, while Leroy is ranked fourth nationally in the 400-meter dash. The meet starts today – Thursday – with Leroy’s preliminary race coming on Friday afternoon and finals on Saturday. Sealy’s event takes place on Saturday as well.

Meanwhile, senior Bhakti Parwani of Ahmedabad, India, and junior Rebecca Suarez of New York, New York, will be competing at the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in Claremont, California. Suarez will compete in both the singles and doubles competitions, while Parwani is her doubles partner. Opening round action starts on Saturday at 9 AM Pacific (12 Eastern) for the singles tournament and 3 PM Pacific (6 Eastern) for doubles. 

With the championship fields announced after finals had concluded the Judges have been using their extra time in a variety of different ways.  Rebecca has been getting additional exercise at times that feel more natural, while Bhakti took advantage of the nicer weather to hit as many tennis balls as possible.  Sarai, who battled injury during the season, has been able to focus more on her recovery after practice. For Peterly, the break has afforded more time to work on the mental aspect of racing. “I’ve been visualizing my race, setting clear intentions for what I want to achieve, and making sure my body is fully rested and ready to perform at its best,” she said. The need for rest is one that each of the Judges said was a key component to maximizing their time.

This is a repeat performance for all four Judges. The tennis players went to St. Louis last year, where they fell in the first round in doubles, while the track stars competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Rochester in March, where Sarai placed fourth in the triple jump and Peterly was 14th in the 400 meters. They will all bring lessons from that previous trip. Rebecca struggled with injuries in 2024, so she’ll work on maintaining her peak physical performance. Peterly will focus on her performance without worrying about rankings or seedings, and being able to stay in the moment. Bhakti and Sarai each mentioned feeling the nerves or pressure of the moment last time around. Bhakti will try to treat this match like any other, while Sarai learned that it’s important to have fun at the meet. “Seeing the other competitors talking to each other between jumps and making jokes showed me that it’s okay not to take things so seriously.”

Last time out, with the NCAA tennis championships in St. Louis – a University Athletic Association city that many Judges get to visit in their careers, but not the tennis team, who play their championships in Florida – Bhakti and Rebecca both found their trips around the city – to the Gateway Arch and on a boat trip around town – a memorable moment. Sarai enjoyed getting to bond with her teammates, Leroy and Garret Rieden of the men’s team, while the overall camaraderie and energy of the meet was among Peterly’s favorite things.

One of the most important aspects for the quartet is the opportunity to represent Brandeis on the national stage. It’s a goal for all Judges, not just these four, but it’s one that they’ve been working hard for, as they see it not only as a chance to represent themselves and the school, but their programs, and their teammates who also put in hard work all season long. “It means the world, really,” Rebecca said. “I’ve been telling [coach] Pauri [Pandian] how I’ve wanted to compete at NCAAs in singles and doubles, and after three years, I’ve accomplished a goal I’ve had since I was a first-year.”

The Judges are all looking for All-America finishes as they compete for national championships. “I feel confident about our chances going into the tournament,” said coach Pandian of his tennis players. “Rebecca and Bhakti have played better and better as the season progressed, and they are peaking at the right time. I’m also excited to have them back for a second year in a row. You learn a lot of lessons your first time, and I know they will apply those lessons.”

“I am very excited for Peterly and Sarai’s first NCAA Outdoor Championshipa,” said head track and field coach Miles Ketchum. “It is an extremely competitive field, but they are both as talented and capable as anyone at the meet. They are both competitors who can embrace and respond to the environment, and they are feeling prepared and ready to do their best.”

No matter what happens, the Judges will give their best as their seasons come to a close. “I want to focus on the things that are under my control,” Bhakti said. “I also want to enjoy my last college tennis tournament, since I graduated a few days back!”

Watch the action live by visiting https://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule/. Live Results from track and field are at https://results.leonetiming.com/?mid=7852, and women’s tennis are at http://webapps3.cmc.edu/livescore/.