A Mesa-based water polo team is looking for members as it works to expand a Valley-wide league, including aQueen Creek team that’s now being formed.
The Topaz Water Polo Club was formed in 2020 for a couple of reasons, according to Mariah Hagemann, who has club program manager oversees tournament planning, travel coordination, and the overall development of the athletes and teams.
“While most local youth sports focus on land-based activities, we saw a need for greater access to aquatic sports – especially water polo, said Hagemann. “So we set out to create something different: local, affordable, high-quality programs that give families access to the sport without the high cost or travel burden.”
The club practices at Kino Aquatic Center in Mesa and Chandler Aquatics Center, led by collegiate and national-level coaches, including John Cogliandro, head coach at Ottawa University.
John Cogliandro coaches the East Valley teams in the budding water polo league, including a new Queen Creek team.
Annalee Hull/Staff Photographer
He also coaches the budding league’s teams, which current comprise three from the East Valley and one from the West Valley. He also will be coaching a new team that’s forming in Queen Creek.
“Over the past year, we’ve been building a growing youth water polo community in Mesa and Chandler, offering kids ages 8–18 the opportunity to learn and compete in a fast-paced Olympic team sport that has historically had little presence in Arizona,” Hagemann said.
She said Arizona’s first community-based youth water polo league is focused on providing “consistent local competition.”
“Right now, most teams travel long distances and pay high tournament fees, limiting who can participate,” she explained. “Our goal is to remove those barriers and grow the sport in our own backyard.”
“Water polo is one of the most challenging and rewarding team sports,” she added, “and we want to spread awareness, build access, and open doors for East Valley kids.”
The Topaz Water Polo Club current counts about 40 athletes across all ages.
The youth program serves ages 6-18 and a women’s and men’s masters program is available to people 18 and older, though Hagemann said, “Our main focus is youth development.”
“We recently sent a team to the 2025 Junior Olympics in California, the largest youth water polo tournament in the country,” she noted. “We also compete in local and regional events throughout the year and are continuing to build toward consistent national competition.”
Hagemann, who was been playing water polo since she was a kid and belongs to Topaz’s women’s masters team, said, “We’re in the pilot phase of launching the league.
“We’ve already run several scrimmage days and mini-tournaments, and are now finalizing rules, structure, and scheduling in preparation for a full launch this coming spring.”
While finding available public pools “used to be one of our biggest hurdles,” Hagemann said, “We’ve made great progress. We now have consistent pool time secured, which gives us the ability to run regular practices and games across multiple sites.”
The club is co-ed, especially for our younger groups ages 6–14. For older athletes, there are both co-ed and gender-specific practices.
Currently, Topaz is offering free trial weeks. “No prior experience is required,” Hagemann said, “just a willingness to learn and have fun in the water.”
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 23 Iowa State (23-7, 12-6 Big 12) continues its 18th NCAA Championships appearance as the No. 5 seed advancing to the second round to meet No. 4-seed Minnesota.
Saturday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m., vs. No. 17 Minnesota (23-9, 12-8 Big Ten)
Maturi Pavilion, Minneapolis, Minn.
Tickets | Live Stats | ESPN+ | Media Center | Notes
By the Numbers
1 – Morgan Brandt leads all active Big 12 players with 3,773 career assists. The total ranks fourth in program history.
3 – Christy Johnson-Lynch ranks No. 3 all time in Big 12 history with 219 league victories.
3 – ISU ends regular season as the Big 12 leader in three categories: kills (14.14 per set), assists (13.03 per set) and digs (15.22 per set). The kill and assist average rank top 20 nationally.
5 – Iowa State placed five on All-Big 12 teams and took home Big 12 Libero and Setter of the Year.
10 – Maya Duckworth now ranks 10th in Iowa State history with 1,072 kills. Duckworth became the 12th in ISU history to join the 1,000-kill club.
12 – Iowa State has 12 Big 12 wins for the first time since 2012.
The 2025 Cyclones
ISU advanced with a first-round win over St. Thomas. Rachel Van Gorp had 33 digs, the second-most in a tournament match by a Cyclone and most since 2012. ISU served 12 aces led by Nayeli Ti’a with five, tying the ISU tournament record. Van Gorp served four, now the third-highest tournament ace total.
Iowa State ended regular season at 22-7 and 12-6 in Big 12 play to finish tied for third after being picking ninth in preseason. ISU has the most regular season wins since 2011, while the last time ISU was ranked this late in the season was in 2017.
Rachel Van Gorp is the unanimous Big 12 Libero of the Year, and Morgan Brandt earned Big 12 Setter of the Year while both were placed on All-Big 12 First Team. Tierney Jackson was named All-Big 12 Second team, while true freshmen Alea Goolsby and Reagan Hanfelt were selected for the All-Rookie Team.
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.
