AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 Texas Volleyball saw three athletes earn All-America honors on Wednesday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced.

Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford was named a First Team All-American for the second-straight season, first with Texas. Stafford led the Longhorns this season in kills (516), service aces (33) and points (580.5). After 30 matches, Stafford averaged 4.69 kills per set and hit for .360. On top of her offense, the AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist added 52 blocks and a team-leading 11 solo blocks.

Her 516 kills in her first year as a Longhorn is the sixth-most in a single season in UT history, while her 4.69 kills per set ranks eighth. Stafford later climbed to No. 5 on the Individual Match Records list with 32 kills.

Freshman Cari Spears was named a Third Team All-American after starting all 30 matches as a rightside. The Frisco, Texas native was named the SEC Freshman of the Week five times, was a two-time SEC player of the Week and AVCA Player of the Week once. It was the first time in two years a freshman earned the weekly honor. Spears ended the year with the second-most kills on the team (358) and combined for 3.25 kills per set and hit .295.

Senior libero Emma Halter earned Honorable Mention in her final year as a Longhorn. Halter ended the season with 396 digs, 167 assists and 24 service aces. In four years, Halter totaled 1,307 digs – the eighth-most in Texas history for an individual’s career. She also broke the Texas record in digs in a three-set match against Florida A&M with 25.

Wednesday’s honors gave the Longhorns their 62^nd All-American and 115^th honor.

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Four members of the NC State volleyball team earned Academic All-District Honors as announced by College Sport Communicators (formerly known as CoSIDA) Tuesday afternoon.
 
The award recognizes student-athletes for their performance in the classroom in addition to on the court. To qualify, one must have a grade point average of 3.5 and be at least a sophomore both academically and athletically.
 
Lily Cropper, Sydney Daniels, and Elaisa Villar earn the honor for the first time in their career while Courtney Bryant earns it for the second year in a row.
 
Bryant is the first student-athlete to earn the honor consecutively since Brie Merriweather did so in 2012 and 2013.
 
Cropper, Villar and Byrant appeared in all al 30 matches for the Wolfpack this season, while stuffing the stat sheet for their respective positions.
 
Daniels also appeared in all 30 matches for the Pack as a defensive specialist and wore the libero jersey for eight of those matches.
 

 
GRAPEVINE, Texas – Baylor’s first-ever finalist for college track & field’s most prestigious honor, reigning NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles champion Nathaniel Ezekiel will join the two other male finalists and three female semifinalists for The Bowerman Presentation on Thursday at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.
 
Hosted by ESPN broadcaster and former University of Indiana runner Larra Overton, The Bowerman Presentation will be streamed live by RunnerSpace beginning at 6:30 p.m. with the red-carpet entrance to the Grapevine Ballroom. The Bowerman is given annually to the top collegiate track and field men’s and women’s athlete of the year.
 
A nine-time All-American and six-time Big 12 champion, Ezekiel capped off his collegiate career by winning the NCAA outdoor 400-meter hurdles title with a school-record time of 47.49. He also broke the school indoor mark in the 400 meters (44.74), winning the silver medal at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Ezekiel, who represented his native Nigeria at the 2024 Olympics in the 400 hurdles, turned pro this summer and finished fourth at the World Track and Field Championships with a Nigerian-record time of 47.11.
 
The other male finalists are Ja’Kobe Tharp from Auburn, who won NCAA championships in the indoor 60-meter hurdles and outdoor 110-meter hurdles; and Arkansas sprinter Jordan Anthony, who swept NCAA titles in the indoor 60 meters and outdoor 100 meters.
 
On the women’s side, the finalists are distance runner Pamela Kosgei from New Mexico, 3,000-meter steeplechaser Doris Lemngole from Alabama and 400-meter hurdler Savannah Sutherland from Michigan. Five of the six schools have finalists for the first time in their programs’ history.
 
Last year’s winners were University of Texas decathlete Leo Neugebauer and record-setting distance runner Parker Valby from Florida.

The RunnerSpace live stream is available at:  https://the-bowerman-presentation.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=14920&do=videos&video_id=436664

 

For the latest news on the Baylor track and field team all year long, follow its official Facebook, X and Instagram accounts: @BaylorTrack.

                                                                                                       – BaylorBears.com-  

 

 KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The 2025 NAIA Women’s Volleyball Postseason Poll is topped by Indiana Wesleyan after the Wildcats won their third Red Banner in three years. 

Both Indiana Wesleyan and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) made moves up seven spots in the postseason poll. Nine other teams made a move up, including Cornerstone (Mich.) and Huntington (Ind.), who joined the Top 25 from receiving votes. Three teams remained at the same rank as the final season edition of the Top 25: Concordia (Neb.), Corban (Ore.) and Mobile (Ala.).  

 

Receiving Votes: Northwest (Wash.) 44, Park (Mo.) 43, Taylor (Ind.) 35, Southern Oregon 29, Walla Walla (Wash.) 28, Marian (Ind.) 20, Montana-Northern 19, Nelson (Texas) 14, Columbia International (S.C.) 14, Grand View (Iowa) 12, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 5, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 3, OUAZ(Ariz.) 3, Bethel (Kan.) 2

 

Poll Methodology

• The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
• A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
• The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
  • 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
• The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
• Teams receiving only one point are not listed as “receiving votes.”
• For the Preseason Poll, there is no “previous ranking” column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system. 

Key: RV – Receiving Votes, NR – Not Ranked, ▲– Climbed, ▼– Dropped, ● – Steady

CASPER, Wyo. –– Kelly Walsh High School athlete Madyn Waring will compete in track and field at Oregon State University.

The KW senior held a signing ceremony on Tuesday with family and classmates to announce the signing, which will take her to Corvallis, Oregon, a region known for its quality college track and field athletics.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “They compete a lot of their outdoor meets at Hayward Field in Eugene, which is like a track capital of the world. So many people don’t get to compete there in their lifetimes, so to be able to compete there is really exciting.”

As an added bonus, OSU has joined the PAC 12 starting next year. “Maybe having a chance at that PAC 12 title is really cool,” she added.

Waring said that OSU is particularly unique because they feature only women’s track, with no men’s team at all. “I like to have the attention on me, as you most likely know,” she joked while addressing the assembled crowd. “That was kind of a bonus.”

Waring said she had considered a number of other schools over the previous year, including an Ivy League school and even the Navel Academy. She made a visit to Boise State at one point, but was quickly won over by OSU. “I decided that it was the better fit and aligned more with what I was wanting in a college experience.”

Waring’s high school athletic skills were strong on the basketball and volleyball courts, but she fell in love with track & field, and decided it offered more options in her college career. “It was always [more] about the school than the sport,” she said.

“What I like about track is it’s all on me,” she continued. “So while coaching can help me a lot and I have teammates, it really comes down to how I perform and the effort I put in myself.”

She’s looking at competing in the heptathlon, which includes seven events over two days. “I don’t think I would ever get bored, there’s always something to grow in,” she said, adding that she has never tried the javelin since Wyoming doesn’t offer that activity. “I think my volleyball arm might lend itself well to that,” she said.

Outside of sports, Waring is excited to pursue a degree in environmental engineering, and OSU has been listed as an R1 research institution by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

“It checks all the boxes in that way,” said Waring.

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