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Sixteen Individuals, Both Teams Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors

LOS ANGELES – A total of 16 UCLA track and field student-athletes earned All-Academic distinctions for the 2025 NCAA Division I track field seasons, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). Both the men’s and women’s squads also qualified as All-Academic Teams. To earn the designation, the cumulative GPA […]

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LOS ANGELES – A total of 16 UCLA track and field student-athletes earned All-Academic distinctions for the 2025 NCAA Division I track field seasons, as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Both the men’s and women’s squads also qualified as All-Academic Teams. To earn the designation, the cumulative GPA for all student-athletes on the institution’s NCAA Squad List for Indoor and/or Outdoor Track and Field must be 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale.

The full list of All-Academic Bruins and the award’s criteria can be found below.

2025 USTFCCCA All-Academic Athletes

Ka’Leila Abrille

Di’Niko Bates

Kris Emig

Angus Harrington

Ailish Hawkins

Sydney Johnson

Mia Kane

Kojo Manu

Rose Pittman

Parker Raymond

Taylor Snaer

Jake Stafford

Jana van Schalkwyk

Sonia Virk

Bella Witt

Jeremy Zammit

USTFCCCA All-Academic Criteria

The academic criteria for the award are as follows:

– Minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale, including the most recent grading period, certifiable by either NCAA Faculty Rep or NCAA Compliance Coordinator or Registrar’s Office.

– The student-athlete must have completed at least two (2) semesters or three (3) quarters at the nominating institution.

The athletic criteria for the award are as follows:

– For the indoor season: must have finished the season ranked in the top 96 in any championship individual event, or in the top 48 in any championship relay event, for the most recent indoor season, certifiable by their place on final season performance lists on TFRRS for Indoor Track and Field (including performances achieved outside the qualifying window during the indoor season).

– For the outdoor season: must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships (the Preliminary Championship Competition and/or the Final Championship Competition) or for the multi-events, must have finished the season ranked in the top 48 in the East or top 48 in the West for the most recent outdoor season, certifiable by their place on the NCAA Division I descending order list on TFRRS for Outdoor Track and Field.



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Lion Volleyball reveals 2025 schedule

Story Links 2025 Lion Volleyball Schedule 2025 Lion Invitational Tournament Central COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University volleyball team has unveiled its full schedule for the 2025 season on Tuesday morning.   The Lions enter their fourth season in […]

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COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University volleyball team has unveiled its full schedule for the 2025 season on Tuesday morning.
 
The Lions enter their fourth season in NCAA Division I, being eligible for the NCAA Tournament for the first team in the Division I era and serve as hosts for the Southland Conference Tournament.
 

In total, the Lions host 12 matches in the Field House during the regular season, including the Lion Invitational on August 29-30, which features East Texas A&M along with Providence, Little Rock, and North Texas.
 
“We cannot wait to get the season underway! Our non-conference schedule will give us the opportunity to test our team, as it is a tough schedule with three Power Four conference opponents and some teams that have a high RPI,” said third year coach Joe Morales.
 
“However, to get to the elite side, we must play tough teams as well as have some rest built in. We scheduled one match a day and in some cases only two a week outside of our home tournament.”
 
Prior to the start of the regular season, the Lions hold their annual Blue and Gold Scrimmage on August 20 (6:30 p.m.) and welcome UT Tyler for an exhibition match on August 23 (2 p.m.).
 

The Lion Invitational kicks off the season as East Texas A&M takes on Providence at 1 p.m. on August 29 and Little Rock at 7 p.m. The next day, the Lions play host to North Texas at 2 p.m. Full schedule of the six-match Lion Invitational can be found HERE.
 
In the second weekend of the season, the Lions head to Phoenix to take part in the Grand Canyon Classic, playing the hosts, Lopes, on September 5 at 7 p.m. mountain time, Northern Arizona at 3 p.m. mountain time on September 6, and Washington State at 11 a.m. mountain time on September 7.
 

Non-conference play continues September 11-13 with a pair of matches in Fort Collins, Colorado. East Texas A&M faces Colorado State at 6 p.m. mountain time on September 11. The Rams won the Mountain West a year ago and played in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The trip to Colorado concludes on September 13 against Notre dame at 1 p.m. mountain time. The final stretch of non-conference play starts with a two-match set in Coralville, Iowa, hosted by Iowa on September 19-20.
 

The Lions play Iowa at 6 p.m. on September 19 and Lindenwood at 2 p.m. on September 20. Lindenwood won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament last season, but competed in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship as it is in the same re-classifying class as East Texas A&M. Both teams are eligible for the NCAA Tournament for the first time this season.
 

East Texas A&M faces Abilene Christian on September 22 at home to close out non-conference play at 6:30 p.m. The two teams play each other for the 57th time and first time in Commerce since 2012. The Lions came out on top in a five-set thriller during the 2023 season in Abilene.
 

The 18-match Southland Conference schedule remains the same for the Lions as announced earlier this year. East Texas A&M plays host to HCU (Sept. 25), UIW (Sept. 27), Nicholls (Oct. 15), SFA (Oct. 23), Lamar (Oct. 25), Northwestern State (Nov. 8), A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 13), UTRGV (Nov. 15), while facing A&M-Corpus Christi (Oct. 2), UTRGV (Oct. 4), New Orleans (Oct. 9), Southeastern (Oct. 11), McNeese (Oct. 18), HCU (Oct. 30), UIW (Nov. 1), and Northwestern State (Nov. 6) on the road.
 
Morales added, “our conference schedule is a better one for everyone  with the travel and logistics from the last two years. This will be better for our student-athletes. It will hit a little more extra this year as we are now eligible for the NCAA tournament and that has been the standard from the beginning.”
 
For the first time since 2019, the Lions will play the conference tournament at home as they host the eight-team SLC Tournament on Nov. 21-23 in the Field House.
 
The winner of the SLC Tournament receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, which begins on December 4, and Championship Weekend is scheduled for December 18-21 in Kansas City, Missouri.
 
More information on season and single match tickets for the Lions will be released in the coming days.
 
2025 LION VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE





































Date Opponent Site Time
AUG. 20 BLUE & GOLD SCRIMMAGE COMMERCE 6:30 p.m.
AUG. 23 UT TYLEREXH COMMERCE 2 P.M.
AUG. 29 PROVIDENCE1 COMMERCE 1 P.M.
AUG. 29 LITTLE ROCK1 COMMERCE 7 P.M.
AUG. 30 NORTH TEXAS1 COMMERCE 2 P.M.
Sept. 5 at Grand Canyon2 Phoenix 7 p.m. MDT
Sept. 6 vs. Northern Arizona2 Phoenix 3 p.m. MDT
Sept. 7 vs. Washington State2 Phoenix 11 a.m. MDT
Sept. 11 at Colorado State Fort Collins, Colo. 6 p.m. MDT
Sept. 13 vs. Notre Dame Fort Collins, Colo. 1 p.m. MDT
Sept. 19 at Iowa Coralville, Iowa 6 p.m.
Sept. 20 vs. Lindenwood Coralville, Iowa 2 p.m.
SEPT. 22 ABILENE CHRISTIAN COMMERCE 6:30 P.M.
SEPT. 25 HCUSLC COMMERCE 6:30 P.M.
SEPT. 27 UIWSLC COMMERCE 1 P.M.
Oct. 2 at A&M-Corpus ChristiSLC Corpus Christi TBA
Oct. 4 at UTRGVSLC Edinburg Noon
Oct. 9 at New OrleansSLC New Orleans 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 11 at SoutheasternSLC Hammond, La. Noon
OCT. 15 NICHOLLSSLC COMMERCE 6:30 P.M.
Oct. 18 at McNeeseSLC Lake Charles, La. 11 a.m.
OCT. 23 SFASLC COMMERCE 6:30 P.M.
OCT. 25 LAMARSLC COMMERCE 1 P.M.
Oct. 30 at HCUSLC Houston 6:30 p.m.
Nov. 1 at UIWSLC San Antonio Noon
Nov. 6 at Northwestern StateSLC Natchitoches, La. 6:30 p.m.
NOV. 8 NORTHWESTERN STATESLC COMMERCE 11 A.M.
NOV. 13 A&M-CORPUS CHRISTISLC COMMERCE TBA
NOV. 15 UTRGVSLC COMMERCE 11 A.M.
NOV. 21-23 SLC TOURNAMENT COMMERCE TBA
Dec. 4-6 NCAA Tournament-First & Second Round Campus Sites TBA
Dec. 11-14 NCAA Tournament-Regionals Campus Sites TBA
Dec. 18-21 NCAA Championship Weekend Kansas City, Mo. TBA

 
EXH – Exhibition Match
1 – Lion Invitational
2 – GCU Classic
SLC – Southland Conference Match

 

-ETAMU-



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U.S. Olympic committee issues ruling on transgender women in sports

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on […]

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U.S. Olympic committee issues ruling on transgender women in sports

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women’s sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an “obligation to comply” with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC’s website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year.

The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under “USOPC Athlete Safety Policy” and references Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to “rescind all funds” from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women’s sports.

U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that “the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” since Trump signed the order.

“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”

The National Women’s Law Center put out a statement condemning the move.

“By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,” said that organization’s president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves.

The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs.

Some of those organizations — for instance, USA Track and Field — have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump’s order.

A USA Swimming spokesman said the federation had been made aware of the USOPC’s change and was consulting with the committee to figure out what changes it needs to make. USA Fencing changed its policy effective Aug. 1 to allow only “athletes who are of the female sex” in women’s competition and opening men’s events to “all athletes not eligible for the women’s category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes.”

The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls’ and women’s sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court by those who say the policies are discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes.

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.

Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to “protect the female category.” The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics — and some have already taken steps on the topic.

Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women’s events anyone who went through male puberty — have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone.

Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything “having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.” Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Sarussi has MVP final season for UIC women’s track

Ally Sarussi (Courtesy of UIC Athletics) Ally Sarussi had quite a senior sendoff with the Washington University women’s track and field team as part of its 2024 NCAA Division III national team champion. The 2020 Lyons Township High School graduate, however, still had one season of eligibility and a graduate degree to pursue.  “I was […]

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Ally Sarussi (Courtesy of UIC Athletics)

Ally Sarussi had quite a senior sendoff with the Washington University women’s track and field team as part of its 2024 NCAA Division III national team champion. The 2020 Lyons Township High School graduate, however, still had one season of eligibility and a graduate degree to pursue. 

“I was going to take a gap year, but then I kind of thought I have an opportunity to run another year,” Sarussi said. “I love track a lot so I might as well take the opportunity while getting my degree.”

As a grad student this spring, Sarussi had her best individual season for the University of Illinois Chicago. She was named the team’s Most Valuable Performer and athletic department’s Female Newcomer of the Year for non-freshmen after qualifying for the NCAA Division I postseason in the 1,500-meter run following her lifetime-best, school-record 4:19.35 at the Missouri Valley Conference Meet.



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MTSU Athletics saddened by passing of former Volleyball coach Matt Peck

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee Athletics is saddened to learn of the passing of former Blue Raider Volleyball coach Matt Peck. The seasoned coach spent 12 seasons in Murfreesboro, where he helped build the Blue Raiders into a championship program. “There are a lot of banners hanging in AMG that are due to Matt and […]

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee Athletics is saddened to learn of the passing of former Blue Raider Volleyball coach Matt Peck. The seasoned coach spent 12 seasons in Murfreesboro, where he helped build the Blue Raiders into a championship program.

“There are a lot of banners hanging in AMG that are due to Matt and his staff’s efforts,” said MTSU Director of Athletics Chris Massaro. “We reached the pinnacle in volleyball by going to the Sweet 16, which is one of the deepest postseason runs any of our teams have had in an NCAA Tournament.

“Under his leadership, we were nationally competitive with anybody we were on the court with, and to have six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances speaks volumes to the kind of coach he was, the kind of players that were here and the kind of success we had at that time. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are close to Matt, his family, his friends, and all the former players who helped raise a lot of those banners.”

Peck’s accomplishments in over 20 years of coaching were long and distinguished. After a three-year stint as a Graduate Assistant with the Purdue men’s volleyball team, Peck became the head coach at Wayne State University in 1987, compiling a 231-135 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances over seven seasons. He was then hired as the head coach at the University of North Alabama in 1995 where he proceeded to build a Division II powerhouse. Over nine seasons at UNA, Peck accumulated a record of 312-61, securing eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances, four Elite Eights, two Final Fours and the 2003 NCAA Division II National Championship.

In 2004, Peck took over as the leader of the Blue Raider volleyball program. He went on to become the winningest coach in program history with a 208-141 record across 12 seasons. During his tenure at Middle Tennessee, Peck led Middle Tennessee volleyball to six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, an NCAA Sweet 16, four Sun Belt Tournament Championships and two Sun Belt regular season titles.

After his time at MTSU, Peck continued to grow the game of volleyball coaching at the club level, where he inspired younger generations and shared his love for the game.

 



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Coach Mirarchi shaping Italy’s next water polo stars at the FISU Games

Written by Valentina Rasini, EU U-Media Ambassador, Italy Water polo is a demanding sport that requires lots of sacrifice and dedication. For student-athletes, balancing academics and intense training makes it even more challenging. Maurizio Mirarchi, coach of the Italian women’s team at the Rhine Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, understands this well. He puts his […]

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Written by Valentina Rasini, EU U-Media Ambassador, Italy

Water polo is a demanding sport that requires lots of sacrifice and dedication. For student-athletes, balancing academics and intense training makes it even more challenging.

Maurizio Mirarchi, coach of the Italian women’s team at the Rhine Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games, understands this well. He puts his heart into mentoring his young players, helping them grow not only as competitors but as the champions of tomorrow.

Coach Mirarchi made a clear decision: to train student-athletes, both at the international level and in the Italian championship, and he stands firmly by his choice.

“There’s no trick, you just have to make sacrifices, train and try to give your best in every session. If you train well, matches are a consequence of training. The trick is simply to do your best during the week,” he said, speaking about the challenges of coaching such a young group.

One of the most important aspects for Mirarchi is keeping his pupils fully focused, especially in the most difficult moments, when emotions and tension can weigh heavily on young minds.

“I always ask for their maximum attention. I try to explain the various situations that arise in the match to make sure they have it. It’s not easy, because there are emotions, there is the moment, there is the match. We try to make sure that things are explained well in some moments of the match.”

The hardest part of being a student-athlete in Mirarchi’s opinion? “They have to balance their work and their student activities. It’s a big commitment for them. This is a sport that requires a lot of sacrifice, so they are really good at managing both things in the best way possible.”

A stepping stone to the future

Rhine-Ruhr 2025 represents an enriching and valuable experience for the Italian coach.

“It’s a good level, a good high level. There are good teams, from Australia, Germany, Japan, us, Hungary, the United States,” he said, about the calibre of different delegations competing in the tournament.

Looking ahead to the future of his young protégés, Mirarchi sees the FISU Games as a key benchmark for preparing them for the next level of competition, such as the Olympics or the World Championships.

“The university team is always a tank, where the national team can take on the athletes. So, it’s very important to do it well, to do the competition seriously, because then it can be a showcase to continue later,” he affirmed.

His vision is long-term and clear: these kinds of tournaments are not an end, but a means to grow.

“I took this job because we work in perspective. So, we try to make these girls grow, making them do as many experiences as possible. And this is a good experience for them, because they are all young girls. So, I hope that over the years they can play even more important competitions.”

Looking to match their silver-medal finish from Chengdu 2023, the Italian women reached the semifinals on Tuesday, 22 July with a dominant 20-5 win against Türkiye. Mirarchi’s side will face the United States on Thursday for a spot in Saturday’s gold-medal match.

The Young Reporters Programme exemplifies FISU’s commitment to more than sports competitions. At every FISU World University Games, a group of talented aspiring sports journalists are chosen to cover the competition.



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