FARGO — Fargo Shanley volleyball head coach Taylor Preston is stepping down after two seasons.

Shanley activities director Mark Hollcraft announced the resignation late Wednesday night.

“Shanley volleyball coach Taylor Preston has submitted her resignation, and I have accepted it,” Hollcraft said in the release. “I am grateful for her three years of coaching our Shanley girls, including the last two as head coach.

“Taylor expressed much appreciation in getting to know the girls through coaching but believed it was time to take new steps forward in her life.”

Alyssa Goelzer/The Forum

Preston initially joined the Deacons staff as an assistant in 2023 under former coach Alexis Bachmeier. Shanley finished 26-11 that season and included runner-up finishes at both the East Region and Class A state tournament.

Preston took the reins of the program ahead of the 2024 season. The 2024 campaign saw the Deacons finish 29-7 overall, including 20-2 in the Eastern Dakota Conference for the regular season conference title. Shanley also qualified for the state tournament for the second straight year.

This past season saw Shanley finish 23-14 overall. Overall, Preston compiled a record of 52-21 over two years leading the program.

Hollcraft said the search for Shanley’s next head coach will begin immediately.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the moments before Texas A&M’s match against Pitt in the NCAA women’s volleyball semifinals, coach Jamie Morrison had simple message.

“We are here,” he told his team. “We are here.”

The meaning was for A&M to stay true to its identity.

The Aggies did with three-set sweep over Pitt and will play for their first national title at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday against either Kentucky or Wisconsin, which played later Thursday in the other semifinal.

A&M’s identity — “we are the grittiest,” senior Logan Lednicky said after last week’s regional win over Nebraska — has power hitters in Lednicky and Kyndal Stowers up front, the middle blocking of Ifenna Coas-Okpalla and the “quarterbacking” of Maddie Waak.

Texas A&M won the first set, 29-27, on its fifth match point on a kill by Stowers, who had nine in the first set with no errors.

A&M appeared to have won earlier on a kill by Lednicky at 25-23 but the ball was ruled out, reversing the score to 24-24. Pitt would have its own set point later but didn’t convert.

In the second set, the Aggies fell behind 15-11 after an 8-0 run by Pitt but answered. Cos-Okpalla blocked a shot by Olivia Babcock to set up set point at 24-21 and A&M got the win when Babcock’s next attempt at a kill went long.

In what turned out to be the deciding third set, A&M took its first lead at 11-10 on a strong serve by Waak. The Aggies finished it off at 25-20.

“We just played good volleyball and had fun,” Morrison said. “It’s pretty simple. They have a lot of grit and anytime another team makes a run, they answer. A lot of belief in that group.”

A&M’s sweep was the first in an NCAA semifinal since Nebraska’s win over Pitt in 2023. Pitt was making its fifth consecutive appearance in the Final Four but has yet to win a title.

Reid Laymance reported from Houston.

“Penn State is the No. 1 school for Division I Fencing. As a national-level athlete, being recruited to one of the best NCAA teams in the country felt like a dream come true,” Maniar said. “When I arrived as a new student, I realized that many of my teammates didn’t understand my capabilities or how I trained, and it often left me feeling isolated, misunderstood and behind. But it also forced me to confront discomfort head-on, dig deep into my resilience and prove to myself, not anyone else, what I was truly capable of.”

Maniar said her experiences in fencing changed her approach to challenges, teaching her to focus on what she can control and persist with strong, disciplined determination.

She brought the same drive to her studies, leading her to become a Schreyer Scholar. She’s maintained a high grade-point average, crediting it in large part to “the structure, rigor and support the program provided,” she said.

While her honors-level courses were challenging at first, Maniar said she can now see how her analytical skills, interpretations and confidence in handling difficult materials have grown due to her involvement in the program. She said she’s grateful for the professors who guided her intellectually, emotionally and professionally throughout her journey.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have had professors who genuinely cared about me as an individual,” Maniar said. “That’s what makes the College of the Liberal Arts so special, whether it’s a 15-person honors seminar or a 200-person lecture, my professors took the time to listen, guide and support me when I reached out to them.”

Those professors include Associate Teaching Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences John Minbiole, whose honors courses, CAS137H: Rhetoric and Civic Life I and CAS138T: Rhetoric and Civic Life II, left such an impact on Maniar, she said, that she became one of his teaching assistants.

“His teaching style was empathetic yet structured and helped me build confidence in public speaking,” Maniar said. “The safe and encouraging environment he created gave me the skills to speak in front of large audiences, something I know will help me immensely in my career.”

Assistant Professor of English and African Studies Samuel Kolawole and academic adviser Julianna Chaszar were two other influences on Maniar’s college experience, she added.

Kolawole and Maniar initially met at a book reading and later in writing classes. Maniar said Kolawole noticed her enthusiasm, encouraged her to write more and allowed her to gain real-world experience with publishers as a social media content manager for his book releases. In this role, she attended events with Kolawole, including one where he won the prestigious Whiting Award in New York, an experience she describes as unforgettable.