Graduate students in The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) Sport Management
program gained real-world experience last spring through a hands-on collaboration
with the Mississippi Mud Monsters, a newly established professional independent minor
league baseball team based in Pearl, Miss.
As part of the SM 642 Sport Venue and Event Management course, students worked directly
with the Mud Monsters front office to develop a game-day operations plan for a late-summer
home game. The partnership gave students a unique opportunity to apply classroom concepts
to an actual sporting event, closely reflecting the challenges and expectations of
working in the sports industry.
The Mud Monsters, members of the Frontier League—a professional league with more than
30 years of history—were established in fall 2024 following the departure of the Mississippi
Braves. Since their formation, the organization has built its identity from the ground
up, including branding, ticketing, marketing, merchandising and fan engagement. The
team made its debut at Trustmark Park in May.
Working under the guidance of Dr. Chris Croft, associate professor of sport management,
students collaborated with Mississippi Mud Monsters General Manager Andrew Seymour
to develop comprehensive proposals that included game-day previews, event operations,
marketing and promotional strategies, and social media campaigns. Students were provided
with real sponsor guidelines and audience demographics to align their ideas with the
team’s objectives.
“We are very grateful for the partnership with the Southern Miss Sport Management
program,” said Seymour. “It was a great opportunity for us to share the Mud Monsters’
vision and brand with the students. We are currently reviewing their project materials
and looking to incorporate several ideas into our late-season event.”
Seymour also served as a featured panelist during the program’s Sport Management Symposium
last March. He returned later that day for the event’s career fair, accompanied by
team staff members Keith Wilson, operations manager, and Macy Worstell, marketing
and retail manager. The visit gave students direct access to sports industry professionals
and networking opportunities.
“This was an outstanding opportunity for our graduate students to engage with a new
professional sports organization and contribute to an actual event,” said Croft. “We
deeply appreciate Andrew Seymour and his team for their time and mentorship. I know
many of our students are now Mud Monsters fans and are excited to attend games this
summer.”
The Sport Management program at Southern Miss is nationally and internationally recognized
for its commitment to applied learning and industry engagement. Faculty have experience
working with major organizations such as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA and PGA. The program’s
strong professional network and focus on real-world application ensure graduates are
prepared to thrive in competitive careers across sports, events and entertainment.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament regional rounds had elite play, high-stakes matches and an historic upset.
Texas A&M is going to the Final Four after shocking the volleyball world by eliminating No. 1 overall seed Nebraska in a five-set thriller. The No. 1 overall seeded Cornhuskers had their formally undefeated season and hopes for a sixth program title squashed.
No. 1 seeds Kentucky and Pittsburgh and No. 3 seeded Wisconsin will join the Aggies in Kansas City for the national semifinals, which will be played at the T-Mobile Center on Thursday, Dec. 18.
Which program will win a national championship? As the teams prepare for their toughest tests yet and continue their push for a national title, here are the winners and losers from the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds.
Winners
Texas A&M’s upset of No. 1 Nebraska
The Aggies had an answer for nearly everything the Cornhuskers unleashed. Texas A&M deployed a tempo offense, service pressure and timely blocks to disrupt the usually surefire Cornhuskers. Even after withstanding a two-set Nebraska rally to even up the match, which included 10 Cornhuskers set points and three Aggies match points in the fourth set, Texas A&M hit the gas in the final set to end Nebraska’s perfect season. The Aggies responded to every push from Harper Murray and Rebekah Allick and held standout Andi Jackson in check. Kyndal Stowers had 25 kills to lead three Texas A&M players with double digits in the category. The Aggies had 30 total blocks and nine aces.
No. 1 seeds sweep in the Sweet 16
All four No. 1s made outlasted their opponents during the Sweet 16. Kentucky easily moved past Cal Poly, Pittsburgh grinded out a win over Minnesota, Texas edged out Indiana and Nebraska cruised past Kansas. The Jayhawks had the roughest day among the ousted teams. They had 22 attack errors, six service errors and finished the match with a .029 team hitting percentage.
Pitt’s excellent pancake kill against Minnesota
No. 4 seed Minnesota gave No. 1 Pittsburgh all it could handle, despite the Panthers walking away with a 3-0 victory. Pittsburgh earned every point during an intense back-and-forth matchup that had a stunning 23 ties. Nothing represented the type of match it was more than a sequence in the second set when Minnesota’s Jordan Taylor sent a ball flying over the net. Several Pitt players couldn’t stop it until Brooke Mosher saved the possession with a perfectly timed pancake that sent the ball back over to the Gophers for a crafty kill.
Texas A&M’s libero dig kill vs. Nebraska
Texas A&M’s gritty win against Nebraska was so incredible it doesn’t feel real. Not only did the Aggies eliminate an undefeated team, but they survived a five-set slugfest with the No. 1 overall seed. The match required some serious stamina and even better effort and attention to detail. Look no further than Tatum Thomas’ impeccable slide to get under the volleyball and push it up and over the net for a rare libero dig kill.
Standout performances in the reginal rounds
Several players had standout performances during the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. Texas outside hitter Torrey Stafford had a tournament performance for the ages in the Sweet 16, including 19 kills on 28 swings and a blistering .679 hitting percentage. Her hitting percentage was the fourth highest in NCAA tournament history for regional, semifinal or national championship match. She also added eight digs and four blocks. During the Elite Eight, Pitt’s Brooke Mosher gets the nod for her all-around day. Mosher had four kills on .500 hitting, three, seven digs and four blocks.
Nebraska previously undefeated season ends without a title
Since 1981, there have been four programs to finish a season undefeated and win a national championship: Long Beach State (1998), Nebraska (2000), Southern California (2003) and Penn State (2008, 2009). This year’s Nebraska Cornhuskers will not join that list. The Cornhuskers racked up 33 consecutive victories to open their season, tying the second-most wins by a Nebraska team since 1981, before being eliminated Sunday. Texas A&M handed Nebraska its first home loss since 2022 (63 home matches) to advance to the Final Four.
Cal Poly’s Cinderella run ends during the Sweet 16
After upsetting No. 5 BYU and No. 4 USC in back-to-back five-set thrillers, the Mustangs didn’t have enough against No. 1-seed Kentucky. Cal Poly was swept, 3-0. The Mustangs were unable to get their offense and defense on the same page from one set to the next. Standouts Kendall Beshear and Emma Frederick, who had been fantastic all tournament, weren’t enough to overpower Kentucky. (Cal Poly had few solutions for the Wildcats’ depth or Lizzie Carr and Eva Hudson, who had 20 combined kills and nine total blocks.) By the time the third set ended, the Mustangs had finished with a .114 team hitting percentage and 19 errors.
No. 2 seeds eliminated by No. 3 seeds during the Sweet 16
For the first time since 2009, not a single two-seed team advanced to the Elite Eight. They were all eliminated by the three-seeds during the Sweet 16. Arizona State lost to No. 3 Creighton, SMU lost to No. 3 Purdue and Stanford lost to No. 3 Wisconsin ― all by the score of 3-1. Louisville tried to hold off No. 3 Texas A&M, but was defeated, 3-2, in an absolutely wild reverse sweep. The Aggies fought back and grinded through, including unleashing a stunning nine blocks during the fourth set to secure their place in the Elite Eight.
The pain of losing in the Elite Eight
In the Elite Eight, Kentucky fended off a Creighton team that ran out of steam. For the second straight season, the Bluejays were bounced one round shy of the Final Four. A late tournament loss is a painful reality, and Bluejays freshman Abbey Hayes was overcome with emotion post-match. Hayes, who was comforted by a hug from sophomore Saige Damrow, could not hold back the tears as the team walked to the locker room. Later, senior Ava Martin tried to encapsulate why the loss hurt so much.
“Our big thing is playing with joy, and I really hope other people can see that because we just have so much fun playing out there together,” Martin said. “That’s just what makes it so hard. We just love each other so much, and we love the sport of volleyball. We’re just happy to be out there doing it.”
Kansas volleyball’s Jovana Zelenovic has entered the transfer portal following her freshman year at Kansas, as reported by Talia Goodman of On3.
The 6-foot-7 Zelenovic was a key piece for Kansas, helping the school to its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2021.
She led the Jayhawks in aces with 46 in the 2025 season. She finished the 2025 season with 375 kills, 123 total blocks and 105 digs.
Zelenovic was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and the Big 12 All Rookie Team. She was also selected to AVCA’s All-Central Region First Team, and was named Freshman of the Year in the central region.
The departure leaves head coach Matt Ulmer and his staff with a big hole to fill on the roster in the offseason.
Perhaps no one is more hyped about the No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers upsetting No. 1 Texas during the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament than star Carter Booth.
On Sunday, the Badgers unleashed an elite game plan to get a dominant 3-1 win in the Elite Eight over the Longhorns. The victory was the 13th straight win for Wisconsin, which now has a date in the Final Four in Kansas City later this week. After the match, Booth was still amped up during an ESPN interview when she dropped a pretty big F-bomb.
“I refuse to [ expletive] lose,” she said matter-of-factly.
MORE WOMEN’S SPORTS:Caitlin Clark thankfully looks like herself again at Team USA practice
Booth, realizing her error, immediately apologized and kept going. “But I refuse. I refuse! And this team refuses,” she explained. The best part actually isn’t the middle blocker’s unplanned F-bomb. It’s outside hitter Mimi Colyer standing next to Booth. Colyer seemingly appeared stunned at the slip for a millisecond, but jumped in to support her teammate. “Yeah! Yeah!” she hysterically said while nodding in agreement.
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – After 28 successful seasons of leading the Lincoln Lutheran volleyball program, Sue Ziegler is retiring. The legendary head volleyball coach announced the decision during a team meeting on Monday.
Ziegler is a 6-time state champion (2004, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024) and member of the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame. In 2021, she was recognized as the AVCA National High School Coach of the Year. Ziegler totaled 624 wins over her career, which ranks among the state’s all-time leaders.
Ziegler’s teams reached the NSAA State Tournament 15 times, including each of the last nine years. Prior to the 2024 season, Lincoln Lutheran dedicated its court to the longtime volleyball coach.
Lincoln Lutheran said the search for a new head coach will begin immediately.
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CHICAGO – The Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) named Loyola Chicago as the No. 1 favorite in the league’s preseason poll, announced on Monday. Ryan McElligott, Daniel Fabikovic and Aleksandar Sosa tabbed spots on the Preseason All-MIVA Team.
The MIVA Preseason Poll and All-MIVA Team are voted on by the nine MIVA head coaches.
After finishing the 2025 season as the MIVA regular season and tournament champions, the Ramblers claim the top spot with 75 points and five first place votes. MIVA Tournament runner-up Ohio State ranks second and Ball State rounds out the top three.
Senior setter McElligott led both the NCAA and the MIVA in assists in 2025, totaling 1,1016, earning him All-MIVA First Team and All-Tournament Team, and an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention. He added 75 kills, 69 total blocks and 32 service aces.
Fabikovic was a menace on the court last season, starting all 29 matches and seeing action in 105 sets where he contributed 343 kills, the most amongst returning Ramblers. The junior outside hitter tallied 403.5 points during his sophomore campaign which earned him All-MIVA First Team and All-Tournament Team as well as a back-to-back AVCA Second Team All-American nod.
Sosa, a junior transfer from Quincy, was named to the 2025 All-MIVA Second Team after leading the Hawks in points, kills and aces. The opposite finished fifth in the MIVA in kills per set and fourth in points per set and posted double-digit kills in 18 matches, including 15 straight to cap the season.
2026 MIVA Preseason Poll
1. Loyola Chicago – 73 (5)
2. Ohio State – 68 (2)
3. Ball State – 63 (1)
4. Lewis – 57 (1)
5. McKendree – 52
6. Lindenwood – 33
7. Purdue Fort Wayne – 24
8. Northern Kentucky – 19
9. Queens – 16
2026 Preseason All-MIVA Team (alphabetical by team)
