Sports
Stanford denies Hawaii in NCAA women’s water polo semifinal
Stanford was too good, too fast, too Olympic.
The Hawaii women’s water polo team saw its NCAA Tournament run come to an end at the seemingly webbed hands of the top-seeded Cardinal, who were everywhere they needed to be in the IU Natatorium pool in a 13-4 rout in Indianapolis, Ind., on Saturday.
Big West champion Hawaii went 22-5 in coach James Robinson’s first year as program successor to his former boss (and still mentor) Maureen Cole.
Making the semifinals — UH put just about everything into its 8-7 win over an up-tempo Cal team in Friday’s quarterfinal — was a powerful symbol of sustained quality for the Rainbow Wahine.
But Stanford? The nine-time national champions put the emphasis on the first word in “Olympic-size swimming pool.” Of their six field players in the starting lineup, five have represented their countries on the international stage. It blasted Wagner 28-6 on Friday.
It is the only program to have participated in all 24 editions of the NCAA women’s water polo championships.
“Got to tip the cap to Stanford, obviously an incredible program, experienced team, ton of veterans,” Robinson said in a postmatch video interview with Hawaii media. “They played awesome.
“But for us, I think that one loss doesn’t define the season,” he added. “Couldn’t be more proud of this group what we accomplished after a little bit of a disappointing finish (in the national semifinals) last year, just being able to come back and put ourselves in that same position.”
It was UH’s first time making consecutive appearances in the NCAA semis since 2005 and 2006. But UH was again denied the program’s first championship game appearance.
UH hung in through a quarter, trailing just 3-2. But a 4-0 second period by the Cardinal, then a 4-1 third put the match out of reach.
Jenna Flynn, who opened the game with three straight goals, outscored UH herself with a double hat trick of six scores as Stanford (24-1) advanced to face USC in Sunday’s championship. The Trojans edged UCLA 15-13 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
UH shot 4-for-29.
It was a more lopsided outcome than when UH and Stanford met at the Fresno State Polo-Palooza on Jan. 18, the second match of the season won 12-7 by the Cardinal.
“Every team is completely different to January compared to in May. You’ve had five extra months to work and refine and just clean up the little details,” senior center Jordan Wedderburn said. “Stanford’s a world-class team. They have won the national championship so many times for a reason.”
UH won marquee games against UCLA and Cal at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, Calif.,
Freshmen Ema Vernoux and Gabrielle Doyle found the net for UH, while veterans Bernadette Doyle and Wedderburn scored one apiece in their final collegiate game.
Bernadette Doyle, the Big West Player of the Year and UH’s best two-way threat, had two steals and three field blocks.
Wedderburn, of South Africa, scored 68 goals as a senior and finished with 161 for her career, ninth in program history.
Wedderburn said afterward UH’s showing this week helped dispel the notion that the Wahine only made it to the semifinals last year because it was an Olympic year when many of the elite teams’ top players are away representing their countries.
“We wanted to prove that this is where we belong, and this is where we are going to continue to be,” Wedderburn said. “I think for so many years, it’s been the top four, the top four, the top four, is like MPSF (only). And we just want to get the Big West in the door.”
Goalkeeper Daisy Logtens stopped 12 Cal shots in Friday’s quarterfinal round but managed only four against the powerhouse Cardinal. One of them was on a penalty shot.
Robinson gave the players, especially the senior class, credit for anchoring the team during the coaching transition. He also gave Cole a shout-out. (Wedderburn interjected that Robinson and Cole still confer almost every day.)
“They (the players) wanted the world to know, and the country know, that they could come back and put ourselves in the same position,” Robinson said. “So they put that work in. They made my job easy.”
Coach James Robinson, center left, spoke to the Rainbow Wahine during a timeout at the NCAA Tournament semifinal against top-seeded Stanford on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of UH Athletics)
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
Updated Dec. 18, 2025, 10:47 p.m. ET
No. 1 seed Kentucky women’s volleyball will face No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the second national semifinal at the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament on Thursday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
The matchup features two 2025 AVCA Player of the Year finalists. Kentucky outside hitter Eva Hudson is up for the award, after hitting .317 with 4.54 kills per set this season, as is veteran senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer with 20 or more kills in nine matches this season.
Both teams have won a national championship in the past five years. Wisconsin won its first title in program history in 2021, while Kentucky hoisted its only NCAA national championship trophy in 2020.
Follow along as USA TODAY Sports provides live updates and highlights of the Final Four matchup:
NCAA volleyball tournament score: Wisconsin 2, Kentucky 1
3rd set: Wisconsin 25, Kentucky 21
Wisconsin is back on top after winning the first set, 25-21. The Badgers ended the set on a 3-0 run.
The Badgers hit .386 in the third set, compared to .333 for Kentucky. Mimi Coyler leads Wisconsin with 22 kills on .395 hitting, while Carter Booth has tied her career-high with 14 kills and three blocks.
Kentucky’s Eva Hudson has 14 kills on .344 hitting, while Brooklyn Deleye added nine kills on .194 hitting.
2nd set: Kentucky 25, Wisconsin 22
Wisconsin dominated the first set, but Kentucky made some adjustments and came alive in the second set.
Kentucky jumped to a 7-4 lead over Wisconsin in the second, but the gritty Badgers surged mid-set to retake the lead, 20-18. Kentucky went on a 6-0 run to earn a set point, and despite Wisconsin fighting off two set points, Eva Hudson cashed in on the third set point to even it a set apiece.
“We just got some breaks and we executed the serving,” Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner said, adding that his team needs to serve tougher to get Wisconsin off the net. “The serve has got to pick up and our transition game has got to score some points.”
Wisconsin’s Carter Booth recorded 12 kills hitting .786 and Mimi Colyer added 10 kills on .318 hitting.
Kentucky’s Hudson is up to nine kills hitting .389.
1st set final: Wisconsin 25, Kentucky 12
The first set belonged to Wisconsin’s Carter Booth. The senior middle blocker recorded seven kills and two blocks hitting 1.000 in the Badgers’ 22-12 first set win. Mimi Colyer added seven kills.
Wisconsin hit .682 in the first set and held Kentucky to .056 hitting.
1st set: Wisconsin 10, Kentucky 3
Wisconsin came out red hot and jumped to a 10-3 lead after Carter Booth (5) and Mimi Colyer (3) combined for seven kills to start the first set. The Badgers are hitting 1.000 to start.
Carter Booth height
Wisconsin senior middle blocker Carter Booth is listed at 6-foot-7.
When is Kentucky vs. Wisconsin volleyball?
The second semifinal matchup between No. 1 Kentucky (29-2)and Wisconsin (28-4) will take place 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first semifinal between No. 1 Pitt and No. 3 Texas A&M on Thursday, Dec. 18 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kentucky vs. Wisconsin volleyball: Channel, streaming
- Date: Thursday, Dec. 18
- Time: 9:00 p.m. ET (8:00 p.m. CT)
- Location: T-Mobile Center (Kansas City, Missouri)
- Channel: ESPN
- Stream: The ESPN App, Fubo
Kentucky Wildcats starting lineup
Head coach: Craig Skinner
- 6 Kassie O’Brien | S 6-1 – Freshman
- 7 Eva Hudson | OH 6-1 – Senior
- 10 Kennedy Washington | MB 6-0 – Sophomore
- 11 Molly Berezowitz | DS 5-5 – Junior
- 12 Molly Tuozzo | L 5-7 – Junior
- 15 Lizzie Carr | MB 6-6 – Redshirt Junior
- 17 Brooklyn DeLeye | OH 6-2 – Junior
Eva Hudson stats
The 6-1 senior outside hitter was named the SEC Player of the Year after hitting .317 with 4.54 kills per set and 504 total kills on the year. She leads Kentucky’s offense, which is hitting .295 this year.
Brooklyn DeLeye stats
The 6-2 junior outside hitter is averaging 4.69 kills per set and hitting .289 with a team-high 521 kills this year. DeLeye is responsible for more than 564.5 points this year.
Kassie O’Brien wins AVCA Freshman of the Year
Kentucky setter Kassie O’Brien was named the 2025 AVCA Freshman of the Year, the first Wildcat to win the award, after averaging 11.02 assists per set this season.
Wisconsin Badgers starting lineup
Head coach: Kelly Sheffield
- 1 Una Vajagic | OH 6-0 – Redshirt Sophomore
- 7 Kristen Simon | L 5-8 – Freshman
- 15 Mimi Colyer | OH 6-3 – Senior
- 17 Alicia Andrew | MB 6-3 – Redshirt Senior
- 24 Charlie Fuerbringer | S 5-11 – Sophomore
- 32 Grace Egan | RS 6-1 – Redshirt Sophomore
- 52 Carter Booth | MB 6-7 – Senior
Mimi Colyer stats
The 6-3 senior outside hitter had 20 or more kills in nine matches this season, including 23 kills vs. No. 1 Texas in the Elite Eight and 27 kills vs. No. 2 Stanford in the Round of 16. She averages 5.39 kills per set.
Wisconsin volleyball arrives at T-Mobile Center
Kentucky volleyball arrives at T-Mobile Center
NCAA volleyball player of the year finalists
The 2025 AVCA Player of the Year shortlist was narrowed to four finalists on Monday: Pitt junior right side hitter Olivia Babcock, Wisconsin senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer, Kentucky senior outside hitter Eva Hudson and Nebraska junior setter Bergen Reilly.
NCAA volleyball transfer portal 2026
The 2025 NCAA women’s college volleyball tournament is down to the Final Four with Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin and Texas A&Madvancing to the semifinals, but it’s never too early to look ahead to next season.
As the NCAA crowns a national champion this weekend, some of the biggest names in the sport have entered the transfer portal in search of a new home for the 2026 season. Check out the best players available here.
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CASPER, Wyo. –– Emma Hager is not a fan of public speaking. The Kelly Walsh High School senior held a ceremony on Wednesday to announce her signing with Black Hills State University, where she will compete in both volleyball and track and field. After signing her ceremonial letter of commitment, Hager took questions from media, and she laughed nervously throughout the entire Q&A session.
Luckily, she was not alone. The room at KW was full of friends, family and fellow athletes — all of whom gathered to show their support for her.
When asked what it meant to her to see such a large crowd, all gathered to support her, she said that “It’s great. It’s kind of scary, but it’s great.” The crowd laughed with her as she spoke about her decision to sign with Black Hills State, what she was most looking forward to in the coming years, and more.
Hager, a 6-foot-0 athlete who will graduate in 2026, is planning to major in Exercise Science at BHS, with the goal of eventually going to graduate school and becoming a physical therapist.
She stated that she was just “looking for something new” with her college decision, which is exactly what she will get at Black Hills State.
She said that it was the coaches at Black Hills State that first drew her interest, and she’s looking forward to being a part of the team as a freshman. She said she met a few of the team’s current players and she felt a good kind of chemistry with them.
Hager, who was there with her entire family, said another big reason why she chose Black Hills State was because it was still within driving distance of her home.
She also spoke about being a dual-athlete at BSU, noting that volleyball was her first love but that she’s just as enthralled with track and field.
“I’ve always loved volleyball,” she said, “ever since I first started playing. And track — I didn’t want to like, give it up after only doing it for a year. I wanted to keep doing both of those.”
So she will. Hager competes in long jump and said that her longest jump was 5 feet, 5 inches. Though track and field is her new passion, volleyball will always hold a special place in her heart. She said that she started playing volleyball in fourth grade and acknowledged that it will always remain her first love.
Hager said her teammates are her favorite part of playing volleyball.
“I really enjoyed playing with them this year,” she said. “I feel like I was able to build some really good relationships with them. I was able to build much closer relationships with the girls on my team than I have in any of the other years. So that was really awesome.”
Many of those friends were at her signing, an, after she signed the letter of commitment, a handful of friends and family members gathered to take pictures with the star athlete.
Hager answered a few more questions, smiling and giggling the whole time. When she was asked what message, if any, she would give to all of her supporters, she took a minute to think and then “phoned a friend.”
“Abby,” she pleaded with one of her nearby friends. “If I could tell everyone one thing, what would it be?”
“What would you tell us?” Abby responded.
“Yeehaw,” Hager said with a smile. “I love you all.”
Photos from the signing ceremony can be seen below:
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The Aggies became just the third No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament history to dispatch of two No. 1 seeds joining UCLA in 2011 and Nebraska in 2021.
A&M will face either Wisconsin or Kentucky in Sunday’s national championship match (2:30 p.m., ABC).
More to come.
On Thursday evening, Doris Lemngole was awarded with the 2025 Bowerman Title; the most prestigious honor in NCAA Cross-Country/Track and Field.
This year, Lemngole won three NCAA titles for the University of Alabama during cross-country and the indoor/outdoor season, topping it off with a collegiate record-breaking 8:58.15 in the 3000m Steeplechase at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
She most recently defended her cross-country national title at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Columbia, Missouri.
Lemngole also boasts personal bests of 4:09.28 (1500m), 8:41.83 (3000m), 14:52.57 (5000m), and 18:02 (6k (XC)).
“I would not be here without th Thank you so much to Coach Nick and Coach Dan for believing in me and pushing me beyond what I thought was possible; and to my teammates, thank you for making everyday better and every mile worth it; and to my family, friends, and support staff, and of course Scholarbook,” said Lemngole after receiving her award.
“Running has shaped who I am, I started this sport simply because I love it and along the way, it taught me resilience, patience, and confidence,” she continued with and closed out with “Competing at Alabama has been an incredible honor and wearing this uniform has represented everything I worked for.”
She caps off a historic year with the highest honor in collegiate track and field. Lemngole also recently inked an NIL deal with On back earlier back in August.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kyndal Stowers and Logan Lednicky combined for 34 points to lead Texas A&M to a 29-27, 25-21, 25-20 sweep of Pittsburgh on Thursday, punching its ticket to the national championship game in women’s volleyball.
Stowers led the way with 18 points and 16 kills on a 53% kill rate, while Lednicky had 16 points and 14 kills on a 45% kill rate. It was Lednicky’s 22nd consecutive match with double-digit kills. Maddie Waak had 47 assists.
The No. 3-seeded Aggies (28-4) reached the final for the first time in program history after never having advanced beyond the Elite Eight. It’s the second No. 1 seed the Aggies have defeated in the tournament after stunning previously undefeated Nebraska in a regional final. Texas A&M also knocked off No. 2 seed Louisville.
Pitt had not been swept this season before Thursday.
Olivia Babcock, a finalist for American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year, led the Panthers (30-5) with 25 points, finishing with 22 kills and a 54% kill rate. No other Panthers player had double-digit points. Brooke Mosher had 31 assists.
Texas A&M will play the winner of Thursday’s late match between Wisconsin and Kentucky.
GRAPEVINE, Texas – Alabama track and field phenom Doris Lemngole has been named the recipient of The Bowerman, as announced Thursday at the Gaylord Texas Resort & Convention Center. It marks the first time in program history that a Crimson Tide student-athlete has captured collegiate track and field’s most prestigious award.
The program’s ace, from West Pokot County, Kenya, topped an impressive group of finalists that included Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico and Savannah Sutherland of Michigan. All three student-athletes were their school’s first-ever finalist for The Bowerman.
Thursday marked the sixth time in the last seven years that a female athlete from the Southeastern Conference has won The Bowerman. Lemngole joins 2024 winner Parker Valby (Florida), 2022 winner Abby Steiner (Kentucky), 2021 winner Athing Mu (Texas A&M), 2019 winner Sha’Carri Richardson (LSU) and 2018 winner Keturah Orji (Georgia).
Doris Lemngole – 2025 Track and Field Résumé
- Two national titles
- Indoor 5,000m
- Outdoor 3,000m Steeplechase
- National runner-up
- Three SEC titles
- Indoor 3,000m
- Outdoor 3,000m Steeplechase
- Outdoor 5,000m
- Two collegiate records
- Indoor 5,000m
- Outdoor 3,000m Steeplechase
- USTFCCCA National Women’s Athlete of the Year
- Honda Sport Award finalist for Track and Field
- Additional accolades during the 2025 season include:
- Finished fifth at the World Championships in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, representing Kenya
- Two-time SEC Women’s Scholar Athlete of the Year (indoor and outdoor)
- Named the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Women’s Track and Field Academic All-America Team Member of the Year
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