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Successful Saxons: Program provides student-athletes a wide range of support

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The Saxon Success Program was launched last fall with a goal of providing broad-based training to student-athletes, coaches, and athletics department staff. Five core components comprise the program: life skills, leadership, staff professional development, sport psychology/mental training, and academic success.

The program is supported in part by The Fahey Fund, which was established in 1998 by Russ Fahey ’58 and his wife, Patricia, as a way to help first-year football players make the needed adjustments to college life. Russ, who earned a bachelor’s degree in ceramic engineering and participated in football and track and field at Alfred, served on the university’s Board of Trustees from 2003-08.

“So many kids get to college and the school doesn’t have the necessary discussions with players” on what they need to do to succeed, Russ explained “So they fail. I saw kids leaving and not coming back. I thought, this is crazy. Why isn’t someone helping these kids?”

Russ said he himself struggled initially after arriving on campus as a first-year student in 1954. He recalled Fred Gertz, dean of students at the time, engaging him in a frank discussion about his prospects for continued enrollment at Alfred. “He told me, you have to pay attention, or you won’t be here next year. So, I did. But there were many others who didn’t make it. For me personally, that changed my life. I know the value of having someone to talk to.”

The Fahey Fund “started out as a retention program,” Pat added. “We wanted to design something to help the freshmen football players, teach them skills like time management, how to make up missed classes and tests; how to get along with their roommates; keeping a checkbook—skills that many student-athletes were lacking.”

The initiative eventually expanded to include serving all first-year student-athletes and now, as the Saxon Success Program, provides guidance to all student-athletes enrolled at Alfred.

“There have been success initiatives in the past for student-athletes, but this is far more comprehensive,” said Deb Steward, Associate Vice President for Student Experience, Athletics and Recreation. “This is process focused. If we execute the process correctly, the success will come. We need our students taking care of business in the classroom; that shows they are committed to the process.”

Under the program’s life skills component, student-athletes participate in 45-minute seminars, called “huddles,” which are offered according to their class year. First-year students’ seminars focus on areas aimed at helping them acclimate to life as a college student-athlete. Sophomores are taught about researching careers and securing internships, networking, and personal empowerment. Juniors’ huddles teach students how to market their athletics careers to potential employers, setting their career plans in motion, and becoming vocal leaders. Seniors’ discussions include securing their financial futures, developing an identity post-athletics, and prioritizing lifelong fitness and health.

Student-athletes are taught leadership skills through the LEAD (Learn, Empower, Achieve, Develop) model. Students leaders from each varsity athletics team—self nominated or chosen by their coaches—engage in a leadership curriculum and summit while applying their leadership skills to their teams and also in a seminar with underclass students.

LEAD athletic workshops are led by Dr. Chrissy Holm Haider, a Minneapolis, MN-based sports psychology consultant. The athletics department partners with the Judson Leadership Center in the LEAD Summit to provide student-athletes leadership training “in a collaborative team setting,” Steward said. “The goal is to help students develop leadership skills through various experiential learning activities, which they will then apply to their teams, in class, and in other settings.”

Steward pointed to the benefits of fostering leadership skills in student-athletes, which benefit them on their teams and in the classroom, and also long-term in their lives after graduation. “Everything in athletics is transferrable to everyday life,” she said. “We want our students to go out as citizens engaged where they live and work, as leaders in their families, their jobs, and their communities.”

Holm Haider leads four one-hour professional staff development sessions focusing on leadership as well as sports psychology/mental training sessions for student-athletes and teams. The latter sessions address topics such as performance anxiety, confidence, and building goals.

The athletics department tracks student-athletes’ performance in the classroom. An academic success committee headed by Erin Schurr, associate athletic director, monitors student-athletes’ compliance with minimum academic standards and ensures that they are utilizing the resources available to them. Dr. Nicole Bernsen, director of the rugby program and head women’s rugby coach, and Adair Milmoe, head field hockey coach, also serve on the committee; both have backgrounds in academic success programs at their previous institutions of higher education.

man and woman on basketball court
Mike Moskowitz, women’s basketball coach, and senior team member Alyssa DiMillo ’25

Mike Moskowitz, seventh-year head women’s basketball coach, said student-athletes have provided the Athletic Department feedback on the Saxon Success Program. “It is ever evolving, and we are constantly looking for ideas to improve their lives as members of their teams, our athletic department, and campus community as a whole. This has certainly led to our student-athletes feeling supported across the board, with opportunities for growth and a stronger connection to the athletic community.”

The impact of the Saxon Success Program from an academic standpoint is evident. There was an increase in overall grade-point averages of all student-athletes as demonstrated by the Fall 2023 GPA of 3.18 for 487 student-athletes to the Fall 2024 GPA of 3.26 for 527 student-athletes. In addition, there has been an increase among students with a GPA 3.50 or higher, with 74 more student-athletes achieving that mark or higher in Fall 2024 as compared to Fall 2023.

“This will increase retention, persistence, and graduation rates,” Steward said. “It is an enrollment driver; a tool coaches can use for recruiting.”

Moskowitz agreed. “When we meet with recruits and their families, this is a big talking point. We often talk about being a program that focuses on developing people and these additional resources offered by our department help us do just that,” he said.

Alyssa DiMillo, a senior member of the women’s basketball team, touted the benefits of the Saxon Succes Program during her time as a student-athlete at Alfred. “I have become more self-aware of my strengths and weaknesses and have learned how to become a better leader for my team, and how to build confidence in myself and others,” said Alyssa, a business administration major from Syracuse.

Steward credited the Faheys for making the Saxon Success Program possible and for their continued support of Alfred University student-athletes. “I can’t emphasize enough the generosity of the Faheys and how it has allowed us to enhance the opportunities for our student-athletes,” she said, adding that the Saxon Success Program also receives support from Saxon Nation, the fundraising organization for the athletics program.

“We’re very happy with how it has grown,” Pat says. “So many people have brought new ideas and have improved it far beyond what I’d ever imagined it would become. This helps these kids not only become good students, but also good employees and good citizens.”





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Texas A&M tops Kentucky for first NCAA volleyball championship: ‘We sent a warning shot out to the world’

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With Texas A&M up 24-20 in the third set of the NCAA women’s volleyball title match, Maddie Waak set the ball for Ifenna Cos-Okpalla. Though Logan Lednicky and Kyndal Stowers had played bigger games for the Aggies, it was Cos-Okpalla who got the call for the championship point.

She elevated and slammed the ball in between Kentucky’s defenders at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. With that kill, Texas A&M won an improbable national title, 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20).

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“They’re putting on t-shirts behind me. I can’t believe it. I’m still a little bit in disbelief,” Aggies coach Jamie Morrison said to ABC after the game. “We sent a warning shot out to the world about what we’re about.”

Kentucky, the No. 1 seed, started out strong in the first set. They built a lead as big as six points before Texas A&M started chipping away, eventually winning the set, 26-24. With that momentum, the Aggies owned the next two sets. Lednicky was the star of the match with 7 kills, 11 digs and 2 blocks. With every point won, Texas A&M’s confidence grew.

Kentucky was the third No. 1 seed that Texas A&M — a third seed — beat on the way to the national title, and every win from the Sweet 16 on was shocking. First, the Aggies came back from 2-0 to pull the reverse sweep against Louisville. Next, Texas A&M had to face undefeated, No. 1 overall seed Nebraska in Lincoln. In what was the best game of the tournament, the Aggies beat Nebraska in five sets.

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But their magic didn’t stop once the Aggies got to Kansas City. In the national semifinal, they swept No. 1 seed Pittsburgh, the first time the Panthers had been swept all season. And then in the first-ever All-SEC final, the Aggies came out victorious.

Unlike Kentucky, which won the national title in 2020 and has been one of the top teams in women’s volleyball for years, Texas A&M is a newcomer to volleyball’s elite. Though it had some good teams over the years that made it to the Elite Eight, this was the program’s first Final Four and their first national title.

Morrison took over the program in 2023, and held onto Lednicky and Cos-Okpalla. The Aggies turned the program around quickly, earning a bid to the tournament in 2023 and then making it to the Sweet 16 in 2024. This year, the Aggies went 29-4 and looked like a team on the brink. But with so many seniors, they had no time to waste and adopted the mentality of “Why not us?”

Lednicky, who played with the U.S. national team over the summer, was the heart of this team’s championship run, and the player who kept asking “Why not us?” Stowers’ comeback might be one of the best sports stories of the year. While playing for Baylor, she suffered concussions and medically retired from the sport. But after being medically cleared and deciding she had more to give to the sport, Stowers signed with Texas A&M and is now a national champion.

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Morrison has built a program that is not only a national champion, but is in a great position to continue to grow volleyball in Texas. While he will lose seniors like Lednicky and Waak, he can now show off a championship ring while on the recruiting trail.

But figuring out who will play for the Aggies next season is tomorrow’s problem. Today, Texas A&M gets to celebrate how it defied the odds to win the school’s first-ever national title in women’s volleyball.



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Kentucky vs. Texas A&M NCAA Volleyball Championship: How to watch, preview

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Kentucky volleyball will look to win its second national title in five years on Sunday when it takes on Texas A&M in Kansas City.How to watchSunday’s game tips off at 3:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center. It will air on ABC.PreviewKentucky comes to the game on Sunday with the edge. The Cats are No. 2 overall in the NCAA ranking, and they have previously beaten the No. 6 Aggies 3-1 in October. That game, an A&M home game, saw then No. 3 Kentucky face off against No. 9 Texas A&M, but since that meet-up, the Cats have not lost a single game, and the Aggies are right behind them with a single loss to home state rival Texas. The Wildcats have won 27 straight games, 30-2 overall, with their last loss in September to Pittsburgh. Texas A&M comes in 28-4 overall, with a five-game win streak, after their loss to Texas destroyed their 11-game win streak.Kentucky is no stranger to the NCAA championship. The Cats snagged their first title in 2020 after they beat Texas 3-1 in Omaha. Texas A&M has not made an appearance at the NCAA championship but has finished in the top ten four times in the last five years, finishing in fifth place in 2024.

Kentucky volleyball will look to win its second national title in five years on Sunday when it takes on Texas A&M in Kansas City.

How to watch

Sunday’s game tips off at 3:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center. It will air on ABC.

Preview

Kentucky comes to the game on Sunday with the edge. The Cats are No. 2 overall in the NCAA ranking, and they have previously beaten the No. 6 Aggies 3-1 in October. That game, an A&M home game, saw then No. 3 Kentucky face off against No. 9 Texas A&M, but since that meet-up, the Cats have not lost a single game, and the Aggies are right behind them with a single loss to home state rival Texas.

The Wildcats have won 27 straight games, 30-2 overall, with their last loss in September to Pittsburgh. Texas A&M comes in 28-4 overall, with a five-game win streak, after their loss to Texas destroyed their 11-game win streak.

Kentucky is no stranger to the NCAA championship. The Cats snagged their first title in 2020 after they beat Texas 3-1 in Omaha.

Texas A&M has not made an appearance at the NCAA championship but has finished in the top ten four times in the last five years, finishing in fifth place in 2024.



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Texas A&M volleyball beats Kentucky to win national title

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NATIONAL CHAMPIONS! – Texas A&M Athletics

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Texas A&M Aggies overwhelmed the Kentucky Wildcats in the final two sets of a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-18) victory to claim the school’s first-ever NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Sunday evening inside the T-Mobile Center.

 

Entering the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Lincoln Regional, Texas A&M (29-4) completed a postseason sweep of three of the tournament’s No. 1 seeds, beating Nebraska (3-2) and Pitt (3-0) before dispatching of Kentucky (30-3). The last three teams the Maroon & White beat were a combined 93-6 before their respective seasons were ended.

 

The Aggies became the ninth team in the 45-year history of the NCAA Championship to sweep both of their Final Four matches.

 

The Maroon & White never trailed in the last two sets. The opportunistic Aggies took advantage of the Wildcats’ nine service errors and 16 attack errors.

 

Kyndal Stowers was named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player. She capped off the tournament with a .304 attack percentage, 10 kills, six digs, two service aces and one block in the triumph over Kentucky. Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Logan Lednicky and Ava Underwood joined Stowers on the All-Tournament Team.

 

Texas A&M claimed the first set despite not leading until 25-24. The Wildcats pounced on the Aggies in the first set for a 9-3 advantage. Kentucky led by six on eight more occasions, before the Maroon & White clawed back into the contest. An 8-2 run, featuring two kills each by Cos-Okpalla and Lednicky, tied the contest at 20-20. With the set seesawing, the Wildcats had its first set point at 24-23, but Stowers sandwiched two kills around a block assist by Cos-Okpalla and Maddie Waak for the smash and grab.

 

The second set was tied twice early before the Aggies broke away. Back-to-back kills by Lednicky and a service ace by Cos-Okpalla allowed Texas A&M to open a 5-2 lead. The Maroon & White suffocated the Wildcats with a 13-3 run to open its biggest lead of the set at 19-8. Kentucky would draw no closer than seven the remainder of the set.

 

After Kentucky opened the third set with a service error, Cos-Okpalla put aways two kills to start a 6-1 surge out of the gate. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 10-8, but 9-3 charge by Texas A&M widened the lead to 19-11. Big Blue was closed the gap to four at 24-20, but it was too little, too late as Cos-Okpalla uncorked a booming kill for the final point.

 

STAT LEADERS

Kills – Logan Lednicky – 11

Hitting Percentage (Min. 10 kills) – Kyndal Stowers – .304

Assists – Maddie Waak – 29

Aces – Ifenna Cos-Okpalla; Maddie Waak – 2 

Digs – Ava Underwood – 10

Blocks – Ifenna Cos-Okpalla – 4

 

GAME NOTES

  • Logan Lednicky recorded her 23nd-consecutive game with 10 or more kills.
  • Ifenna Cos-Okpalla set the Texas A&M career record for blocks, wrapping up with 566. She also inflated her single-season school record to 199.
  • Jamie Morrison joined John Dunning (first year) and Michael Sealy (second year) as one of three coaches two win an NCAA Division I Volleyball tournament in their first three years as a head coach.
  • The Aggies beat all four of the No. 1 seeds of the NCAA Championship, beating Texas (3-2) in the regular season and Nebraska (3-2), Pitt (3-0) and Kentucky (3-0).

 

FOLLOW THE AGGIES

Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Fans can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.





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Alumni Spotlight: Aviana “Avi” Goode ’20

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Aviana K. Goode ’20
Track and Field

Aviana, also known as Avi, is no stranger to success on the track. Before turning 18, Avi had already won three state championships and earned multiple bronze medals, along with a silver, while competing for her high school track team — and even added a school record in the process. Her winning nature carried over to Syracuse where she balanced being a student and an athlete, studying Communication and Rhetorical Studies at VPA and Sports Revenue Management & Operations at Falk College. This balance paid off as she earned top-six finishes at the 2019 ACC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in the high jump. She continued to add to her long list of track achievements during her graduate transfer year when she competed for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) where she previously held the indoor program record for 60m hurdles and the outdoor record for the 100m hurdles and heptathlon. Although she no longer competes on the track, she has found a new way to stay involved with the sport she loves.

It was always Aviana’s dream to earn a trip to TrackTown USA in Eugene, Oregon. For those who may not know, TrackTown is a world-class track and field facility organizing events such as the 2015, 2022, 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships and the 2016, 2020, and 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Aviana’s dream to make it to TrackTown USA, also known as Hayward Field, came true when she was selected as one of four photographers to cover the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials as park of the Black Women Photographers and TrackTown USA creative team.

Noah Lyles coming out of the blocks at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks
Noah Lyles coming out of the blocks at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks

“It was surreal,” Aviana said. “My goal in life, in track and field specifically, was always to make it to Hayward Field. It was supposed to be as an athlete, but I guess God had different plans for me. I ended up there with a whole new lens, literally and figuratively.”

Aviana spent over a week at TrackTown shooting world-class athletes like Olympic champion and eight-time World Champion, Noah Lyles, Olympic long jump champion, Tara Davis-Woodhall, and even Olympian and World Record breaker, Sydney McLaughlin.


 

Tara Davis-Woodhall competing in long jump at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks
Tara Davis-Woodhall competing in long jump at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks

The unique part about the entire situation is that Aviana was just a newbie in the sports photography world at this point. She had started sports photography just two years prior to shooting on this world-class stage and had only shot one outdoor track meet before. Despite the lack of experience, Polly Irungu, founder of Black Women Photographers, loved her photos and style.

The opportunity to shoot the Olympic Trials allowed Aviana to grow tremendously as a person but also as a photographer. While covering the Olympic Trials, she noticed that not many women of color were working as creatives although the sport is predominately black. There were only five other creatives that were black women that she saw capturing the events at TrackTown. This realization inspired Avi to be a role model and a representation for young black women and women of color who want to step into the creative world. As a freelance photographer based in NYC, she continues to refine her craft, working with athletes, brands, and events to create high-impact imagery that resonates.

“Being a photographer allows me to go out there and still feel like an athlete. I can feel the emotion. I’m capturing everything to remember the moment and to show the love and passion for the sport that I think is the hardest sport in the world, Aviana said.

 

Stay connected with Aviana on Linkedin: Aviana Goode | LinkedIn & Instagram: @goode.flicks

Raven Saunders with her medal at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks
Raven Saunders with her medal at U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Credit: Aviana Goode/@goode.flicks



 

 



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Kentucky volleyball results, recap vs Texas A&M in championship match

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Updated Dec. 21, 2025, 5:16 p.m. ET

The Kentucky Wildcats volleyball team needed one more win to bring home a national championship, but the Texas A&M Aggies were the better team on Sunday afternoon, and it’s they who took home the trophy after winning the match 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20).

It looked like the Wildcats were going to take control early. They jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the first set, and led big as play progressed. However, some good Texas A&M serves, and some bad Kentucky passing led to an Aggies comeback.

After that first set, it seemed as if the life drained out of the Wildcats. The Aggies dominated the second set. They blocked nearly every Kentucky kill attempt, and dug out the rest. The Cats had no answers, and they fell behind 2-0.



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