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Volleyball Announces 2025 Incoming Class

Story Links MIAMI — FIU’s volleyball program announced its addition of seven incoming players for the 2025 season on Friday afternoon.  The Panthers will welcome seven newcomers to the roster for the Fall of 2025, five freshmen and two transfers.  Ashlyn Blazer | Freshman | 6-0 | Outside Hitter | Shawnee, Kan. […]

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MIAMI — FIU’s volleyball program announced its addition of seven incoming players for the 2025 season on Friday afternoon. 

The Panthers will welcome seven newcomers to the roster for the Fall of 2025, five freshmen and two transfers. 

Ashlyn Blazer | Freshman | 6-0 | Outside Hitter | Shawnee, Kan. | Mill Valley

Blazer joins the Panthers after an accomplished prep career at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, Kan. With Blazer as the primary option, Mill Valley won back-to-back State Championships in 2023 and 2024. Blazer showed her efficiency in attack, racking up the top hitting percentage in all of Kansas high school competition during the 2023 season. She earned honorable mention All-State status and was a member of the KVA All-Academic team all four seasons. 

Haley Herndon | Freshman | 6-1 | Opposite | Houston, Texas | Concordia Lutheran

Herndon comes to the ‘305’ from the Lone Star State following a decorated tenure in both club and high school volleyball. She was a member of the same club team, Houston Skyline 17 Royal, as FIU teammates Beka Pfefferkorn and Kate Kuehn, of which was the top-ranked club program in the nation in 2024. With Houston Skyline, she won several club tournaments with her team including the Northern Lights Qualifier, Show Me Qualifier, Lone Star Classic, Northeast Qualifier and Tour of Texas in the Open Division this past season. At Concordia Lutheran, Herndon was named All-District, All-Area and All-State along with being recognized as Offensive Team MVP. The 6-1 freshman racked up over 1,000 kills in her high school career, posting a career-high of 35 kills in single match. 

Kate Kuehn | Freshman | 5-11 | Setter | Katy, Texas | Seven Lakes

Kuehn will be the second Texan joining the roster in the Fall of 2025, hailing from Katy, Texas in the Houston-metro area. She was an integral part of the aforementioned Houston Skyline 17 Royal success, with Panther teammates Pfefferkorn and Herndon, serving as a setter for the nation’s top club program. At Seven Lakes HS, she eclipsed 1,000 assists for her career and earned a litany of awards. The 5-11 setter was named to the AVCA’s Phenom watch list along with earning All-District and All-State status as a senior.

Jenna McClure | Freshman | 5-8 | Libero | Overland Park, Kan. | Blue Valley North

McClure is also a Kansas native, joining teammates Jillian Huckabey and Ashlyn Blazer, all three of which hail from the Kansas City-metro area. McClure and Blazer will team up at FIU after competing together in club this season with MAVS 18 Elite. The 5-8 libero won the State Championship with Blue Valley North in 2021 and was named All-State all four seasons. She finished her prep career with 839 kills and 825 digs, adding 140 aces from the service line.

Kambree Rodriguez | Sophomore | 5-8 | Syracuse, Utah | Utah State

Rodriguez, a native of Syracuse, Utah, joins FIU after spending time at Utah State University. She racked up 332 digs at Utah State, as part of the 2023 Mountain West Regular Season Champions, and was named All-Mountain West as an honorable mention selection. She earned two Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors and Freshman of the Week on five occasions. The incoming sophomore libero had an outstanding prep career as well, finishing in the Top-5 at the State Tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Rodriguez has also spent time with the USA Volleyball National Team Development Program.

Natalie Powers | Freshman | 5-4 | Libero | Mukwonago, Wis. | Mukwonago

Powers comes to FIU from Wisconsin after collecting over 1,000 digs and 775-plus assists during her prep career. Powers played multiple positions for Mukwonago, helping the program to its first-ever state semifinal appearance in 2024. She was also team captain and earned all-conference status as a senior. In club, her team, Milwaukee Sting 17 Gold, won the Elite Division of the 2024 Triple Crown NIT, the nation’s most competitive club volleyball tournament annually. 

Sofie Vogel | Graduate Student | 6-1 | Middle Blocker | Golden Valley, Minn. | Charleston

Vogel is already a member of the FIU beach volleyball team and will join the indoor roster in the fall, coming to the Panthers from Charleston. At Charleston, Vogel appeared in 86 matches with its indoor program, averaging 1.47 kills per set. She racked up 191 kills in the 2023 season and hit .301 in 30 matches. Vogel also earned CAA Defensive Player of the Week honors. In high school, she was named Team MVP, totaling 692 kills, 392 digs, 164 blocks and 78 aces in three seasons. Vogel was a two-time all-conference selection at Robbinsdale Armstrong in the Minneapolis-metro area. 

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Anderson Concludes Sophomore Campaign at NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships

Story Links Geneva, Ohio – May 23, 2025 – Springfield College sophomore Mike Anderson (Cromwell, Conn.) represented the Pride at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Friday afternoon in the 110-meter hurdles at the SPIRE Institute. Anderson, who entered his first career appearance on the national stage seeded […]

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Geneva, Ohio – May 23, 2025 – Springfield College sophomore Mike Anderson (Cromwell, Conn.) represented the Pride at the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Friday afternoon in the 110-meter hurdles at the SPIRE Institute.

Anderson, who entered his first career appearance on the national stage seeded 15th in the 110-meter hurdles, clocked a time of 15.12-seconds for 18th overall in the event. Anderson wraps up a very successful sophomore campaign as he broke the school record in the 110-meter hurdles multiple times culminating in a mark of 14.23-seconds which he set at the AARTFC Outdoor Championships back on May 14.

Tomorrow, Samantha Paul will compete in the triple jump at 1:45 pm for the women’s track and field program looking for her second All-America accolade of the 2024-25 year.

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.  Be sure to tune into all Springfield College Athletic events by subscribing to FloSports.

 





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Kristen Grimes named new Lady Lions volleyball head coach

Kristen Grimes named new Lady Lions volleyball head coach | Brownwood News Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/16.6.1 Safari/605.1.15 X-Middleton/1 0786ae7b8f791dcd165d63cdd413629aeb710cce 1 Link 0

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Kristen Grimes named new Lady Lions volleyball head coach | Brownwood News

































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Long Beach Poly vs. Camarillo, CIF Baseball – The562.org

Tyler Hendrickson Tyler Hendrickson was born and raised in Long Beach, and started covering sports in his hometown in 2010. After five years as a sportswriter, Tyler joined the athletic department at Long Beach State University in 2015. He spent more than four years in the athletic communications department, working primarily with the Dirtbags baseball […]

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Tyler Hendrickson

Tyler Hendrickson was born and raised in Long Beach, and started covering sports in his hometown in 2010. After five years as a sportswriter, Tyler joined the athletic department at Long Beach State University in 2015. He spent more than four years in the athletic communications department, working primarily with the Dirtbags baseball program. Tyler also co-authored of The History of Long Beach Poly: Scholars & Champions.

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Gillum Finishes 11th, Earns Second Team All-American Honors

Story Links GENEVA, Ohio – Senior Camille Gillum of the Washington and Lee University women’s track and field team earned All-American honors on the second day of the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon. Gillum, who earned a berth in the high jump for […]

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GENEVA, Ohio – Senior Camille Gillum of the Washington and Lee University women’s track and field team earned All-American honors on the second day of the 2025 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon.

Gillum, who earned a berth in the high jump for the second time this season, came into the event with the 11th-best mark in Division III with a height of 1.68m. She cleared the opening height on her first attempt at 1.60m (5′-03.00″) before clearing the next bar on her second attempt at 1.65m (5′-05.00″). Gillum turned in an T-11th place finish after not successfully clearing the bar at 1.68m to earn Second Team All-American honors.

Gillum conluded her career with the Blue and White with a pair of All-American honors and qualifiying for both the Indoor and Outdoor National Championships this season.

 


Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.



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Skolnik Bows Out in 110m Hurdles Prelims

Story Links Geneva, Ohio- In his third and final Track and Field Championship appearance, senior hurdler Ari Skolnik came up short in qualifying for the 110m hurdles. Skolnik ran a 14.87 in heat two for sixth place in his heat and the 16th fastest time overall. He finished his Big Red […]

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Geneva, Ohio- In his third and final Track and Field Championship appearance, senior hurdler Ari Skolnik came up short in qualifying for the 110m hurdles. Skolnik ran a 14.87 in heat two for sixth place in his heat and the 16th fastest time overall. He finished his Big Red career as a three-time All-NCAC finisher, a two-time NCAC Champion, and a three-time All-Region honoree. 

Up Next

Wrapping up the weekend in Geneva is fellow senior, thrower Chris Slater. Slater enters the hammer throw championships seeded fifth with a mark of 61.85. Hammer throw is slated to begin on Saturday, May 24, at 1:45 p.m.

 



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Hard work allows Lowell to overcome loss of 14 seniors

Every Saturday morning, it’s the same calculated and intentional routine. Stretch. Laps. Rotate between four high-intensity stations – core, weights, stairs and jump ropes – for an hour. And then, after the Lowell boys volleyball team is good and tired, the Red Raiders get to the volleyball. Knowing the battles the tight Merrimack Valley Conference […]

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Every Saturday morning, it’s the same calculated and intentional routine.

Stretch. Laps. Rotate between four high-intensity stations – core, weights, stairs and jump ropes – for an hour. And then, after the Lowell boys volleyball team is good and tired, the Red Raiders get to the volleyball.

Knowing the battles the tight Merrimack Valley Conference presents on a nightly basis, longtime head coach Paul McCarthy and assistant coach Brandon Seng emphasize the exhaustion players will face in fourth and fifth sets, and the need to be able to deliver through it. The Red Raiders didn’t enter the season as the reigning MVC champs for the first time in two years, and they wanted to take the title back. Every match mattered.

Well, despite graduating 14 seniors and starting an entirely different unit with little varsity experience, Lowell (16-2) edged Methuen and Chelmsford to do just that. The revolving door of rock fights in the MVC forced the Red Raiders to at least a fourth set in 11 of its 18 games, and they fought off fatigue with a 9-2 mark.

Junior standout setter Vitou Seng – who Brandon Seng credits as the central stabilizing force – feels those Saturday practices are the X-factor for them this year. Sophomore standout libero Logan Uy echoes that by attributing the success to the hard work in every practice.

The proof is in the pudding.

“It’s a breath of fresh air for me,” McCarthy said. “These kids have put so much enthusiasm into their work. They just love the game, they feed off of that. It’s great to see them (commit). Saturday morning practices are not (easy), and they’ve had good attendance all year long. They’ve made the commitment to the program.”

The Lowell boys volleyball team celebrates a 3-0 win over Westford Academy. The Red Raiders went on to win the MVC. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)
The Lowell boys volleyball team celebrates a 3-0 win over Westford Academy. The Red Raiders went on to win the MVC. (James Thomas for the Lowell Sun)

There was plenty of chatter in the area over the offseason about how vulnerable Lowell would be this year, having just four seniors – two in the rotation – and significantly little returning varsity experience. McCarthy, who always puts a great respect and admiration on the challenge of winning the MVC, even said in the preseason that Lowell could be headed to a total rebuild this year. Losing 14 seniors is quite a turnover.

Needless to say, he’s been pleasantly surprised – and proud.

After a five-set loss to Div. 1 threat Cambridge, Lowell didn’t drop a set over the next four games. Against a loaded Chelmsford group that entered the year as the MVC favorite, the Red Raiders took the match in four. Three games later against Methuen, they overcame a 2-1 deficit to edge out a 3-2 win, bolstered by a 30-28 fourth set. They won 13 straight games up until Chelmsford took a match back on May 14, but a 3-1 win over Methuen two games later avoided a three-team tie and sealed the highly-coveted title.

“We kind of took the (rebuild narrative) to heart, so we kept practicing every day,” said Vitou Seng. “We used it as motivation. … We kept striving, we never gave up. We just kept fighting.”

“We knew (we could do it) since the beginning of the season,” Uy added. “We knew who we were going up against, we knew what we had to do to beat those teams. … Just working hard every single practice.”

Filling in the shoes of graduated All-Scholastic setter Tyrell Lout at setter was a tall task, but Vitou Seng – who got a little time behind him last year on varsity – has excelled with 32.8 assists per game (591 total). Uy has gotten the ball to him effectively with 36.3 digs per game (654 total), which Seng has dispersed among a deep lineup of hitters.

Sophomore Aundre Rivera has stood out with a team-best 11.9 kills per game (215 total) this year, as well as 16.4 digs (295 total). Seniors Ian Mao (168 kills, 212 digs) and Gianni Rodriguez (131 kills) are right behind him, while middles Angel So (41 blocks) and Bobby Pappaconstantinou (39 blocks) have led the defense at the net – along with Seng (21 blocks).

Brandon Seng said after the first win over Methuen that these players just wanted to write their own story in the program’s decorated lore, and to prove themselves.

They’ve been preparing for this even well before this year, through countless hours of pick-up volleyball and the junior varsity program.

“For this group to go where they have at this age is how we take our time and coach the JV team,” Brandon Seng said. “We treat them as one, not as two different programs. That’s how I feel like these guys were ready to go. … And once they experienced the winning (at the varsity level), it was just contagious.”

Unity has been at the heart of this year, too, throughout the entire program.

“For these guys to pick it up as a new core together is really impressive,” Brandon Seng said. “They have the same mindset and goal. It’s tough to get eight to 10 guys to have the same mindset, that want to win, that want to do good. And they push each other every day.”

“I think we’re all on the same page because we all want to win state’s,” Vitou Seng added. “Last year, we went to state’s but we lost to Brookline. This is a major factor because all of us were on JV just watching … (knowing) this is where we’re going to be (this) year.”

Lowell was only ranked No. 12 in the last set of MIAA Div. 1 power rankings before tournament pairings drop on Tuesday, but there’s a state-wide belief that the path to at least the state quarterfinals is parity-ridden.

The Red Raiders already proved themselves once. They’re excited for the challenge of doing it again.

One Cleary to another

Until graduating last year, former star outside hitter Mason Cleary was instrumental in helping lift the BC High program to new heights.

Younger brother Ben Cleary has followed suit.

By notching 26 kills on Friday, Ben snapped Mason’s single-season kills record (304) – reaching 321 with the state tournament still on the horizon. Ben became the fastest in program history to reach 500 career kills, anchoring an 11-7 group with potential to make some noise in the tourney.

“He’s transitioned into a full-time six rotation outside hitter and has really stepped up his offensive production,” said BC High head coach James Chen. “He puts the team on his back in every big moment – leading by example. You can see his passion for the game and how he wants the team to succeed.”

Rosa making mark with Whalers

New Bedford head coach Ben Kaeterle felt in the preseason that his group could have a special year with all the growth and experience it returned from a 21-1 season last year.

Nick Rosa is one of the central figures Kaeterle referred to, and the outside hitter has soared within an 18-2 mark against a stronger schedule. His 500th career kill came in a 3-0 sweep of Barnstable to avenge a surprising earlier loss, and now his 626 career kills are 37 away from breaking the longtime program’s all-time mark.

The Whalers ended the regular season on an 11-game win streak, which Rosa has led the attack within on just about a nightly basis.

“(Rosa) has been a go-to hitting option (and) has developed into a composed and mature volleyball player,” Kaeterle said. “He’s freakishly athletic and taken his overall game to the next level this year – front row and back row.”

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