Game Day Information

Who: Missouri S&T

When: Saturday, January 10 | 2 PM

Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court

Live Stats: Link

Watch: Link

Tickets: Link

Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne

Game Day Information

Who: NJIT

When: Sunday, January 11 | 5 PM

Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court

Live Stats: Link

Watch: Link

Tickets: Link

Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne

Know Your Foes

Missouri S&T finished the 2025 season 11-14 and dropped a five-set bout to Maryville in the IVA semifinals to conclude the year. The Miners return all seven players from their main rotation for the 2026 season. Three of those players, Nate Meyer (First Team), Tyler Johnwick (Second Team) and Aaron Sallade (Second Team) were 2025 All-IVA selections. Missouri S&T fired off the ninth most nationally in total team attacks per set last season, averaging 28.51 a frame. The Miners also ranked top-10 nationally in digs per set, notching 9.75 a set. Missouri S&T was led offensively by now seniors Meyer and Sallade, both finishing the year with more than 3.00 kills per set. Junior Grant Edmonds ran the offense at the setter position for the Miners a season ago, averaging 8.60 assists per set while starting all 25 matches. Bartosz Chmielewski held a team high 196 digs from the libero position in 2025. Middle blocker Johnwick finished the season fifth nationally in hitting percentage (.448).

NJIT ended their 2025 season at 14-13, 8-4 in EIVA play. The Highlanders’ season ended at the hands of Penn State in the EIVA semifinals. NJIT were able to beat two ranked opponents last year: No. 20 George Mason and No. 19 Penn State. The Highlanders return only one of their four players to average over 2.00 kills per set, sophomore Wiktor Nowak. Sophomore Bruno Figueiredo ran the Highlanders offense in the setter position, averaging 9.24 assists per set. NJIT started the season 0-2 against No. 2 Hawaii. Freshman André Aleixo led the Highlanders with 3.00 kills per set in the two contests.

Series Histories

The ‘Dons won the only meeting between Purdue Fort Wayne and Missouri S&T. The Mastodons swept the Miners in 2023.

Purdue Fort Wayne holds a 15-5 series history lead over NJIT. The Highlanders have closed the gap in the last four meetings, winning all four since 2020.

Preseason All-MIVA

Logan Muir was selected for the Preseason All-MIVA Team on December 15. Muir was named to the 2025 All-MIVA Second Team following last season. The Junior led the Mastodons in points (464.5), kills (391) and service aces (41) last year. He was second in the MIVA in kills per set (4.39), aces per set (0.41) and points per set (5.19) during conference play. Muir’s 5.09 points per set ranked fifth in the nation. The California native also was 10th in the MIVA in hitting percentage with .299. Muir recorded double-digit kills in 19 of the ‘Dons’ 26 matches. He hit a career-high 23 kills in three sets at McKendree, the third most in the program’s rally scoring era.

Fresh Faces

Purdue Fort Wayne begins the 2026 season with a roster refresh, adding five freshmen and two transfers. The additions include Carlo Huisden (OH), Joaquin Jones (S), Vince Spadoni (OH), Jean Paul Gonzalez (OH), Owen Banner (OH/OPP), Ethan Skalski (OH/OPP) and Brody McAfee (OPP/MB).

2025 In a Nutshell

Purdue Fort Wayne finished the 2025 season at 11-15, 4-12 during MIVA play. The Mastodons finished seventh in MIVA standings and took on No. 12 McKendree in the MIVA quarterfinals, falling in three sets.

Coming Up

The Mastodons will travel to Lindenwood for the Under Armour Challenge on January 16 and 17. The Mastodons play Menlo at 5 PM ET on January 16 and then CSUN at 5 PM ET on January 17.

 

~ Feel the Rumble ~

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Nebraska legend and one of volleyball’s most iconic figures John Cook sat down with 10/11 Thursday to talk about the upcoming Omaha Supernovas season.

The former Nebraska volleyball head coach joined the organization as co-owner and general manager in August after announcing his retirement that January.

Cook shared details about his new role and transition from collegiate volleyball to professional volleyball.

“This has been a pretty easy transition for me because this is similar to what I’ve been doing,” Cook said. “If you look at it, you’re just trying to put all this group together, give them everything they need to perform their best I mean that’s the bottom line. That’s my job is to give them every opportunity to be the best that they can become.”

Cook said he was inspired to get involved in the organization when he noticed the amount of mothers and daughters attending Supernovas matches last season.

One of Cook’s goals for the Supernovas was to build a team around great culture. That helped guide the organization during recruitment season.

“It’s a first-class organization and so it was easy to find players that wanted to come here and then also fit what we were looking for in culture and being competitive.”

Fifteen players are on Supernovas roster this season, including two former Nebraska players, opposite hitter Merritt Beason and Leyla Blackwell.

“We wanted to create and built a team that the fans would recognize and relate to and I think that’s one of the reasons why people are so passionate about about the Supernovas,” Cook said.

Watch the Supernovas at 7 p.m. Thursday when they take on the San Diego Mojo at CHI Health Center in Omaha.

Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.

BIRMINGHAM – UAB Track & Field returns to the Birmingham Crossplex on Friday and Saturday for its first meets of 2026. On Friday, events will kick off at 1 p.m. while Saturday events begin at 9 a.m.

THE FIELD

Among the teams participating with the Blazers this weekend will be Auburn, Chattanooga, Georgia State, Southern Miss, Troy, and UT Martin.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR

Last year’s Blazer Invite was canceled due to winter weather events.

THE LAST TIME OUT

The Blazers’ last meet came on December 5 at the Birmingham Icebreaker at the Birmingham Crossplex. Leticia Quingostas started her senior season strong in the 300m. The senior from Brazil placed ninth overall out of 28 athletes and won heat 4 with a time of 40.51 seconds. The freshmen middle distance duo consisting of Kelly Hughes and Katelyn Valtos made their college debuts in the 1000m. Hughes (3:05.08) and Valtos (3:06.08) finished sixth and seventh overall respectively. Valtos’ time was tops in heat 2. The Green and Gold rounded out the day with true freshman Sarah Hopkins competing in the Weight Throw. Hopkins finished her day with a mark of 14.58m on her final successful throw, which ranks third-best in school history for Indoor Weight Throw.

MEET INFORMATION

Fans can access live results, meet information, and the entire meet schedules on uabsports.com/sports/womens-track-and-field.

ENTRY TO THE CROSSPLEX

Only credit cards will be accepted on the campus of the Birmingham Crossplex.

FOLLOW THE BLAZERS

To keep up with UAB Track & Field, follow @UAB_TF_XC on Instagram and X.

Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina head volleyball coach Karen Glover finalized her 2026 roster with a pair of transfers, adding middle blocker Brookelyn Nance (Gardner-Webb) and Sophia Marini (Daytona State), as both are set to join WCU for the spring semester in advance of the 2026 season. Nance will have three years of eligibility with the Catamounts, as Marini has two years with WCU.

 

Marini and Nance join a quartet of student-athletes who will join the program in the fall of 2026 in setter Leilani Ramos (Jupiter, Fla.), outside hitter Taylor Baggett (Fayetteville, N.C.), middle blocker Aiyana Harris (Mansfield, Texas), and outside hitter Ashlyn Cobb (Delray Beach, Fla.), who each signed back in November to join the Catamounts.

 

Sophia Marini – 6-0 – RS – Daytona State / Hagerty HS / Oviedo, Fla.

Marini comes to Cullowhee after spending the past two seasons at Daytona State in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Oviedo, Fla. native appeared in 45 matches totaling 156 sets over two years at Daytona State. During her two years with the Falcons, she totaled 246 kills, ranking third on the team last season with 152.  She finished with a single-game, season-best 11 kills against Polk State (Sept. 27) and 10 vs Salt Lake CC (Aug. 29).

 

Marini contributed on defense with 65 blocks over her two seasons, including 44 in 2025. She garnered FCSAA All-Tournament team honors from the conference in 2025 after a standout performance in a pair of tourney matchups with 10 kills, five blocks, and four digs over seven sets. She also received “Battle at the Beach” all-tournament honors during the opening weekend for Daytona State, as she contributed on both ends of the stat sheet.

Brookelyn Nance – 6-2 – MB – Gardner-Webb / Hickory Ridge HS / Hickory, N.C.

Nance joins the WCU family after spending her debut collegiate season at Gardner-Webb out of the Big South Conference. A product of Hickory, N.C., Nance comes to the Catamounts after totaling 113 kills spanning 75 sets throughout 22 matches in 2025 with the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Nance totaled a season-high 10 kills against Norfolk State during the early part of the season, as she had five matches posting over a .300 hitting percentage.

 

On the defensive end, Nance helped lead Gardner-Webb to the second-best blocking team in the Big South, finishing with 67 rejections. Before her stop in Boiling Springs, she was an all-conference selection at Hickory Ridge High as a prep senior, surpassing 200 kills in both her junior (293) and senior (234) seasons. She played club volleyball for Carolina Juniors.  

Keep track of everything related to Catamount volleyball and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts, @catamountvb), and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountvb).