Volleyball remains constant for Rochester’s Jackson Smith through multiple cross-country moves – Post Bulletin
ROCHESTER — Jackson Smith is no stranger to change. After all, he’s lived in six different cities throughout his young life. One constant has remained: volleyball. Smith was born in Selma, Ala., to his parents, including his dad, who is a pastor at Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester. As the son of a pastor, Smith […]
ROCHESTER — Jackson Smith is no stranger to change.
After all, he’s lived in six different cities throughout his young life. One constant has remained: volleyball.
Smith was born in Selma, Ala., to his parents, including his dad, who is a pastor at Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester. As the son of a pastor, Smith moved around a lot with his family. From Alabama to Ruston, La., then Fort Worth, Texas, to Milwaukee, Wis. and Orlando, Fla., before ultimately landing in Minnesota.
“(Volleyball has) been super constant for me. I know I can at least go to the sport that I love playing, no matter where it is,” Smith, a senior outside hitter on the Rochester Mayo/Century/John Marshall boys volleyball team, said.
After he graduates from Mayo High School on Saturday, Smith will move once more for college to study and play men’s volleyball at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Mayo/John Marshall/Century’s Jackson Smith (11) spikes the ball during a boys volleyball game against East Ridge on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at Mayo High School in Rochester.
Maya Giron / Post Bulletin
One of the most recent changes in his life came when he learned boys volleyball would become an official varsity sport in Minnesota, sanctioned by the MSHSL.
Smith was introduced to volleyball in middle school in Orlando, playing sixth through eighth grade until he came to Rochester for high school. Smith tried out a few different sports for the Spartans, including football, basketball and track, but always came back to volleyball. He became an integral part of the boys club volleyball scene in town and was more than ready to step into a leading role this season.
Honestly, it’s a change he never anticipated. During his freshman year in 2022, Smith attended the meeting where the proposal to make boys volleyball a sanctioned sport in Minnesota was on the table. The proposal failed by one vote.
It eventually passed the following spring
with the first official season set for 2024-25.
After everything, Smith still wasn’t sure if Rochester would have a team if it couldn’t find players or raise enough funds. That was until head coach Deb Frederick gave him and the other dedicated club players the green light.
“It’s been really cool to see the growth and development,” Smith said. “I think just seeing it all unfold is kind of surreal in a way, because I didn’t expect any of this to happen. … But when coach pulled us aside and was like, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a team this year,’ I was like, Oh my gosh.
“It didn’t matter who we played, didn’t matter what jersey we wore, I just knew that I was playing my actual high school sport. It’s just a bunch of gratefulness, a bunch of just being thankful for everyone who’s been a part of it. … The fact that we’re having practice right now is just such a blessing in general.”
It all came full circle.
Smith undoubtedly left his mark on the Mayo club team and now with the Rochester co-op team. This season, he leads the Spartans on the stats sheet almost every night, but he also leads by example in practice and beyond. Frederick knows exactly how much he means to the budding program.
“This is year four for him, with me, so we’ve gotten along most of the time,” Frederick said with a smile. “But like most coaches and athletes who you trust, there’s always growing pains. I will be sad to see him go. He’s a good kid. He’s a good human being.”
The first season has been a learning experience for both new and experienced players. They’ve worked on team bonding, getting to know each other as classmates first and teammates second.
Recently, they’ve discovered the importance of starting a match off strong and having a short-term memory of mistakes. These are both skills they will carry into the playoffs; the Spartans earned the No. 3 seed and open the Section 1 tournament at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mayo against New Prague.
“We need to start off games swinging, like be aggressive coming out of the gate,” Smith said of the Spartans, who finished the regular season at a solid 14-7. “And when things start to (go) not our way, on to the next point. Forget about it. If you and a teammate did something wrong, next point. Forget about the play. … We say, ‘be a goldfish.’”
As much as Smith is a natural leader, this sport and this year taught him it’s OK to take the backseat now and then.
“Early in my career, you could say, I thought I had to be Superman and play everything and be everywhere,” he said. “But in reality, if we want to win, if we want to go far in the postseason, even in college, even for the club I play for, I need to learn to just play my position and trust my teammates. They’ve got this.”
As he prepares for his first and final varsity playoff run, Smith said he is taking time to think and pray. His faith means everything to him, and it’s true now more than ever as he finishes out the season and gets ready to start his next chapter.
“Just trying to see what the Lord has for us,” Smith said. “Reading my bible is the thing that helps me a lot. It kind of calms me down for the playoffs, especially when things are ramped up and we don’t know who we’re going to play. We might play Austin for a fifth time this season; we just don’t know what’s going to happen. There’s a lot of nerves going in.”
A look at the Section 1 boys volleyball tournament
Of the 10 teams in the Section 1 tournament bracket, the top six seeds will receive a first-round bye. First-round games will be played Tuesday, May 27, at the higher-seeded schools.
Mayo/Century/JM drew the No. 3 seed and is joined in the bracket by No. 5 Austin (12-10) and No. 10 Southland (0-5). The Rebels will face No. 7 Lakeville South in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The Spartans and Packers automatically advance to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 28. Rochester will host No. 6 New Prague while Austin heads to No. 4 Farmington. Both matches will start at 7 p.m.
The MSHSL boys volleyball state tournament is set for June 10-12 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
PT Assistant Track & Field Coach in Cupertino, CA for De Anza College
Located in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
• De Anza College has a comprehensive, highly regarded athletics program, known for its success in both academics and sports. The college fields 17 sports programs, with 9 for women and 8 for men, and has a large number of Student-Athletes who consistently achieve high academic […]
Located in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
• De Anza College has a comprehensive, highly regarded athletics program, known for its success in both academics and sports. The college fields 17 sports programs, with 9 for women and 8 for men, and has a large number of Student-Athletes who consistently achieve high academic standards. De Anza’s athletic program is a significant contributor to the college’s positive reputation in the region and statewide
• Tops in Transfer – De Anza has the highest transfer rate of all Silicon Valley community colleges, and is always at or near the top statewide in community college transfers to the University of California, California State University and private universities, as confirmed in research by the Public Policy Institute of California
De Anza College offers
• Nearly 200 associate degrees and credit certificates, plus 30 noncredit certificates, and more than 1,800 courses.
• State-of-the-art facilities, equipment and technology – thanks to the generosity of local community members
• 112-acre campus with murals, fountains, trees, green space and a vast amount of trails along the foothills near the campus.
Five Newberry College Track & Field athletes earn CSC Academic All-District honors
NEWBERRY — Five Newberry College track and field athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Track and Cross Country Team. Irma Watson-Perez, Andrea Pascual Rivera, ShaNadia Marshall, Drew Benson and Addison O’Cain all earned the honor. Student-athletes must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) […]
NEWBERRY — Five Newberry College track and field athletes were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District® Track and Cross Country Team.
Irma Watson-Perez, Andrea Pascual Rivera, ShaNadia Marshall, Drew Benson and Addison O’Cain all earned the honor.
Student-athletes must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and must rank in the top-50 regional ranking in single event to earn academic all-district honors.
Watson-Perez (Biology), Pascual Rivera (Psychology) and Marshall (Exercise Science & Human Performance) all graduated in May.
Benson (Nursing) and O’Cain (Exercise Science) are both undergraduates.
K-State volleyball prioritizes roster retention, head coach says
MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) – The K-State volleyball team is one of two Division I programs nationwide that didn’t have a single player enter the transfer portal at the end of last season. “We’re really proud of that and I think it speaks to their love for K-State,” Mansfield said. “It really speaks for how much […]
MANHATTAN, Kan. (WIBW) – The K-State volleyball team is one of two Division I programs nationwide that didn’t have a single player enter the transfer portal at the end of last season.
“We’re really proud of that and I think it speaks to their love for K-State,” Mansfield said. “It really speaks for how much they love each other. I think they really, genuinely like being around each other.
“You gotta believe in kids, you know?” Mansfield continued. “I think in this transfer portal phase there’s a lot of, oh, we could’ve gotten a better player or there’s someone better out there. For us it’s always about development.”
Mansfield said when you show loyal to players, they’ll pay it back.
“We’re trying to coach kids for four or five years and stay on the path that they’re on and help them grow and get better,” he added. “Loyalty is a big deal to me, I want them to know we care about them and want to see them get better and continue to grow.”
Beach volleyball in the Intuit Dome? AVP players embrace their new digs
Devon Newberry is closing in on two years as a professional beach volleyball player. Yet for the last 731 days, “professional” has always felt like an elusive label. The former UCLA standout is accustomed to life as a beach volleyball player — hauling her equipment on the beach, tugging her bag across the uneven sand […]
Devon Newberry is closing in on two years as a professional beach volleyball player. Yet for the last 731 days, “professional” has always felt like an elusive label.
The former UCLA standout is accustomed to life as a beach volleyball player — hauling her equipment on the beach, tugging her bag across the uneven sand while weaving through sunbathers and surfboards. She’s used to hearing provisional bleachers creak under sunscreen-slathered fans as music buzzes through nearby portable speakers.
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There’s charm in that chaos. But it’s nothing like the entrance Newberry made Friday at the Intuit Dome.
Above her, the sweeping halo scoreboard glowed, flashing beneath the thump of blasting pop anthems. Around her, where NBA chants once echoed, beach volleyball fans cheered. And strangest of all, tons of sand created a faux indoor shoreline.
After two years chasing it, Newberry found her label.
Read more: 300 tons of sand trucked into Intuit Dome to create unique AVP beach volleyball venue
“I walked into the Intuit Dome today and I was like, ‘I feel like a professional athlete walking in,’” Newberry said. “I haven’t felt like that as a beach player. There’s very rare moments when you’re like, ‘Wow, I am really a professional athlete.’ And when I was going underground here and looking all around me, I was like, ‘I really am a professional athlete.’ And that’s because we’re playing at the Intuit Dome.”
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In what began as a head-scratcher for the players themselves, 300 tons of sand were poured into the Intuit Dome, turning the Clippers’ arena into a pop-up beach — where the L.A. Launch kept their perfect run afloat for the start of AVP League Week 5.
The Launch struck first and last — with Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon opening with a win, and Hagen Smith and Logan Webber closing it out — both pairs dismantling the San Diego Smash. Sandwiched between those victories, Palm Beach Passion’s men’s and women’s teams both made quick work of the Miami Mayhem.
The moment Newberry described — descending into an NBA arena re-imagined as a sand-strewn battleground — was the AVP’s moonshot: to re-imagine the sport in lights, not solely sunlight.
“Playing in such an amazing place, brand new building, with everything going on, with the new building around here, it’s really cool,” said 2016 Olympian Chaim Schalk. “To get to play at such an iconic arena is an honor.”
Logan Webber of the L.A. Launch spikes over Chase Budinger of the San Diego Smash at the Intuit Dome on Friday night. (Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)
Beach volleyball rarely has ventured beyond its coastal roots. But at the Intuit Dome, the sport embraced a new direction.
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“This shows that beach volleyball is growing and it’s trying to adapt to the world we live in, finding a new way for fans to interact with the players, and new ways for the sport to be exciting,” said Chase Budinger, a former NBA player who became a beach volleyball player. “This will get more people in the stands because it’s so new and so different.”
In place of sun-worshiping fans camped out on makeshift bleachers, parents lounged on cushioned seats as kids nestled beside them balancing chicken wings and pizzas on their laps.
The sport welcomed a combination of newcomers hunting for Friday night entertainment and AVP devotees.
“There’s so many people who love beach volleyball, and so many people who would love beach volleyball if they were just given the opportunity to go watch,” Newberry said. “And not everybody can make it out.”
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Read more: How Chase Budinger went from the NBA to playing beach volleyball in the Olympics
Change comes with tradeoffs. With no wind, the court became something of a power chamber — the compact sand lending itself to higher and cleaner jumps, the still air enabling blistering serves and monstrous spikes that might have drifted wide on the beach.
Rallies became quicker and tighter. The margin for error shrank, tightening the grip on the crowd.
“For a lot of people watching beach volleyball for the first time, it’s really hard to conceptualize how wind, how deep the sand is, might affect play,” Newberry said. “So it feels like more of an even playing field which allows everybody to watch really entertaining volleyball.”
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By re-imagining the boundaries of where its sport can potentially thrive, the AVP might have sketched out a novel blueprint for other sports.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if other sports follow and start expanding their ideas of where they could play,” said Olympic silver medalist Brandie Wilkerson. “I’m excited to see where this is going to go and see other sports try to catch up.”
Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Ten members of SAU cross country/track and field named to CSC Academic All-District Team | Southern Arkansas University Sports
Ten Southern Arkansas University student-athletes for cross country and track and field have been named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Representing the Muleriders on the 2025 CSC Academic All-District team are Lyndon Orr, Garrett Hughes, Bo Rogers, Jason Patrick, Korbin McAuliffe, Logan Warren, Alyzah McGlasson, Breyonna Steward, Kailyn Thomas, and Anaya […]
Ten Southern Arkansas University student-athletes for cross country and track and field have been named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Representing the Muleriders on the 2025 CSC Academic All-District team are Lyndon Orr, Garrett Hughes, Bo Rogers, Jason Patrick, Korbin McAuliffe, Logan Warren, Alyzah McGlasson, Breyonna Steward, Kailyn Thomas, and Anaya Ervin.
Men’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Lyndon Orr (Junior)
Major – Accounting
Minor – Criminal Justice
GPA – 3.80
Garrett Hughes (Sophomore)
Major – Engineering
GPA – 3.98
Bo Rogers (Sophomore)
Major – Chemistry: Pre-Health Prof Biochem
GPA – 3.77
Jason Patrick Jr. (Junior)
Major – Physical Education & Health K-12
GPA – 3.66
Korbin McAuliffe (Senior)
Major – Business Admin: Supply Chain Management
GPA – 3.81
Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field
Logan Warren (Senior)
Major – Biology: Pre-Health
GPA – 3.58
Alyzah McGlasson (Grad.)
Major – Public Admin: Social Entrepreneurship
GPA (Undergrad) – 3.96
GPA (Grad) – 4.00
Breyonna Steward (Junior)
Major – Exercise Science: Strength & Conditioning
GPA – 3.61
Kailyn Thomas (Senior)
Major – Chemistry: Forensic Science
GPA – 3.70
Anaya Ervin (Junior)
Major – Biology: Pre-Health
GPA – 3.50
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Beach volleyball in the Intuit Dome? AVP embraces its new digs
Devon Newberry is closing in on two years as a professional beach volleyball player. Yet for the last 731 days, “professional” has always felt like an elusive label. The former UCLA standout is accustomed to life as a beach volleyball player — hauling her equipment on the beach, tugging her bag across the uneven sand […]
Devon Newberry is closing in on two years as a professional beach volleyball player. Yet for the last 731 days, “professional” has always felt like an elusive label.
The former UCLA standout is accustomed to life as a beach volleyball player — hauling her equipment on the beach, tugging her bag across the uneven sand while weaving through sunbathers and surfboards. She’s used to hearing provisional bleachers creak under sunscreen-slathered fans as music buzzes through nearby portable speakers.
There’s charm in that chaos. But it’s nothing like the entrance Newberry made Friday at the Intuit Dome.
Above her, the sweeping halo scoreboard glowed, flashing beneath the thump of blasting pop anthems. Around her, where NBA chants once echoed, beach volleyball fans cheered. And strangest of all, tons of sand created a faux indoor shoreline.
After two years chasing it, Newberry found her label.
“I walked into the Intuit Dome today and I was like, ‘I feel like a professional athlete walking in,’” Newberry said. “I haven’t felt like that as a beach player. There’s very rare moments when you’re like, ‘Wow, I am really a professional athlete.’ And when I was going underground here and looking all around me, I was like, ‘I really am a professional athlete.’ And that’s because we’re playing at the Intuit Dome.”
In what began as a head-scratcher for the players themselves, 300 tons of sand were poured into the Intuit Dome, turning the Clippers’ arena into a pop-up beach — where the L.A. Launch kept their perfect run afloat for the start of AVP League Week 5.
The Launch struck first and last — with Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon opening with a win, and Hagen Smith and Logan Webber closing it out — both pairs dismantling the San Diego Smash. Sandwiched between those victories, Palm Beach Passion’s men’s and women’s teams both made quick work of the Miami Mayhem.
The moment Newberry described — descending into an NBA arena re-imagined as a sand-strewn battleground — was the AVP’s moonshot: to re-imagine the sport in lights, not solely sunlight.
“Playing in such an amazing place, brand new building, with everything going on, with the new building around here, it’s really cool,” said 2016 Olympian Chaim Schalk. “To get to play at such an iconic arena is an honor.”
Logan Webber of the L.A. Launch spikes over Chase Budinger of the San Diego Smash at the Intuit Dome on Friday night.
(Joe Scarnici / Getty Images)
Beach volleyball rarely has ventured beyond its coastal roots. But at the Intuit Dome, the sport embraced a new direction.
“This shows that beach volleyball is growing and it’s trying to adapt to the world we live in, finding a new way for fans to interact with the players, and new ways for the sport to be exciting,” said Chase Budinger, a former NBA player who became a beach volleyball player. “This will get more people in the stands because it’s so new and so different.”
In place of sun-worshiping fans camped out on makeshift bleachers, parents lounged on cushioned seats as kids nestled beside them balancing chicken wings and pizzas on their laps.
The sport welcomed a combination of newcomers hunting for Friday night entertainment and AVP devotees.
“There’s so many people who love beach volleyball, and so many people who would love beach volleyball if they were just given the opportunity to go watch,” Newberry said. “And not everybody can make it out.”
Change comes with tradeoffs. With no wind, the court became something of a power chamber — the compact sand lending itself to higher and cleaner jumps, the still air enabling blistering serves and monstrous spikes that might have drifted wide on the beach.
Rallies became quicker and tighter. The margin for error shrank, tightening the grip on the crowd.
“For a lot of people watching beach volleyball for the first time, it’s really hard to conceptualize how wind, how deep the sand is, might affect play,” Newberry said. “So it feels like more of an even playing field which allows everybody to watch really entertaining volleyball.”
By re-imagining the boundaries of where its sport can potentially thrive, the AVP might have sketched out a novel blueprint for other sports.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if other sports follow and start expanding their ideas of where they could play,” said Olympic silver medalist Brandie Wilkerson. “I’m excited to see where this is going to go and see other sports try to catch up.”
‘WHAT DEFINES GREATNESS?’ | First Take
